18

The number carries great significance in our society. The number's equivalent in Hebrew is 'chai' - life. It is the age of majority in the United States - allowing us to vote, sign contracts and join the military. It is the age when many of us go off to college.

For me, the number has a special meaning as well. It is not the age 18 of which I am speaking, but 18 years worth of time.

At age 14, I signed up to play freshman football at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky. When I stepped on the scale for the first time, our linesman coach said "You're a little scrawny, we gotta build you up." I was already overweight at that point - for a regular high school kid - but a little small to play line given that I wasn't all that muscular.

At my first practice, Tommy Cheatham - who maybe weighed 150 dripping wet ran at me and dropped me on my butt. Before that time, I had never lined up in a 3-point stance and was teased mercilessly by my teammates for several days afterward. So, I went to the gym and built up my protein intake. Well.. while my football career ended at the freshman level, my love of food did not. Over the next 12 years I increased my weight through diet and lack of exercise by 95 pounds. There were definitely some highs and lows in my life during that time, but nobody put a fork in my mouth at gunpoint.

For the past six years, I have struggled with trying to take off the excess baggage. Some of you may recall back in the day when I had a little weight loss tracking meter on the website. I took it off four years ago when the number wasn't going in the direction I wanted it to. Self esteem is a rare commodity for a hefty person and I wasn't motivated enough to see it through.

It's a funny thing what a good woman can do for a man. Having taken vows with Cecilia that are meant to last a lifetime, I realized that it was not fair to her if my life were drastically shortened because of potential complications from my weight (heart disease, diabetes, etc.). With her support and faith in me, I gained the confidence to get serious about making some changes.

One thing I learned from Weight Watchers is that you need a strong support group to make dieting successful. To that end, I created a weight loss challenge at my former employer, World Marketing, that involved over sixty people in two cities. Our battle plan was simple - eat right and drink 8 glasses of water a day. My team won the challenge over our competitors in Omaha and we were sent Omaha Steaks Burgers as our prize (I couldn't eat them - not kosher). That jump-start and my continuing efforts after its conclusion have led me to where I am today.

When I left World Marketing and founded my own accounting practice - knowing that things would be slow initially - I joined a gym. I'll be honest when I say that I don't go as often as I should, but I'm still drinking my water and making better choices about what I eat. Cecilia can tell you that I am awake at least once during the night to go to the bathroom - usually something reserved for someone twice my age.

I will try not to evangelize here. Everyone can lose weight when they are committed to it. I can't give any real diet tips or suggest an exercise regimen. All I will tell you is to drink your water. If you can drink 8 glasses a day (coffee, tea and soda don't count) and make a few smart choices here and there, it'll come off.

So, after 18 years I am proud to to announce that I now weigh less than that fateful day my freshman year. I have crossed the 100 pound barrier of weight loss from my peak. Cecilia has already hoarded all my fat clothes and plans to give them to charity next spring. My job is to (at a minimum) maintain and (preferably) continue with the progress I have made. I can't guarantee that there won't be some bumps in the road, but I feel good about myself and what I've accomplished.