Beware of Friendly Ladies With Tempting Treats

Tempting Sweets From a Lady
Today I had a woman bring me some cookies and a brownie. I had to decide if I would eat one of them today. I didn't want to upset the loss that I had today by spiking up my insulin levels with something sweet. So I decided to save the sweets for another day.

I took home that brownie and weighed it on my handy dandy food scale. The brownie was 22 grams. The calorie count for that little brownie was 90 calories. The cookies were about 100 calories each.

Now imagine with me for a moment if I was like what I was seven months ago; I would have eaten down those cookies without a thought. I would have figured I could get away with it because it's not that much food. As would most people.

Those five tasty treats in the plastic box equal over 500 calories. That's one meal right there with those little sweets.

These little delicacies have no real nutritional value. They are just something to eat to satisfy the desire to taste something really sweet. I really could do without them. But, I'm not going to deny myself a little treat here and there.

I thanked the woman for being so kind to remember me. I told her that I would eat one a day until they are gone. Oh, and believe me I will starting tomorrow.

What Did I Eat?
Last Night before I went to bed I weighed 207.2 pounds. I knew that when I woke up this morning I wouldn't be at the 203.8 pounds I was at yesterday morning. Well, what happened?

What happened was yesterday's meals had not left the preponderant man yet.

This morning I woke up at five o'clock and weighed in at 204.8 pounds. What a difference. It was just food and fluids that's all. You'll experience it too.

This evening when I came home from work I weighed 204.2 pounds. This means that more than likely tomorrow morning I will step on the scale at 203 pounds, or maybe even somewhere in the 202 range. Cool. We shall see.

Yesterday I finished off the day with 113 grams of cottage cheese (110 calories). My total calorie intake for yesterday was 1,256 in food. Then I had some Rum which added on a couple hundred more calories.

This morning I ate a...

• Pepperoni Lean Pocket ( 280 calories),
• milk (150 calories).

For lunch I carried with me a cold TV dinner

• Sweet and Sour Chicken meal (600 calories),
• 2 oranges (2 x 80=160 calories).

I finished off the day when I got home from work with

• 113 grams of Cottage Cheese (110 calories),
  
• and an eight ounce glass of milk (150 calories).
  

This all totaled 1,550 calories for the day.


Today I Learned How Other People are Fighting "The Battle of The Bulge.
I was talking to a woman today that told me she had lost 26 pounds since January. She told me that she is doing a combination of South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers. One day she will eat meat and no carbs. Then on another day she said she will count points from Weight Watchers.

I asked her if she was writing down what she eats. She said no. I asked if she keeps a daily record of her weight. She said no.

My opinion is this lady will eventually fail. She'll eventually fall off the wagon and go back to eating the way she did before. Here is why. She doesn't have any motivation to continue that comes from looking back on records of what she did, and where she was. She has no way to recall what she weighed from day to day because she is relying on her memory. She will eventually forget all about losing weight.

Of course I didn't tell her this. But, if I didn't record what I am doing, I would have no motivation to continue. I can look back and see what I weighed back in January, February, March, and April. I can see the progress.

When I write down daily what I weigh and what I eat, I can't forget what I am trying to do. The habit of writing down what I am doing is taking over my desire to quit. I am compelled to write down what I am eating. People have criticized me for this compulsion.

They don't do it. Most people don't do it. To them it's crazy. For me it's the way I know what's going on.

Doctors keep charts at the foot of a patients bed that record the vital signs, and medications of the patient. This is so the doctor can come in and see what's being done for the patient, and if he / she is progressing toward wellness.

Aren't we just that patients? We are preponderant, and sick from obesity. Why then is it so strange to keep a chart by our table, or with our person in a restaurant? Doesn't it only make sense to keep a record of what is eaten? Doesn't it make sense to record our weight?

People think they are so smart because they don't keep a record of their food intake. Well, I can self regulate. No you can't. Look around at all the preponderant people. Go to a buffet and see all the over sized people at the buffet table. I went to a popular buffet in Bolingbrook for Easter. It seemed like just about everyone in there was over weight. I am talking about hundreds of people who are over weight under one roof.

Hey, I don't want to stay that way. I want to be thin again. I want to be able to run and jump again. I am sick and tired of being fat. That's right I wrote the F.. word. Aren't you tired of being fat? Why aren't you? Do you like the way that you feel? I didn't. I feel a whole lot better now that I have shed 36 pounds. You can to if you'll do what I tell you.
Bye for now.

A Magic Formula For Guaranteed Weight Loss.

That grabbed your attention didn't it? I have a "Magic Formula for Guaranteed Weight Loss." Well, are you waiting? I swear I do. I absolutely promise it will work.

This formula will make you thin as a rail. When you get this formula you will jump with exuberant joy. This will turn the world on it's head. Preponderant people everywhere will no longer be preponderant. There will be no more need for another diet pill. There won't be any need to read one more diet book.

