I made a commitment to my wife 5-years ago today.

On July 30, 2005, I got married in a small church in New Ellenton, South Carolina (right outside of Aiken).  It was the day that I would commit to spend the rest of my life with my then-fiance.

Getting married was a symbol of my commitment to spend the rest of my life with her.  It was a small, humble ceremony, but size didn’t matter as it was in front of our friends, family, and God.  I told the world, and my wife, that I was prepared to grow old with her and no one else.  Marriage is a commitment.

It’s change.  And it’s hard.

Anything worth doing is hard.  It’s not groundbreaking to say, but we live for the moment and don’t plan for the future.  The large order of salty fries will taste good now, right, so what’s the harm?   We prefer easy over hard, fast over slow, and we take the path of least resistance.  It’s why most people fail at losing weight, building muscles, starting a business, quitting smoking, etc — these aren’t things that can be accomplished overnight, but require an unwavering commitment over weeks, months, and years.

Make a commitment today.  Commit to change your life.

While you can certainly make a private commitment and I would respect it, studies have actually shown that a public commitment produces more results.  You don’t have to start a blog or do anything fancy, just tell your mother, your friends, and/or your coworkers that you want to change your life.

Set a realistic goal.  Make a plan to achieve it.  Start your journey.

Where are you in your journey?  Just getting started?  Haven’t started?  Are you afraid to start?  Let me know in the comments and I’ll give feedback.

I couldn’t have lost this weight without you.

All of you.  Friends. Family. Strangers (but only for a little while). The comments and e-mails I receive through this blog have played and continue to play an important role in my weight loss journey. My wife and I have pondered the question before: “Would I have lost all of this weight if I didn’t have the blog?” We hesitantly, but then assuredly, agreed.

No.

With that being said, a blog certainly isn’t a requisite for losing weight and neither is a massive following. Up until March 2009, my readers and support system consisted of my wife, mother, and a few friends. You should feel free to create a blog if you’d like to chronicle your weight loss journey, but the blog itself won’t provide any additional firepower in your battle to live a healthy lifestyle. My blog 344 Pounds is simply a hub for my weight loss support system. I update the blog with my weight loss progress and in turn my friends and family read it and provide supportive feedback.

You don’t need to build a blog, but a support system.

Instead of a blog, consider managing your weight loss support system through e-mail, Facebook, or twitter.  You can send out updates once a week or so to a small (or large) group of family and friends. If you’d like use something that was around before Nirvana created grunge, keep it simple and use the telephone, have a workout buddy, or just find strength through a close friend, family member, or spouse.

Speaking of spouses, my wife has been my biggest supporter through all of this. I love her with all of my heart.  She’s sacrificed a lot throughout this journey, more than most people realize. Tomorrow (Jan 22) is her birthday.

Happy birthday, love.  And thank you all for your support.  I thought the following was a dramatic thing to say 8 months ago, which is why I haven’t said it since.  But, I want to repeat it again because it’s still true today:

You all had a part in saving my life.