John Layman is an over-educated, over-weight engineer who hopes to be lighter by Christmas. Like every other life goal, I will attack this one with a plan of action and a focus toward success. I will be 200 pounds by 6 months from now. In the past, I've concentrated on work or family or education. Now it's time to concentrate on health and fitness for a couple years. When I get to be my goal weight, I may decide to drop a few more pounds, based on how I look at that weight. The charts say I should be 180. I think that may be a bit too skinny for my frame. I haven't been 180 for about 20 years.

I'm married and have two grown children. It's really for their sake that I'm going to put in the effort to lose the extra pounds. Having a crippled old man in the family isn't nice for anybody. I'm not there yet, but a couple years from now I will be if I don't lose the weight now.