Dave, I couldn't agree more.
One of the things DA suggests in the book is that for ANY project, you need to establish what "done" looks like, or define an acceptance criteria.
This can apply to working out the same as it can to a corporate merger.
I like your ideas for fitness criteria like bodyfat, measurements etc. - those could certainly serve as different "phases" to the "Fitness" project, ie "In twelve weeks I want my bodyfat to be down to 22%". Once you get there, it becomes "In eight weeks I want it down to 17%", and so on. Or "In twelve weeks I want to be able to bench 300 pounds."
Of course, if I can throw in $0.02 about the whole exercise thing, I'd be hesitant to define WEIGHT as an acceptance criteria. After all, if I just stop eating and jump on the treadmill for 16 hours a day, I'll get to my weight goal in no time - I'll be incredibly unhealthy, but I'll weigh whatever arbitrary amount I've decided is "good".
The diet & fitness world is finally coming around and remembering to tell people that what you WEIGH is significantly less important than things like your body fat percentage. After all, two people can weigh 180 lbs, yet be in completely different stages of health, depending on how much fat is on their body.
Sorry for getting off-topic. This is a subject I'm pretty passionate about, mostly from the perspective of all the MIS-information that's out there.
Regards,
Neil