Revenge of the Gamer

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I started the site.  Twelve months have flown by, and I’m very proud of everything I’ve accomplished.  RotG has gradually expanded with new features being added, and I posted diligently for most of the year.

One of the regular features on my site in 2010 has been my weight loss progress.  Every Friday from January through March I updated the page with that week’s progress.  Those updates served as a sort of weathervane that kept me moving in the right direction.

My last entry was made on March 12th, and for the next two months my diet fell apart and I didn’t lose any weight at all.  Worse, I gained weight.  By mid April I stepped on the scale and found I was at 241lbs.  I was horrified.  Instead of losing weight I’d gained four and a half pounds since the beginning of the year.

I tried to focus on the positives.  Working out was still going extraordinarily well, and I’d only missed two days since the first of the year.  I felt stronger and was definitely in better shape than I’d been since high school.  I could hike for hours without taking a break, and I was proud of the progress I’d made.

That just wasn’t enough though.  Getting in shape was great, but what was the point if I wasn’t changing the way I looked?  I felt better, but looked the same.  So in early May I decided that it was time to get back in the saddle.  I needed to renew my weight loss efforts, and this time I needed to stick with it.

For the last three weeks I’ve lost weight every week, tracked my points on Weight Watchers and have continued to work out.  The difference has been staggering.  I lost ten pounds and as of this writing am at 231.  I’m about to break into the 220s, which I was hoping to do far earlier in the year.  Better late than never though right?

My weight loss goal is 50 pounds in 2010.  It’s not quite June, which gives me seven more months to hit that goal.  That gives me plenty of time if I’m diligent, but I can’t afford the slip ups I’ve had in the first half of the year.  I’m optimistic I can succeed, because I’m starting to build the habits necessary to lose the weight.  My diet has improved, my stomach is starting to shrink and my workout has long since become a strong habit.

I’ve also added another feature to the website, which I call Fox’s Travels.  Since giving up weed I’ve spent most of my weekends traveling to some of the most beautiful locales in the world.  In January I bought a Canon Digital Rebel, which allows me to photograph these expeditions.  Fox’s Travels lists each of the places that I’ve been, and includes a list of places I want to see.  I’m hoping that in the next few years I’ll keep that part of the site up, as it would be really nice to look back years from now to see all the places I’ve been.

Having kept the site up for a full year now opens up a lot of thoughts about the future.  What if I have RotG in five years?  Or ten?  How much of my life could I end up documenting here?  I feel like I’ve really started to build something, and honestly it makes me proud.

There is still a lot of room for RotG to grow, and in time I’m hoping to realize that potential.  I know I need to post more of my fiction.  I’ve completed several good short stories lately, and there are exerpts from the novel I could add as well. 

Beyond that I’m sure I’ll find many other ways to use the site.  The important thing is to keep it going no matter what.  I might have gaps in posting, but as long as I keep plodding forward the site can only improve over time.