…but are short on time.

For the majority of my adult life, I’ve been overweight.

Hell, who am I kidding? I’ve been straight-up fat. I actually lost a bunch of weight back in 2005 and kept most of it off until mid-2006. Since then, it’s been a steady climb in weight. When my mother passed away. I ate like crazy. I ballooned up to 285 lbs, which is not good when you’re 6′ tall. I kept promising myself that the diet would start Monday – apparently, I didn’t specify which Monday, because I just kept eating and eating.

Then something happened. I got a call from Symantec about shooting more Hal the IT Admin videos. They were concerned about my weight being drastically different than it was when I previously worked with them (it had been over a year). In the nicest way possible they asked if I could lose weight and offered their full support. I realized just how far I had let myself go, and the loss of potential work was the wake-up call I needed. I started working with a trainer five days a week and doing cardio the other two days. I started eating right and drinking only water. When I started back in late October I weighed 279 lbs. When the shoot came around, I had dropped about 16. I even lost a pound or two over the holidays, when I should have been gaining.

Now it’s 2010. I’m going to workout a little later today, and am working toward a goal weight of 185 lbs. I’m at 261 right now, and I’ll be updating this blog as I continue my journey towards being healthy. If you want to follow along with me, that’s be just fine.

Last night at Thanksgiving, we all went around the table sharing the things we were thankful for – as the usual “friends, family, health and meal” thanks were handed out, I realized that one thing I was extremely grateful for was being able to have the relationship I have with my father, and the fact the we get to spend his 60th birthday together here in California. Since I’m not very good at conserving real estate on a birthday card, I figured it would be nice to put my longer message here.

Dad, happy birthday. You are an extraordinary human being who makes a lasting impression on everyone he meets. Your selfless, giving attitude and loving nature have been inspirational to me. You’ve always been someone I’ve looked up to, tried to live up to, and felt lucky to have as my father. At times, you’ve seemed superhuman, and the times you didn’t helped me learn that we’re always striving to improve ourselves. I know the past 15 months haven’t been easy for either of us, but working with you and traveling with you has been almost therapeutic; thinking that we went from playing catch in the backyard to teaching and speaking together fills me with pride. You’ve always been there to support me or anyone else who needed it; you give without asking anything in return, and you always put the greater good before your own happiness. Thank you for helping me realize the man I work everyday to be: forthright, kind, charitable, loving, social and intelligent. Here’s to a wonderful 60th year with great things on the horizon.

I love you dad – happy birthday!