Motivation

According to the Bing Dictionary, motivation is defined as follows:

1. giving of reason to act: the act of giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something
2. enthusiasm: a feeling of enthusiasm, interest, or commitment that makes somebody want to do something, or something that causes such a feeling
3. reason: a reason for doing something or behaving in a particular way

Motivation can be a powerful driver to move you forward in your life, goals and/or projects. For the last few months I have been haphazardly trying to lose some weight, and by haphazardly I mean, that the intent was there just not a lot of motivation.

That changed two weeks ago at DevConnections when I had two friends of mine comment on my clothing and overall appearance. One said to my wife, admittedly jokingly, How can you go out with this guy looking like this when you are so beautiful (paraphrasing a bit)? And another making comment while I was working the INETA booth commenting on my attire and general appearance stating (paraphrasing again), How can you represent INETA looking like that? Based on the other comments from that person made thought out the day all I heard was You look like a fat slob! And after looking at myself and hearing what some friends were saying to me, I realized that since my mother passed back in October of 09, and taking on the extra community work that I have let myself go. I tended to wear baggier clothes that were comfortable and I wore sneakers everywhere which was not typical of my style.

Well DevConnections and some friends like Elijah Manor, loosing 46 pounds, I am now motivated again. I am, as of this morning, 238 pounds and according to most charts and sites based on my height, I should be around 165 pounds although I would be happy with around 180 pounds. So that means I need to lose 58 pounds which I am capable of doing. In a previous lifestyle change, I lost around 75 pounds.

There are many ways that one can do this; surgery, really restricting my diet, going through crash diets or detox diets. I am probably going to go back to watching what I eat and drink with Weight Watchers. I was really successful with this plan in the past.

Motivation for You!

Are you looking for that push to get you to start losing weight well join me for the first leg of my weight loss journey? The #TechEd20! That’s right, I set my first goal to lose 20 pounds by TechEd North America and decided to make a little competition of it. Join me in my our weight loss quest for some cools prizes. What the prizes are I do not know yet, but I am sure I will be able to get some books or free software for participants. But the biggest prize will be being able to fit into the jeans or your favorite shirt again.

So if you want to participate, leave a comment on this post and email me your target weight loss delta in pounds. If you hit at least 20 pounds by the start of TechEd (Jun 10th), you get some sort of prize. Everyone will most likely get something for participating.

Good luck!