These are my reasons, they can be yours if you want.  Just don’t be offended when the word “I” is used often.

1) More energy. Think about this one. That extra weight I am carrying around, about 21 pounds as of this morning takes more energy to move around. The fact is that I am lazy; I don’t want my body to work harder than it has to. Which leads me to the next reason.

2) Don’t die before my time. I suspect that if I don’t get my weight down, I am going to die earlier than if I might if I wasn’t carrying so much weight around. I know there are examples everywhere of relatively healthy people dying all the time at a young age. The best example I can think of is the runner Jim Fixx. He died at the relatively young age of 52 from a massive heart attack after one of his daily runs. A lot of people thought that running had to do with his death. There is also information that says that cholesterol had blocked a majority of his arteries. I don’t know about his eating habits, but his family history revealed that men in his family had poor health.

3) Look better – for my wife. I look back at some of the pictures we have when we were newlyweds and notice a change. I know, I know, I’m getting older and there are some things I can’t change. But I can do something about my weight and I plan on doing so.

4) Keep up with the kids. I have two teenagers at home – a nine year old and an eleven year old. Both of these two boys are growing. In the not too distant past, my youngest and I went down to the local high school track and we took turns running a lap – 400 meters. My time was 1:36, his time was 1:41. I would like to think that I could run faster than that, and I know I could. But I also realize my son is only going to get faster. It’s not so much about the running and being faster or even keeping up with my children. It’s more about being able to do outdoor, athletic activities with the family. I don’t want to be huffing and puffing on a hike.

5) Get rid of B.O.B. – Belly Over Belt. No offense to the Roberts out there. I just want the old clothes to hang on the frame instead of the old belly hanging over the belt line.

[tags]weight, exercise, cholesterol,Jim Fixx[/tags]