Well, folks, this morning my friendly neighborhood scale told me I was down
30 pounds since 12/1/03.  It feels pretty good.  It's hard not to get
impatient - the changes in my body are so gradual that I can barely see them
and the folks I see every day don't really see them either.  At the same
time, it's a good feeling to step back at a milestone like this and really
think about what 30 pounds means.  I've lost a size or two in clothing.
I've lost the equivalent of my three-year-old nephew.  I've lost three times
the weight of my cat.  I've lost the equivalent of the satchel full of
casebooks I used to schlep around when I was a law student.  I live on a
steep hill, and mr. carla says he can tell the difference in how fast I can
walk up the hill and that I'm less winded when we get home.  It's a fair
point - dragging a 30 lb sack of lard up that hill would definitely slow me
down.

I've still got a long way to go, but I'm feeling pretty good saying goodbye
to those 30 pounds.