Those of you who know me know that my weight has been an issue for… well, over a decade now. It truly is the defining struggle in my life… I mean, I know the Mt. Dew doesn’t help (thanks for telling me, everyone), but it’s certainly more than that. I love me some unhealthy eatins’.

However, I have been doing fairly well as of late. I’ve been running with the wifie. I’ve been drinking limited amounts of Mt. Dew. I’ve been eating less pure junk and more… hmm… well, I guess its still junk (where do fiber bars fall on the junk food scale?), but it’s better junk. And I’m into double digit weight loss at this point, though I still have 23 pounds to go to reach my goal. My peak weight of 257 lbs is far in the rear view mirror at this point.

Thankfully, I have my sweet, wonderful little children to put things into perspective for me. If they’ve learned one thing from the wifie, it’s how to be brutally honest. And so just when I am feeling good about things, my daughters come along and call’em like they see’em…

Riley: “Wow, daddy, you look like you’ve lost a lot of weight. I mean a lot!”

Reagan: “Yeah daddy, you belly is a lot flatter than it used to be. Now its only a small hump hanging over your pants instead of a huge one.”

Riley: “Yeah, and your belly isn’t a big squooshy pillow anymore. Its only got a little bit of squoosh left.”

Reagan: “Yeah, you’re not fat daddy anymore. Maybe you won’t die early.”

Riley: “Yeah, and then you can play with us and not sit around ’cause you’re fat.”

Wow… I didn’t know how to handle so many compliments at once!

Of course, I felt a little better during a later conversation about baseball players while watching the Tigers play…

Reagan: “Daddy, what do steroids do?” This after Jhonny Peralta was at the plate and they discussed his 50 game suspension for steroids.

Me: “They make you bigger and faster and stronger, which is why baseball players use them.”

Reagan: “Do you use them?”

Me: “No, buddy.” I felt a little pride right here, as apparently my weight loss caused me to have the physique of a professional athlete…

A few innings pass…

Reagan: “Are steroids good for you?”

Me: “No, they have lots of side effects, like making your head bigger and possibly making you die early.”

Reagan: “Wait, so steroids make your head get bigger?”

Me: “Yes, that’s supposedly one of the side effects of them.”

Reagan: “So did you take steroids? Is that why your head is so huge?”

No… no I didn’t. And its impossible to have a big head with my daughters around to set me straight. The weight loss struggle continues with a dose of humility mixed in…