one year later.

this past year has been pretty incredible. i've learned a ton, made some progress, slipped up quite a bit, created new habits, fallen back into old bad patterns, and re-emerged again. in a word, i suppose i've lived and learned along the way. although i did my fair share of getting derailed from my fitness goals, i have still managed to maintain considerable progress so many months later. pic 1 is me on the first day of my challenge last year, january 14th 2008. pic 2 is me one year later, january 14th 2009. i've gained a few pounds since the end of my first challenge, but i'm still coming in at about 132 instead of 145. overall, i'd call that a victory...to have lost and maintained a loss of 13 lbs. but it's just the beginning. it's time to really get back in the saddle and push myself to the next level. in a word, it's time to start another challenge. why the challenge? well, accountability. support. people to jump on my a** if i start to slip up. the truth is, making big changes in your body composition requires some discipline and requires following through on good habits on a consistent basis. this is something most of us want to be doing anyway, but sometimes life (or those uncontrollable chocolate cravings) tend to get in the way. but the way i see it, if i manage to make and maintain the same amount of progress this year as i did last, i'll be well on my way to visible abs :).