Sometimes you have to stop saying "someday" and actually get off your keester and do the thing you want to do. I've recently had a couple of "somedays" become "todays," when I finally got tired enough of getting nowhere to actually step up and take action.

The first Someday got its walking papers about 30 days ago. I went to the doctor for a checkup, the same doctor who was the first and only one to spot my bradycardia a year ago, and was told that my blood pressure was too high.

"It's always high when I come to the doctor," I said. "White coat syndrome."

"It's been consistently high too many times in a row. It's time to get it under control."

What could I say? She saved my life once. Was it inconceivable that she would do it again?

So, starting that day, I had to go on blood pressure meds. This was a wakeup call.

My grandparents had been on this stuff. And though they were far from disabled or incapable of having a life, I did see the abject misery and discomfort and unhappiness that being overweight brought them. And for years, it's brought the same to me. Being overweight is like being in prison. Once you're there for so long, you tend to forget what freedom is like. You become "institutionalized." You stop trying to dig your way out (unless the exit happens to be at the bottom of a big bowl of mashed potatoes).

For the past ten years or so I have been hideously overweight, and I knew it. I could blame it on my heart, and I'd probably be right. But what was my excuse now that I had the pacemaker? What reason or justification did I have, now that my heart worked properly and I was all healed up from the surgery?

It was time to face facts. Eating fried chicken three meals a day, drinking gallons of sweetened something-or-other, eating piles upon piles of candy bars and fries and cookies and whatever else I could cram into my gullet and refer to as "food"-- it all had to stop. It was ridiculous, what I'd been doing to myself. I was wasting my second chance, among other stupidities.

So, as of the day I started the blood pressure meds I started changing my lifestyle. I changed what I eat, going for lots of fruits and vegetables, cutting out all fried foods, cutting out sugar and salt, limiting my calorie intake each day. And I changed my level of exercise, going for three-mile walks each day, doing resistance training (starting to -- working on consistency with that), taking the stairs more, even jogging a little. I started keeping a food journal, to help keep me honest. And I started learning everything I could about creating a clean diet and lifestyle. I don't smoke, and I don't drink, so that wasn't an issue. But food was. And now it's not.

For thirty days I have done this, and I have lost nearly a pound a day since it started.

Yeah -- it's true. I started at 278 (stop gasping!), and as of yesterday morning I weighed 250. I look trimmer and I feel better. And like everyone else who finally says "enough is enough" and changes their lifestyle, I'm wondering, "Why the hell didn't I do this sooner?" [NOTE: I foolishly wrote these weights as "178" and "150" the first time around. Thanks to my sister-in-law, Heather, I now feel much heavier, and am far less impressive. But also, I appreciate her pointing out the goof.]

Easy? Sort of. Not "difficult" anyway. I eat like a king, actually. Any worries about being deprived of food are just ridiculous. I just choose better food.

So that's one Someday I changed this month. The other was YouTube.

For months I have considered starting a vlog. Actually, it was more like years. I have thought about it since vloggers started appearing online. I have even filmed a few "episodes" from time to time, but never posted them, because they never felt "right." But a few days ago I decided I'd had enough. If I really wanted to have a presence on YouTube, I would just have to do it. And do it now.

So I started vlogging. Just like that. I got my iPhone rolling and just spewed a lot of randomness onto YouTube.

Is it clean and polished? No. I could produce something better. I could write sketches, do some editing, use my really expensive equipment and lights. But the problem is, I've had that stuff all of this time, and I've plotted and planned and prepared all this time, and yet I have never actually followed through.

So, I used my iPhone.

Now I've started. And that s all it takes. Will I do more polished videos later? Sure. I think so. I mean, why wouldn't I? Will I still do these iPhone videos? Yeah. I think so. I mean, why wouldn't I?

The point, really, is to start something, and to build momentum. If I do this often, then I have momentum. There's no reason I can't improve what I'm doing. Or, if people seem to like it (and many seem to, so far) then why change it? I can throw in some polished pieces from time to time and just do it for the fun of it. I can put up anything I want, after all. It's my channel.

If there's a point to be taken from this, I'd say it is this: Start now.

I have a lot of Somedays, and you probably do, too. But what makes them "somedays?" Why are they even there? What's the point? A someday is always going to be imaginary. Today is real. So if you're holding back on something you want to do "someday," just do it. It really is that easy. If you fail, you fail. But you won't fail. You'll succeed in starting, and that's usually all it takes.

Check out my new YouTube videos in this playlist:

Here's one to get you started! Enjoy:

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