If you use this formula, I guarantee you'll shed all the pounds that you will ever need to shed. This formula threatens to end the monopoly of the South Beach Diet. There won't be any more diet clinics anywhere. This is it. It's the end of the misery of bloated britches. Oprah Winfrey here comes the answer to your problems dear.

All you girls out there that want to have a small figure I have the formula. I mean it. You'll be able to wear that size six, and not ever again that size twelve.

Are you ready for my guaranteed formula? Are you on the edge of your chair? I can see it now, you're thin. Get ready. Here it comes. I have the answer. This formula will take your breath away. People everywhere will say why didn't I think of that? I mean it. It's coming. I am about to reveal the formula.

Are you ready? Here it comes. This formula will change your world like it has for millions of people before you. Get ready.

OK here it is. This will Rock your World.

EAT LESS FOOD.

That's it. That's the formula. David you swindler. I thought you were going to guarantee I was going to be thin. Well, I did. I do. I am 36 pounds lighter than I was in December of 2006 with that formula. I guarantee it works.

This morning I was talking to a friend of mine. I told him that I am now 36 pounds less than I was. He seemed to be amazed. He asked me what my secret was. I told him what I wrote up there. He asked me a bunch of questions. I answered them. He didn't like the answers. He didn't want to hear that he is going to feel hunger. No body does.

Hunger is a big stumbling block to getting off the pounds. I didn't like it. I still don't like it.

Simply put, hunger is the bodies way of saying, "Hey I need energy, and I need it now." This is normal to get hungry. I would worry for you if you never felt hunger. Then there just might be something physically wrong with someone.

The problem with many preponderant people is they have never trained themselves to deal with hunger.

We live in a world where food is readily available. It's easy to grab something and eat it. This we usually do without thinking about it. Since there is such an abundant supply of many different foods we can pretty much eat what ever fits our fancy at the moment. Here in lays the problem. We fit our fancy, and we satisfy our hunger any way that we wish.

Then we go happily to the next time when we carefully pick our next nutritional meal. NOT! Many years later after satisfying our hunger and fitting our fancy we wake up to find that those clothes we used to wear are real tight now. I did.

It never occurs to us that we don't eat properly until it's to late. Then when we have become preponderant we throw in the towel. We make excuses for the added pounds. Then when we become seriously ill, like becoming a diabetic, we make the changes necessary. It's too late then. The damage will have been done.

I have three close family members who are now type two diabetics. One got tired of the whole thing and just lives in denial. I pray that he will wake up before we have to cart him off to the hospital with a serious heart attack. He really needs to shed the pounds.

There are other problems that come with diabetes. One problem is going blind. Imagine if people thought about that one for a while. Would they cut back on the massive amounts of sugar? I wonder.

My other close family member has nerve damage in his legs because of misdiagnosed diabetes. That's right the doctors got it wrong. He got big, his blood sugar went out of control, then slowly but surely the nerves in his legs died. Now he can hardly walk.

So let this be a warning to you preponderant people out there. If you have to shed some pounds, the time is now. You are getting fair warning here.

I didn't want to become diabetic. So when my third family member hit the skids, this is when I started using glucose sticks to monitor sugar in the urine. If you eat a lot of sugar then you should too. If you are preponderant you should be monitoring your blood sugar anyway. Glucose sticks are a cheap and easy way to do it. If someone turns a glucose stick brown he / she has a serious problem and should immediately see a doctor.

I deliberately avoid sugar if I can. I know that sugar is in a lot of different foods, bread included. But, I count up those calories. I watch what I eat. I didn't for a long time.

Today I woke up and weighed in at 203.8 pounds. Hurray for me!


I had a real good night of sleep. I woke up early without a clock. I felt good. I made myself a couple cups of blueberry tea. One cup had a teaspoon of honey in it (30 calories). Yep I counted that little teaspoon of honey. I had two boiled eggs (140 calories), and three thin sandwich slices of ham (105 calories).

Lunch at Denny's
I went to lunch with a friend at Denny's. I looked at all the delicious looking food on the menu. Oh I would have loved to have had the many delicious looking foods on that menu. I picked one I thought would be just the right calories. I had an egg, ham and cheese sandwich called, "Moons Over Hammy." I went to the Denny's home page to see if there was any nutritional information for this sandwich. I was surprised to see a calorie count of 841 calories. It's too late. I ate the sandwich. Over half of my calories for the day were wiped out with eating this sandwich. It was so yummy.

If I wasn't paying attention, like so many people don't, I would have eaten another big meal not realizing my impending doom.

Restaurant's like Denny's have a list of foods along with the nutritional information. I tried to get some nutritional information for Portillo's and they haven't posted any on their web site. I looked for it and I found a note that says Portillo's hasn't got any nutritional information available for it's menu items yet.

I appreciate being able to find a food item that I have eaten at some restaurant. It makes it easy for me to figure out just how many calories I have really eaten. Of course I have my little books that I look up stuff in.

I under calculated the calories for that Denny's sandwich. I was short 200 calories. Apparently there was something in the sandwich that I missed. It was a good sandwich. I liked it.

