I’m jumping back on the weight loss bandwagon. Back in 2001 I reached my goal weight… then the holidays hit. I gave up and gained it all back plus some. I’m 38 and overweight and have decided to take control of at least one of those two issues.

I’m using the online version of Weight Watchers for Men. I never liked the meetings anyway. Now there are loads of online tools and tracking help that makes carrying around a mess of manuals and reference books a thing of the past.

I only started yesterday so there’s not a lot to report so far. I have added some mini goals this time around. The first mini goal is to lose 5% of my body weight. My second goal is to fit into XL T-shirts. Mostly because there’s this really cool Buzz Lightyear Tee at Downtown Disney that I want and the largest size they have is XL.

Along with the obvious task of tracking my weight on a weekly basis, I’ve also decided to track measurements. My experience has shown me that there may be weeks that the scale doesn’t change… but the measurements will. Basically I’m trying to create as many “wins” as possible for myself. I’ve measured my waist, calves, thighs, upper arm, neck and my belly. I don’t expect much chance in the calves. They’re solid muscle… but my neck and belly… looking forward to seeing some changes there. I would wear a suit at work a lot more often if the shirts didn’t choke the life out of me. And since most of my weight is in my belly I’m looking forward to pulling that tape measure tighter and tighter each week or so.

Here are some of my stats as they stand right now:

• Starting weight: 262 lbs
• Goal: ~170 (not sure yet. I’ll know when I get there)
• 5% Goal: 248.9 lbs
• Daily points: 53