402.97 miles down, 597.03 to go.

I am 22 1/2 weeks into Project David 2.0. 6 weeks after I started I added cardio to my plan. For me, someone who was not a runner, that meant walking on the treadmill. Tonight I went over 400 miles. I don't count all of the walking that I do during my work day, just the miles from my focused treadmill sessions. As of tonight I have walked 402.97 miles. That's the equivalent of running from Minneapolis to Kansas City.

I didn't not set a mileage goal when I started this project but having watched my friend Bob Stanke set and achieve a goal of running 1,000 miles last year, and now setting a goal of 1,200 miles for 2012, I thought maybe I should consider a goal. So tonight I am announcing my goal of walking/running 1,000 miles by the end of Project David 2.0 on July 17, 2012.

Can't remember the last time I saw that.

This morning was a major milestone in Project David 2.0. This morning the scale showed 199.6. Yes! No leading "2" on the scale. It's probably been 20 years since that has happened.

This project, as those that have followed me in this journey know, has been about milestones. A bag of flour at every 10 pound increment, 25 pounds by Christmas, getting my weight to match what my driver's license has shown for the last 15 years, and removing the 2 that was at the front of the scale. There are several other goals, and I'll do a "project status update" soon, but this was a major one for me. So much so that I left a message for my wife this morning announcing it - wrote "199.6" in big numbers in lipstick on the bathroom mirror!

Happy to arrive at the new century!!

Project David 2.0 at 4 months - 40.2 pounds

Today marks 4 months since I started Project David 2.0! And today the scale showed that I have now lost 40.2 pounds so it is flour time! For those that have been following along since the start of this project you know the story of the flour, for those new to my blog, every time I lose 10 pounds I buy a 10 pound bag of flour which I place on my desk in my home office. A great representation of the weight I've lost since I started this. (Notice the storm trooper lego mini fig in front of the middle bag. Wonder how many mini figs it would take to reflect my weight loss!)

A couple of weeks ago I didn't think I would hit this milestone by the 4 month mark. Starting with Thanksgiving weekend, big traditional dinner, leftovers, dining out several times over that weekend. I actually came out of the holiday weekend up just 1.5 pounds. Not too bad. The next challenge was that I started my new position at Best Buy the Monday after Thanksgiving. Nearly a week of orientation, and team lunches. Stayed flat for that week. When I've been averaging losing 2.5 pounds a week, being up 1.5 over nearly 2 weeks necessitated some extra cardio sessions to increase my calorie burn and bring me back inline with my average.

I continue to be amazed at my progress and the changes that have occurred. It has come much quicker than I ever imagined. One of my incremental goals was to lose 25 pounds by Christmas, which happened before we got to Halloween. I never really imagined how this would impact my clothing, and well, I've had to replace basically everything. I've asked for clothes for Christmas because I need everything. And I imagine come spring I'll need everything again as I hit my final goal weight.

Here are some statistics during Project David 2.0:

1. 40.2 pounds lost in 4 months
2. 1.2 points - the amount I've lowered my A1C in 4 months (6.6 to 5.4)
3. 268.98 miles walked on the treadmill since September 30 (took me 6 weeks to add cardio)
4. 513,201 steps logged on my Fitbit since I got it on November 12
5. 2 pant sizes dropped
6. 1.5"off of my neck. Sure is easier to find shirts now!

My original goal was 61.6 pounds. This number was based on what I thought might be attainable in 11 months time, and as I was getting ready to start this I was looking at the Body Mass Index and wondered what it would take to move to a healthy classification. I didn't think that number was possible, and also knowing that the BMI table doesn't take into consideration body composition, so I figured 61.6 was good enough. I really need to (and should have done this before I started) get my body fat measured and base my goal on that. I do know that I'll be revising my target weight in January, as I am realizing that I have more than 20 more pounds that I can afford to lose. Right now, I am excited with the thought of getting below 200 (6.4 pounds from now) for the first time since, well, probably 20 years ago if not longer.

Thanks for reading and thanks for everyone's support. I couldn't do this without all of the encouragement that you all give me!

Let the adventure begin!

West of House

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.