It was over half of my 1,500 calorie daily allotment of calories. Oh well, that's OK. I know what I have eaten. Go check out Denny's website and the nutritional information. I put up a link. Just click the Denny's Logo. You may be surprised just how many calories are in that stack of pancakes you plan to eat the next time you go for breakfast, or a late night snack. "Mam", said the drunk, "I'd like a stack of Flap-Jacks." (1000 calories) Bye for now.

You Can't Ever Quit Watching Your Weight

Today I was talking to a man who said he just has to lose 50 pounds and that's all. That's all? What makes him think that is all? Doesn't he know that the reason he is 50 pounds over where he thinks he should be is because he hasn't paid attention all this time to where he was before he gained all this weight?

Don't think when I get to my weight loss goal it's over. I am done, then I can go back to eating like a hog. You can't ever quit. I can't ever quit. I am a preponderant person. I tip the scales. If I ever get to where I wish I could be, the "Battle of the Bulge" will always have to be waged.

Once a diabetic, always a diabetic. And from that day forward under the watchful eye of a doctor the diabetic has to take his medicine, measure his blood sugar, and watch what he eats. Once a heart patient, always a heart patient. From that day forward the heart patient has to watch his diet, and take his medicine. Being preponderant isn't any different. Once a preponderant, always a preponderant. The preponderant person always, always, always has to be on the look out for what he / she is eating. It's now and forever.

Do I like that idea? Heck No I don't like it. But, if I ever expect to get to the weight I should be, I will always and forever have to watch my weight, and my food intake. I will always have to write down what I am consuming. This is forever, and ever, and ever.

Another thing, get it into your head what the excess poundage is. (This is unless you are a body builder with 100 pounds of muscle added to your frame.) It's fat. That's what the excessive weight is. It's fat. And, that fat has likely been on you for a long time.

Here is what I mean. The body regenerates it's cells. If cells die then the body replaces them. With fat I suspect it's different. Fat is stored sugar chains. It takes the body a lot of work to break up those sugar chains. If it has a ready source of sugar because you're eating a donut, it doesn't have to work at breaking up the fat. It just takes the sugar out of the big donut you're eating, or that giant stack of pancakes you just ate. Then when it has a problem with insulin immunity and it can't dispose of the sugar, it builds the chains of sugar in to fat. Then your body stores the fat out where the whole world can see it. It also layers that fat on your liver, and your heart, and the other vitals organs that you need to survive.

Did you ever wonder if when we look at that belly bulge, we aren't seeing last years Christmas party that you over ate at? Maybe we are seeing that quart of ice cream that you ate last summer. You think I am kidding.

Do people look at you and poke your stomach and say, "Hey that's Christmas of 2005 there isn't it?"

Wake up! You can't stay the same. If you do then you will go back to where you came from.

Today I woke up at two in the morning. I had to go to work by four o'clock. I ate two boiled eggs (140 calories), and three thin slices of ham (105 calories). Then I boiled two eggs to eat later (140 calories). For lunch I had a cold Chinese TV dinner (600 calories). When I got hungry I had an orange for a snack (80 calories), later when I was heading home I had another orange (80 calories). I had a liter of lemon lime flavored water that had artificial sweetener.

This morning when I woke up I weighed in at 205.2 pounds. That's up from yesterday. When I got home from work I weighed in at 205.2 pounds. I am pretty sure when I weigh myself in the morning I will be back under 205 pounds.

That's super as far as I am concerned. I am staying consistent here. I will get to 200 pounds very soon. I can't stop there.

I told someone today that I should be at 275 pounds. He thought that's ridiculous, "I will be nothing but skin and bones," he said. Well, what should I be? Should I have any fat on me at all? I have pondered this one. What's healthy? Excessive fat is healthy?

The reason I am where I am is because I had the notion that a little bit won't hurt. Like heck it won't. If my body is trained to go after the fat and I let it get away with being even a little fat, then I will go back to being fat. What? I said I will go back to being fat. That's because my body will adapt. It did before, and it will again. I have to get the fat off, and keep it off. That's it.

This is going to be take no prisoners. This means I will have to look thin. Oh, what a shame. I'll look skinny. How terrible.

I just had a woman, (who her self is preponderant) tell me she hates fat people. Well, how many more of those kinds of people are out there? Lots.

As I wrote before I am not doing this for a popularity contest. I am doing this for myself, my health, and my wellness. I can give a darn what everyone else thinks.

And don't let people lie to you and say, "well, you look OK." No you don't. If you have rolls and tight fitting clothing, then you are preponderant. That's it. Wake up and smell the coffee brewing. Quit living in denial and hoping by some miracle suddenly you'll be thin.

You won't get thin without sacrifice and suffering. That's the truth. Chew on that. I have to go. Bye for now.

Another jump up in weight

Yesterday morning I was boasting that I stepped on the scale weighing in at 204. 6 pounds. This morning I stepped on the scale weighing in at 206.6 pounds. That's up two pounds from yesterday. Well, I hadn't finished emptying my colon yet.

