Shedding weight, both literary and adipose

My bookshelves are more bloated than my waistline. And they've been that way for a long time. Buying a book, or two or three, happens in just a few minutes of walking around a bookstore or poking around on the internet. Reading those same books takes just a bit longer. It's not so different from eating a few cookies or other delicious treat. It's so easy to dip those suckers into a glass of milk and scarf them down. Those couple of minutes are sublime. Skipping other delicious food or spending more time in the gym to get rid of the calories from those tasty cookies takes quite a bit more effort. 

Reducing my books to read pile and my waistline have been two long standing goals. I've been able to at least stay pretty much in place with my weight and the number of books that I own but have yet to read over the last few years. That's not good enough. I can't just drift along waiting for something to change. I have to take some action. I've been saying this for years with very little to show for it. Every year that passes marks another missed opportunity. I can't just be content with the same old holding pattern. 

I've implemented Bookshelf Zero to address my reading backlog. I will read every book that I own. With 175 books pending my attention, this is not something that will happen in a single year, but I can make a serious effort to read books that I've been wanting to read for years but have put off to read something easier or more immediately intriguing. While reading what I own is the biggest part of this challenge, limiting the number of books that I acquire is just as much a part of Bookshelf Zero as the reading. There will be no book buying in 2017. There will be no books borrowed from the library, no free books downloaded from Amazon, or reading something loaned to me by a friend. Everything I read will come from what I already own (or will own by the time 2017 rolls in). I love buying books. I know going on a buying hiatus will be hard, I've done it before, but this is an absolutely essential step to take to get Bookshelf Zero off and running. 

Running is a big part of reducing my waistline (no catchy name for this goal, at least not yet). I've already registered for a marathon in 2017. It's not until November, but my running year will be directed towards that race. But exercise is not the biggest part of getting thinner. I must be more conscious of my eating behavior. I dropped a bunch of weight about 10 years ago. I really only did two things to lose the weight. I stopped eating until I felt like I was going to be sick and I avoided desserts as much as possible. Getting back into that habit will be the big challenge this year. I love to eat almost as much as I love buying books. I haven't figured out how I'm going to handle this as the new year rolls in.

I definitely won't do what I did during my lunch today. My standard lunch is a Clif bar, a small bag of popcorn, a banana, apple, and a protein bar (after I finish lifting at the gym). I didn't pack an apple today. Rather than going a little hungry, I picked up a burrito from Taco Bell on my way back to work. It was just a bean burrito, but cutting out little things like this is the only way to lose weight. I just need to get comfortable being hungry. That's my big challenge. I almost fear being hungry. That is what I must get  over to finally lose some weight. As long as I'm running regularly, I don't really gain weight. But I don't want to just maintain. I want to reduce my weight. I must be a little hungry from time to time to make that happen.