All things considered

Scott Schwab:
I want everyone to know as a reader of our own posts and a person on a journey of health and fitness; that it takes time. To illustrate that, I have included a photo from our first 8 week challenge of 2009 for your enjoyment.
Weight loss is a difficult thing because it takes time, energy, and based on society pressures, it seems that everyone should be skinny or in shape. That is not the case and we have really tried to make sure our readers know that health comes in many sizes and shapes. Happiness, not skinny is what we should seek because just because you are skinny does not mean you are happy. The same applies in reverse. Just because we are happy does not mean we are skinny.
There is not a magic potion, there are not special pills, and really when it comes down to it, there is work and a knowledge of our bodies. Our bodies are all different, but the thing that is the same is the calculation. If we intake more than we burn we will have a surplus. That surplus can and will turn into weight gain based on our age, the types of surplus(calories), heredity, lifestyle, etc.
From one person to another, I want to describe my journey of being overweight to working towards being in shape. I had a hard time being called fat. Even though my mom would tell me I wasn't fat and give me all the snuggles a young boy could handle, I was still overweight. I did not feel good to hear those things through 3rd parties and it was even worse to try and hide it when looking at the mirror. I believe that this is worse for women based on societal pressures, but I can relate.
There came a point where I knew that for me to be happy, I had to make a change. I remember hating to go running or exercise. I had more fun playing sports and running around with friends. That is what I gravitated towards and what I still love to do. I also saw the benefits of getting into shape by my performance, the way that I perceived people treating me differently, and even getting compliments. That was my fire for making a change and I have continually tried to fuel that.
As I have aged I have seen changes in my body, where I have to sacrifice certain things to maintain the look I desire. I stay in shape for my wife, so I can keep up with my kids, and so that I will age better. I also understand the relation to my happiness. However, this did not and still does not come easy. Many days I do not want to go to the gym, but because it is important I made it a habit. Now that it is a habit, there are many days I go because it is simply that...a habit.
I have been through a lot of challenging things, but so has everyone else. We are all going through our own personal battles, but for us to win the war, we have to identify what is important and strive for improvement and personally work our guts out to find success. The reason most people do not find success, is they stop before they really had to dig deep and find their buried treasure. The treasure is you, and nobody can tell you cannot. We decide when we cannot achieve our goal.
I know this is controversial, but successful people do the things that most people will not do. Not only do they do those things, but they create the habit to find a way to accomplish what they desire. Even though society may tell us that success looks a certain way and only exists in specific parameters, the truth is that failure is success turned inside out. You define your own success!