Yesterday I ate two pot pies, some cottage cheese and a chicken sandwich for dinner. The total calorie intake was just over 1,600 calories. That's 100 over my set daily goal. Did a bunch of fat jump on me because of that. I doubt it.

Remember this is a long term thing losing this weight. The poundage goes up. And it goes down. The overall trend should be down. Don't get discouraged if the pounds vary a little each day. It could be because you haven't had a real good bowel movement yet. That's all.

Women have a tendency to retain fluids. This is what women do. It's in their physical makeup. So, a woman could be holding more water than a man. So to get all bent out of shape from being a few pounds more from the day before is nutty. However, water retention could be a sign of looming ill health. Check with the doctor, because I am not one.

Well, it's nutty if you have been sticking to your food control intake and limiting the calories. If you haven't then get ready to see the pounds come back with a vengeance. It's because the body wants to go back to being what it was. If it was over a normal weight, then that's where it wants to be. You have to say no to your body.

The trend for my weight is down. I have been being a good boy and eating near the 1,500 calorie amount that I set for myself. There is no reason for me to panic.

Today I had a Banquet Chicken Pot Pie before I left for work (420 calories). I got hungry so I stopped at the grocery store and purchased fruit. I ate two apples (100 x 2=200 calories), and a small orange (90 calories). I have to finish here with this blog. Bye for now.

What Will I Do When I am Hungry?

This morning I stepped onto the scale at 204. 6 pounds. Yippee Skittley Do! That's almost one pound under yesterday's weigh in.

I told you yesterday that the extra weight was all the water I drank a couple of days before. Plus I had eaten this mammoth Reuben sandwich a couple of days ago. OH, it was so delicious. And that big fried potato pancake was good too. Yummy!

Now, I am not dehydrated with this weight loss. I have drank plenty of fluids over the last few days.

I drink lots of different fluids to hydrate myself. I don't drink anything I know has sugar in it. Not unless I have a calorie count so I can add it to the days totals.

A couple of days ago this woman asked me what do I do if I get hungry? Well, I go hungry I told her. She seemed horrified that I would say something like that. She couldn't believe that anyone would consider going hungry. Well, she doesn't have to go hungry all of the time. She can eat. Then she can become preponderant like so many other people. She already is by the way.
She is very pretty though.

I don't like it when I am hungry. I wish there was a quick fix. There isn't. You can try doing the Atkins diet. It works. That is until you get sick and tired of eating meat all of the time. It gets old. And when you consume a lot of any kind of calories the body assimilates that food. I know I have been there.

So here is what I do. I bulk up on food that doesn't have a lot of calories in it. I eat a lot of frozen vegetables. Two cups of frozen mixed vegetables is about 80 calories. If I eat those with a TV dinner it seems to satisfy me for a while. I eat cottage cheese and yogurt. For some reason they seem to help cut hunger. At night I will measure out a table spoon full of peanut butter and eat it. That seems to cut hunger.

Eat an Apple or an orange as a snack. The sugar in them is complex sugar and there is fiber. The body will use that sugar to assuage the appetite.

You Still Have To Sacrifice
It still comes down to sacrificing for a higher cause. I don't like being hungry either. I know when and what I have eaten because I wrote it down. I know that I am not starving to death. My body has to learn to adjust. That takes time. Right now it's adjusting to being hungry. My body is figuring out if it needs any more energy, it will have to go after the fat reserves. It does that. This is why I am losing weight.

Am I losing muscle mass? No, it's because I have protein in my diet. This protein provides my body with the amino acids, and proteins it needs so that my body doesn't deconstruct my muscle.

Last night when I finished work I went home and had two cups of tea. I didn't eat anything. My last meal was in the middle of the day. That's all in yesterday's blog.

Today I had a chicken pot pie. This was 280 calories. I will eat when I go home before I go to work. But that will pretty much be it for the rest of the day.

What's in your stomach? Did you write it down? Did you weigh yourself today? Where should you be at weight wise?

For you own sake, you better get there. Do you have ten pounds to lose? Well, lose it. You'll feel better. If you have 100 pounds to lose, you better get ready mentally to do it. If someone has 100 pounds to lose, he/she will need at least one year to lose that much poundage. It may even be a two year ordeal.

I have lost 35 pounds since December of 2006. That's less than ten pounds per month. There were times when I would go two weeks and not lose one pound. But, I hung in there. I keep at it. This is a life long thing. It can't stop once I hit my goal. I have to keep watching and monitoring. You will too.

I Told You That Weight Jumps Happen

This morning I stepped on the scale at 205.4 pounds again. Hurray! This is back where I was two days ago. It was all that food and water that I ate and drank that I had to leave behind in the porcelain bowl. Now I am back down.

Where do I go from here? I am going down, down, down. I am not going to give up. I have a desire to be back down below 200 pounds and I am going to get there. Just to let you know some people have noticed my progress and complimented me on my looks.

I am not doing this to get compliments. I would do it even if no one said anything. I got tired of being bigger than I should be. I prayed, God help me lose this weight. I kid you not. That was last year.

