Turning Thoughts Into Action

I read this article, which is pretty mundane stuff, but turning ideas into action is not my strong suit, so I read it. The first idea is to tell the world what you intend to do. Make a public proclamation. This is me giving that idea a try.

I believe that I can lose 50 pounds in a year if I really try. So that is my goal. By next April 10, my goal is to weigh 230 pounds. There it is. Of course, no one reads my blog, so it's not really so public, but maybe my wife will read it at least.

I actually have a reason for thinking I can lose so much weight. Recently I had to eat a low-iodine diet for medical reasons. There are various ways to avoid iodine without doing anything too extreme, but you have to research what you are eating, make sure foods are not made with iodized salt, that sort of thing. I just chose to avoid anything that might possibly contain iodine, which meant I went on a restricted diet that consisted of vegetables, fruits, unsalted nuts, and just a few ounces of meat a day. And I lost 19 pounds in three weeks.

Now, I wouldn't expect to keep up that kind of pace, but it makes a pound a week for 50 weeks seem pretty reasonable. There is no reason to avoid iodine, so I can modify the diet some -- fish and salt are both OK I think, for example -- but the basic ideas of avoiding grains, dairy, and prepared foods, and eating just a little bit of meat, are very workable.

So those are the thoughts. I'll make the additional commitment to post my progress every week. Now we'll see about the action.