1/2 year, 6 months, 26 weeks…

I have faithfully been watching my diet and working out for that period of time.

This was all a way of to start handling my problem of body image.

It is working.

A couple of weeks ago, I actually let a friend look at my upper body sans shirt and she was surprised and genuinely impressed with my progress.

I have lost 45 pounds slowly, ever so slowly, while gaining muscle mass on my upper body. Still have another 45-50 pounds (approx) to lose before I think I'll be round about where I should be. But now, a Judo gi (uniform) fits and have gone to my first Judo class with a old friend from university that want a buddy to go with. Have an order in for my own gi and hopefully in 2 to 3 works I will be joining the club.

The nice thing about Judo is that I'm not doing it for competition or for self-defense. I'm doing it to gain confidence in my physical being. And the cool thing is, it is even more. l had to feel comfortable fitting into a gi in a back common room. I have to get into someone else's personal space and they into mine. I have to have skin on skin contact and physical contact with someone, getting over my anxiety about my breath, my odour, etc. I have to learn good physical coordination and grace in the way I move.

So, this is likely to be a good hobby for me. I will also be trying out at Aikido (a defensive-only martial art) and may take both classes for the cross-training and greater opportunity to practice.

My daughter will be visiting in March, and hasn't seen me since the first week of October. One thing about losing weight so slowly is that most people who see you regularly don't get surprised… it'll be fun to see if she can remember seeing her father this thin. I haven't seen myself at this low a weight for 25 years.

Anyhow, I hope everyone out there is doing well tonight.

Peace, and all my best