I had dieted before. I actually lost 60 pounds doing the Atkins diet about 4 years ago. But, I regained 40 pounds. I tried the Atkins diet again. This time my body said not so fast buster. You tried that before, and this time I am not going to let it work.

What do I mean? In the Atkins diet there is a process called induction. This a two week period where all someone does is eat meat and fat. The body doesn't get any carbohydrates during that time period. The total carbohydrate intake for that period isn't supposed to exceed 20 grams a day. So all one eats is fat, eggs, and meats. It can be done.

According to the Atkins version of this diet the amount of meat taken in is not dependent on calorie intake. Well, I after having done the Atkins diet, I beg to differ. I couldn't take in 3000 calories of meat, fat, and eggs, each day and lose weight. You might be able to.

Sooner or later the body rebels and says no to Atkins. It adjusts somehow. I know I experienced it. I used the Keotone strips to monitor my progress. I would turn the strips deep purple day after day. I wouldn't lose one pound. In fact I started gaining weight faster. My body had made the adjustments it needed to defeat the Atkins induction process.

I needed a different approach. I was searching for an answer, and praying about it. I realized on Thanks giving day when I stepped on the scale at 240 pounds I was back in serious trouble with my weight. I couldn't button my uniform pants up anymore without sucking in my gut.

I had to figure out what I was going to do to get off this weight. I didn't have time with my schedule to start a workout program. My schedule is far to erratic. I was sitting watching TV and saw a commercial for a diet program where someone pays $400 for 30 days of food. It was all of this yummy looking food.

I had a spark of inspiration. I thought could it be that easy? What if I purchased some TV dinners and ate those? Well Target had Lean Cuisines on sale. I purchased up a bunch of those Lean Cuisines. They are very good by the way. I like the flavor of their food.

Here is what happened for one month everyday I ate Lean Cuisines morning noon and night. Wonders of Wonders, I lost 9 pounds in less than thirty days. (I just wish I had written this down.) I was very happy that I thought I had hit on something.

Well, I was still very hungry after eating Lean Cuisines. They are very low amounts of food in the trays. I decided to start eating TV dinners. They were cheaper, and had more food per serving on their trays. I also started keeping a daily diary of my food intake and weight. I wanted a record of my progress.

My weight kept dropping. I figured I could do with a few more calories than even the TV dinners. I decided I would set a limit of 1,500 calories a day. I found that if I had more than 1,500 calories a day, my weight lose stagnated. Well, it worked.

Now, I keep a calorie count of everything that I eat. I even include fluids like orange juice (130 calories). This is because liquids can have hundreds of calories in them. A 20 ounce coke has over 250 calories.

This brings me to the point where I am now. I am at 205.4 pounds. That's almost 35 pounds from where I was in December of 2006.

I have made up my mind to stay with this program until I reach the weight that I want to attain. Then from there I will add calories to a point where my weight remains level. From that point on for the rest of my entire life I will have to continue to monitor all of my food intake. I will never be able to drop my guard. Not then, and not ever can I give up the "Battle of the Bulge"

You won't be able to either. Your mission will be to find out what your normal weight should be. Then you will have to change your diet to get there. It won't be easy. I know. I have suffered to get this far. I continue to suffer. I hate it.

You will hate it too. Yesterday I was explaining to this preponderant woman who was very pretty what she is going to have to do. Her question to me was, "what do I do when I get hungry?" I was honest and said you have to learn to live with hunger.

That's the hardest part of losing weight; living with hunger. It may go away on some days after eating. Most of the time though, even after eating a meal, the hunger is still there. Don't believe the bull that says when your satisfied don't eat any more.

NO, when you are satisfied you have eaten too much. You can't ever be satisfied. This means you have eaten way more calories than you need to live. I kid you not. When you're satisfied this means that your blood sugar level is way up there. If you are full then the body has no reason to go after the fat reserves on your body.

It's only when the body has to find an additional source of energy by taking the fat reserves off of itself that it will be trained to go for the fat all the time. Eventually there will come a time when there is no more fat, or very little.

So far today I have had for breakfast a Banquet Turkey Pot Pie (280 calories), and cottage cheese (110 calories). For lunch I had two Mexican style tacos (about 200 calories each), then I had an ice cream bar (270 calories), and two small pieces of hard candy (40 calories). That's it so far for today. I am not near 1,500 calories yet. I can eat something when I get home. Bye for now.

Don't Panic, Weight Jumps Happen

I wrote in my blog yesterday that I weighed in at 205.4 pounds in the morning. Last night I stepped on the scale at 211 pounds. Woe! Where did that 6 pounds come from? Well, I made a point to drink one gallon of water yesterday. A gallon of water is eight pounds. I had a huge sandwich for lunch. That was probably a pound of sandwich there.

I hadn't used the bathroom that much. So, all that water and all that food was still inside me. This morning I stepped on the scale at 209 pounds. This means the food had not left me yet. It was still passing out of my colon.

