ON SELF-IMPROVEMENT:

In my youth, I promised myself I would never weigh 200 pounds. Well, flashback to last May: a shocking 195 lbs on the scale. I cut out the sweets for a week or two, and then I got Wii Fit.

My first day on Wii Fit I weighed 192.9 pounds. According to the game, that put me (solidly) in the "Overweight" category. My little avatar plumped up and looked sad - it would have been hilarious had it happened to anyone else. So I started doing some of the exercises in the game and eating a little healthier - my goal at the time being a lean, mean, 177 pounds, putting me juuuuussssst inside the "Normal" category.

I wasn't making the progress I hoped I would, so around July 4, I put myself on a ridiculous diet and exercise plan. I limited myself to 1200 calories a day and worked out six days a week - three days found me on the track, running, three days were spent doing Tae-Bo workouts in my living room. The pounds slowly melted away - I could move up a notch on my belts. I could re-fit into 33 waist jeans.

I made it to my 177 pound goal in late July, then decided to drop another 7 pounds, so I could pig out around Christmas and not go back into the "Overweight" category (I'm really thinking ahead). My caloric intake went up to a less-ridiculous 1500 per day, but the running distance increased (I went up a quarter-mile a week, topping out at 3 miles). And the pounds dropped off. I made it to 170 without a problem and thought that would be the end of it.

However, the weight loss has continued. My weigh-in last Wednesday was 163.4 pounds - a loss of almost 30 pounds in a span of 14 weeks or so. I don't want to lose any more weight, but I have dropped 2.5 pounds over the past 3 weeks. Wii Fit tells me my "ideal" weight is 157, which seems low, but since when have video games steered me wrong?