There is a small mailbox here. (Zork I, Infocom)

AT END OF ROAD

You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully. (Adventure PDP-10 (Colossal Cave Adventure))

For most techies/geeks/nerds, you will recognize these lines as the start of two classic adventure games. I first played these adventures in the late 70s, early 80s, one on my Apple II+, the other on a teletype connected to our district's PDP-11. To successfully complete the adventure you have to navigate your way through the developers universe, completing a series of puzzles, quests, riddles, challenges or battles, figuring out which way to go next, and collecting the tools and artifacts along the way that you need to be successful.

This morning I will begin my next adventure - the start of my career at Best Buy. And in a similar fashion to the classic adventure games, I will need to navigate my way through, leveraging the tools and information that I find to solve the challenges, puzzles, and opportunities I encounter along the way, to be successful. With this knowledge I will build a map that will help me find my way through. There will be paths that lead in the right direction and others that I might have to backtrack from, challenges that stretch me, puzzles that may stump me, but pulling from my knowledge and experience and working with my colleagues I will find the right path to reach success.

I am joining Best Buy's Global Business Services team as a Program Director, focused on leading initiatives to support business opportunities through technology. Something that I am passionate about. During my interview process I had a chance to meet several great people, each sharing that same passion. I look forward to getting in and learning the business and to begin working with those individuals and the rest of the GBS team, and other Best Buy teams. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experiences with the team and to engage in the continued development of GBS and the services it offers the Best Buy enterprise.

You are standing in a parking lot, in front of a large brown building.

> Let the adventure begin!

Week 13: The other part of David 2.0 - Professional Transformation

Project David 2.0 consists of two components - physical transformation and professional transformation. Up to this point I've focused my blog on the personal transformation aspect, but have been working quietly on the professional transformation. Today we get caught up on both parts!

Personal Transformation

Yesterday marked the end of week 13, and also 3 months of David 2.0. My total weight loss at this point is 33.6 po

unds of my original 61.6 pound goal. Look for that target number to change (increase) after the first of the year. I have also logged 142.26 miles on the treadmill over the last 46 days. It wasn't put of my original plan but I will be setting a mileage goal for this project as well. All is going well, and I continue to be amazed at the difference that those pounds are making.

Professional Transformation

The other leg of this project was the professional side. The goal was to figure out where I wanted to be professionally. I've spent the past 10 years as an IT consultant, focused on project and program management. It has been very rewarding and I have been fortunate to be a part of many business changing initiatives, but over the last year or two I have felt something missing. I started to focus more on my big picture - that is, what am I looking for in the long term? Where do I want to go professionally? What is it that I enjoy doing the most, and what do I need to do to get there.

I had decided that one thing that I missed was seeing the long-term benefits of a project that I implemented. Many times I've gone in to do a project, then following the launch, my contract is up and I move on. Never seeing the full results of what we did or having the chance to continue to improve, or update the solution. In order to do that I felt I needed to transition from a consultant role to an employee role. Ok, I can be good with that. So the next question, where do I want to work? I've been interested in Best Buy for the last couple of years. Why? Well, my wife has worked there for almost 10 years and loves it, I am a big fan of the products, it's a big company, it's a technology company, and they are in the midst of their own "IT transformation". Many of the reasons that I got into technology in the first place. In August, as I was in the midst of thinking about all of this and starting David 2.0, I received a LinkedIn message from Jonathan Kidder, Best Buy Social Media Manager for HR Recruiting, letting me know Best Buy was in the midst of hiring IT people as part of this transformation. A couple of days later I received a tweet from @bestbuy_it_jobs saying the same thing. It took me a week or so to follow the link and look at the current openings. Once I did I saw one or two positions of interest and connected with Jonathan. That led to Jonathan connecting me with one of the recruiters for GBS, which led to me applying, several rounds of interviews, and to last Friday where I received and accepted an offer to join Best Buy's GBS team. I'll be starting right after Thanksgiving.

The first 90 days of Project David 2.0 have gotten off to a very successful start. While it has only been a short journey so far, and there is much more to go, it has been very exciting and very rewarding. I am excited about the new doors that have opened and the challenges and rewards that they will bring. I look forward to continuing to share my progress and success as Project David 2.0 continues.