It may take me a day or two to see that 205 pounds again. I don't think I added on four pounds of fat that quickly. Well, I hope I didn't anyway.

If I wasn't writing down what it is that I am eating I couldn't diagnose the problem. If I didn't weigh myself everyday I would never know that I am gaining or losing weight. There has to be some sort of system of monitoring to a weight loss program. People think they can wing it. You can't wing it. I have to keep on top of my diet constantly. You do too.

Years ago people used to write diaries. They kept records of the day. Somehow we got away from that. We depend too much on our memory. Losing weight is a process. Like any other process records have to be kept. It's like keeping a check book. The balance has to monitored at all times. Why don't we do that with our weight and our food consumption?

Get your diet log started. Start weighing yourself everyday. Find out what you should weigh and then decide that is where you want to be. Then, start a diet program to get there. Eat just enough calories to live and lose the excessive pounds. Exercise if you can. LOSE THE WEIGHT.
GET OFF THOSE UNWANTED POUNDS. You'll feel better if you do.

Be careful eating bite size bits of candy

This morning I stepped on the scale and weighed 205.6 pounds. I am going down little by little each day.

Yesterday I had written a continuation of a blog that I started two days ago. It was about how precious life is and your potential energy. Well, I hit the wrong key and then wiped out all that I had written.

Listen, I don't know who will read my blog. It's an excercise for me. I am learning to blog and put my ideas out there. I am not going to try and rewrite what I wrote. If you don't care enough about the quality of life you are living then there really isn't anything that I can do about it.

Being overweight and straining your body is not a good quality of life in my opinion. There are lots of problems that go along with being overweight. I am not going to list them now.

Somehow, someway you have to find the long lasting motivation that you need to lose the weight. I can't do it for you. Judging from the number of people I see stretching their pants and shirts into tight fitting rolls, I would say a big number of people need to go on some sort of a diet.

I have been working at weight loss since I was in the army. I was 5 foot 8 inches and 180 pounds when I went into the army at 19 years old. Even then I was overweight. I was a late bloomer and my body shot up three inches by the time I hit 21 years old.

When I left basic training I was at 160 pounds. I averaged 170 pounds throughout most of my three years in the army except when my mouth was wired shut for a month after surgery. Then I dropped down to 150 pounds. I was thin. But, I was fit as could be.

Well, 30 years later my body has settled to 5 foot 10 inches. But, I am way over what I should be weight wise. I should be around 175 pounds or a little less. That's where I ought to be. I doubt I will get there. We'll see. I don't exactly like the idea of being 175 pounds. I think I would look too thin. That's my opinion. We'll see.

Today I had someone offer me some candy pieces out of a bag. I thought initially I would just say no. But, I took four pieces of candy thinking well it won't hurt.
LOOK OUT FOR SMALL PIECES OF CANDY.

I mean it. I took out a small butterfinger bar. It was just a little bite sized square. I went to the store and found the bag with the same product. That little square was 45 calories. Wow! I also ate two little sugar coated jelly pieces. I found the product. Those two pieces were 40 calories each. Two times 40 is 80 calories. I had a little piece of hard candy. This little guy wasn't any bigger in diameter than a nickle. It was 20 calories.

In less than one minute I ate four small pieces of candy that totaled 145 calories. WOW! Folks this is what millions of americans do every single day. They eat these little bits of candy or food here and there. Then out of the blue they become preponderant.

Every single bite of food I eat gets recorded. Today I had a reuben sandwich. I didn't have a side panel to look at to give me a calorie count. I am going to write down that I ate this big fat Reuben sandwich. At least I will know what I ate today in case something goes wrong tomorrow.

I also ate with that sandwich a fried potato pancake. The guy behind the counter said well there goes your diet with all of that food. He didn't know that I was on any diet. He just knew that was a lot of food for anyone to eat in one sitting.

That potato pancake was probably 300 calories just by itself. I had a beef lean pocket for breakfast (280 calories). This added to the candy and lunch wipes out any calories that I may have had to eat tonight. I am done for the day. I was done at 1 PM when I ate all that food.

It doesn't take much to hit 1,500 calories. I know better than to even consider eating anything else toninght, no matter how hungry I get.

I am not starving to death. I am not putting my body at great risk here. I am just keeping the calorie count at a manageable level so I will lose the weight that I want to lose.

I am getting used to being hungry. It's taken me months to get used to be hungry again. I have to play mental gymnastics to remember what I ate in a day. I have to talk to myself all of the time. It's not easy.

You will never learn to lose weight if you don't learn to go hungry. That's it. I am not one of these supercharged skinny people who can eat anything he / she wants any time of the day. I have to sacrifice to lose weight. If in the unlikely event you are reading this blog then you do too.
If you are like me you have to cut way back on the amount of food you eat.

I don't like it. I get pissy with myself sometimes when I have too. Sometimes I actually feel sorry for myself because I can't eat just anything that I want. I am human. So are you.

I have a better future in my head. It's a future being thinner and more agile than I am now. It's a future being able to look better than I did these last couple of years.

