Today is Day 3.

That means that Wednesday would have been Day 1.

Day 1 happened because of what I discovered on Tuesday, when I got on the scale, and I’d hit a new personal record. Of course, you know this is not the record we want to be breaking. We don’t call it our “personal best”.

I was shocked by the number, and I knew I had to do something different. That something could be something I’d done before, but if so, I’d have to do that something differently, which probably just means to do that same something and not stop.

In response, I determined that I would, for a while anyway, eat one meal every day. I would eat my favorite meal, and the meal often referred to as “the most important meal of the day.” I love breakfast, and it makes perfect sense to me that one should start his day fueled up.

So today is Day 3. Day 3 of how many? I don’t know. How long will this be productive? Again, I don’t know. What I know is that I am looking to lose at least 37% of my current body weight (as of Day 0), and it won’t happen as long as I continue the way I’ve been going.

Now, do I think that only eating breakfast is a long-term or permanent solution? Perhaps the former, but certainly not the latter. I look forward to a weight where working out is less…diabolical…than it is right now. I can get winded far too easily, and while I’m not young, I’m not so old as to be unable to right the ship. That last part becomes less true everyday. Back to the question though, I hope to lose enough weight in what I’ll call Phase 1 in order to get to a Phase 2.

Phase 2 may or may not include additional meals, but must include exercise. It may be strenuous, or it may be taking a walk with my wife. I’ll see what I’m able to handle at that time.

I write this partly to include you all in my struggle. Team up with me! Maybe, for you that means joining in and losing some weight of your own. Awesome! Let’s encourage each other! Maybe it means praying for me as I work this out. I would greatly appreciate your prayers! Maybe it means checking in on me and seeing how I’m doing…an accountability partner, if you will.

Living life in isolation gets you nowhere. We need each other, so seeking to hide our issues from each other is a road to unintended self-harm, and I’m not here for that.

I have felt for years – and this is a personal conviction, not something I would hold anyone else to – that knowing how to live a healthy life, and believing that God would have me to do so, I must do it. It is sinful for me not to do it.

I have failed in this. Now, I am not condemning myself, but there’s a problem, and I need to address it. That’s what I’m doing now.

I’ve felt this many times over the years. Each previous time, though sometimes highly successful even for months, I’ve failed to keep it up. Failed to finish.

Stand with me, would you? Encourage me. Check on me. Bring me a glass of water in the afternoon. 😂

My responsibility remains the same whether I stand alone or with a thousand supportive friends, but one way is far greater than the other, and even this recovering introvert knows it’s better with friends.