Right now I'm at the beginning of the road, looking towards a horizon that's too far away to see clearly. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, to be sure. The first step is liberating; you have made the effort to start and know that someday you will reach your destination. But what of the tenth step, or twentieth, when it starts to sink in that you may be traveling for years before you get to your goal? Those are discouraging times, just as it will be discouraging to see that there's a big hill in front of you that needs climbing.

This is why people set small goals for themselves when losing weight, so that the forest doesn't get overlooked for the trees. If I have 100 lbs to lose, that number starts to seem overwhelming. If I think to myself that I'm going to lose 25 more pounds, and that I'm already almost 1/3 the way there, and then I'll buy myself some stuff from Amazon, that's easier to deal with.

I've been at this diet for a week now and my body's still trying to get used to the drastic reduction in calories. I should be taking some vitamins but I've been too foggy to remember to buy some. My stomach's been in a state of upset and I feel out of it. I was hoping that I would get used to it by now. I wonder if I will get used to it, or if this feeling will be something I'll just need to deal with until I lose the weight I'd like to. I really want to go to the gym, but right now I'm so trashed that the mere idea of walking to the car wears me out.

I am the Little Engine that Can, dammit.