It's only when you find that motivation in your heart and your mind that you will decide to follow what it is that I am telling you in this blog. And folks, this is a life long committement. YOU CAN'T STOP IF YOU REACH YOUR WEIGHT LOSS GOAL. You can never ever quit and take down your guard. You will always have to weigh yourself. You will always have to write down your food consumption. You will always forever have to monitor yourself. FOREVER until you die.

I had written this long blog this afternoon, and then accidentally cleared it. Well, I am not going to be able to rewrite what I wrote; not today anyway. Today I weighed in at 207.6 pounds. Yesterday I was 206 pounds. Last night I had consumed a liter of flavored water. I also ate a fistful of trail mix. This added to the weight that appeared this morning.

Yesterday I didn't eat a lot of food. However, by the time one in the afternoon rolled around I had already hit my 1,500 calorie intake for the day.

When I got up yesterday morning I had a cup of oatmeal, with a tablespoon of butter, and 1/4 cup of maple syrup. It was yummy. The calorie count was 460 calories. Just 210 calories was the 1/4 cup of maple syrup. Like I said, it was yummy.

At lunch I went to McDonald's and purchased a Premium Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich (680 calories), a medium fries (380 calories), and a diet coke. Well, this added to breakfast put me up at 1,500 calories. For the rest of the day I went hungry.

This is what I mean when I write that sacrifices have to be made to lose weight. I didn't eat dinner last night. I had a fist full of trail mix to cut the hunger (130 calories).

It doesn't take much to hit the top in total calories.

This morning I ate a lean pocket. This was 280 calories. Then when I was down in Indiana I stopped at Jewel for some Chicken Tenders. I ate five of those little guys. Well, that five chicken tenders came in at over 1,000 calories.

I am almost done for the day calorie intake wise. I think I may have 300 left. And I am hungry.

Let’s examine the precious life: You have potential energy

Let’s examine the precious life: You have potential energy

This may seem weird that in a blog about losing weight I would dare to write about life. But I think that in order to lose weight and to keep that weight off we need a deep, deep personal motivation. This motivation has to be life long. It has to be a motivation that overpowers our cravings for food and for the comfort that comes from eating food.

There is sensuous satisfaction in the taste of a cream filled donut melting in the mouth. The taste buds explode with delight as the sweet flavors fill the nodules in the tongue that relay those flavors to the brain. It’s wonderful! It truly is. Then as we gorge ourselves on this sweet delicacy the stomach fills and the hunger in the stomach begins to dissipate into a temporary feeling of satisfaction and fullness.

It’s this way with all food. If food tastes good, and it smells good, and we’re hungry then we eat it. We do it to satisfy our hungers. We satisfy the hunger that says I have to survive and live, and we do it to satisfy our sensual hunger. The sensual hunger is the feelings we get as the flavors of food touch our palettes and fill our brains with feelings of delight.

There is one more subtle reason we over eat. We do it to fit in with what is going on at the time. It's called submitting to peer group pressure.

It’s that relative that acts insulted when you refuse to eat all the spaghetti and meatballs piled high on your plate. Then there are the people at the party who jeer at you for not having another beer and getting sick as a dog. It’s the uncle with you at the buffet who paid for your meal and then tells you to forget your diet for today.

Did you ever run across the people who get upset when you mention the word diet? I have. This word pricks the conscience. Never mention the word diet. Just be gracious and then not eat everything in front of you. Eat what you think you should eat and then say, “Oh, I feel so full.”

Did you ever ask yourself why am I eating what I am eating? Do you care? If you don’t care then don’t read anymore of my blog. Forget this exists and go on with your life.

I mean it. I want you to stay, as you are, a preponderant beast. Yes I wrote preponderant beast. I mean that only if you don’t care about who you are and what you are eating.

Why do I use the word beast? It's because a beast is an unthinking animal. This is the character who for whatever reason never thinks ahead about the consequences of his / her actions. A beast satisfies its needs for the moment and doesn’t give thought to a possibility for future needs for self and for others around it. A beast’s time is now, not tomorrow or the next day.

I wrote preponderant because it means, “tipping the scale.” It means overwhelming. And when someone is preponderant, he / she is tipping the scale. If you were put on a giant balance scale on one side, and on the other side sand bags that represent what your normal weight ought to be, would you tip the scale down? If this is so then you are preponderant.

Does your scale wince with pain when you step on it? When was the last time you weighed yourself?

Why acted shocked and insulted? If it’s true, it’s time to wake up and face reality. A problem can’t get fixed until it’s acknowledged as a problem. Then the problem has to be cured.

I won’t lose weight if I don’t acknowledge that there is a problem with my weight. It’s a stinking, nagging, preponderant problem. I hate it.

I wish that I were like some people who could pile food into the mouth and never see their weight go up. I wish I didn’t have to go hungry. I wish it could be different. It’s not.

Here in lays the problem; I like so many others have to think about what it is we eat. I wrote it before. I will write it again.

As I started out with the title of todays blog I thought about life, and what it is. Is it a good life, or is it a bad life? Am I a victim of all of life, or can I alter even just a little bit of my life? I am talking about my life. Can I make it any different?

It's not as if there are armed guards standing over me with plates of food. My jaws aren't locked open with vices, and then the food is poured down into it. There aren't plungers rammed into my mouth to force the food into my throat and my stomach.

No, unfortunately, for most of my life my intake of food has been voluntary. My mom and dad don't sit by my high chair telling me to eat anymore. I am not sitting at the family dinner table being reminded about starving children in other parts of the world.

You aren't either.

I didn't get fat deliberately. (Maybe you didn't either.) I have actually been seeking to lose weight. However, all my efforts failed. Oh, I lost the weight before. It's just in time, I put it back on. I prayed about it. I asked God for an answer. I got the answer. And the answer is evolving.

My motivation came from being sick and tired. This is what I wrote before. I got sick and tired of tight fitting clothes. I got sick and tired of looking in the mirror at a bloated face. I got sick and tired of sore knees and joints that were collapsing under too much weight. I got tired of huffing and puffing. I got tired of not sleeping at night. I got sick and tired of just being tired.

I also had to think about the quality of life that I am living. What is the quality of life for a preponderant person? What is your quality of life? What in the world is your life like? Do you care?

If you are reading this blog, then maybe I can help you. I am flesh and bone. My feet are made from clay. I stumble and I fall. It's just for some strange reason I manage to find my way back up onto my feet.

Maybe you are frustrated. Maybe you say to yourself, "I want to lose weight but I can't."
I too have felt this way.
I will continue tomorrow. Chew on these thoughts for today.

One final note: This morning I weighed in at 208 pounds. That's just a bit higher than I was yesterday. In the middle of the day I stepped on the digital scale and weighed 206.4 pounds. I am slowly losing this overabundance of food energy.

Another Weight Breakthrough: The 210 pound barrier is broken

And now for a word from the U.S. government:

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/weightls.html

Flash, I have broken through another weight loss barrier. The third plateau has been shattered and I am on my way down from here. Hurray !

This morning I woke up and weighed myself in at 207.8 pounds. The 210 pound barrier is shattered. This is at least three days in a row that I have weighed in at below 210 pounds.

I was just showing a friend of mine my food journal. This is a legal pad that I have been writing on since January 29, 2007. On that day I was 229. I am now down 21 pounds from that date. When I started on this anti-preponderance course I was at 240 pounds.

I have shaved three inches off my waist.

Why does it matter? Who cares? I care. Me, it's me that cares. I have to live with this body of mine. You have to live with that body of yours. Does it make any sense to live day in and day out being preponderant?

Yesterday I was out from 5:45 in the morning until midnight. I was gone from home and I didn't bring my lunch with me. Fortunately there was plenty of free food along the way. However, I had to be very selective.

I have trained myself to judge a basic calorie intake for different kinds of foods. I know that for instance if I eat at a fast food restaurant there are lots and lots of calories in a hamburger, French fries, and a coke.

I woke up yesterday and weighed in at 209.6 pounds.

Here is my menu for yesterday. For breakfast I ate two CD sized frozen waffles (190 calories), butter and syrup (100 calories) and a glass of milk(150 calories). Later I ate at McDonald's a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit (440 calories YEOW!), and a hash brown (140 calories).

I had a little cookie. It was a lemon cookie dipped in chocolate. It was 50 calories. I had a little piece of chocolate. It was oh so small. It was 50 calories.

For dinner I had a complimentary Wendy's crispy chicken sandwich (510 calories YEOW!). That was it, no fried potatoes.

Of course I had my usual coffee and diet cokes along the way. I came in at just over 1,500 calories total intake for the day.

This morning I was in a hurry to get out so I had one slice of pepperoni pizza. It weighed 4.4 ounces and had a calorie count 313 calories. Just think I used to sit down and eat a whole frozen pizza in one meal. It's no wonder I was beginning to billow like a beach ball.

Let's examine this pizza thing for a moment. When I cut up this pizza I cut it into six individual slices. I froze what I didn't eat that day. Each slice was around 313 calories each. If I divide 313 calories by 4.4 ounces I get 71.13 calories per ounce of pizza. That's a lot of calories in one ounce of food. If I had eaten those six slices in one sitting (which is what I used to do), I would have consumed 1878 calories. That is way over what I should have eaten in any one meal. That is one days worth of calories.

Is it any wonder I was beginning to rapidly expand? I can only imagine what I was doing to my poor little heart. Argh...

Yesterday I was talking to a woman who told me that she was trying to lose weight. I was around her all day, so I could see what she was eating. She was very conscientious about what she had for dinner. She had a salad with some taco beans on top. For breakfast she had a large cup of coffee. She was so proud that she had the will power to not eat breakfast. OH NUTS !!!!!!

I am sure she thinks she is being careful about what she is eating. I watched her though. She had four red swizzle sticks. She sat and ate half of a large bag of potato chips. She ate some cookies that some children gave her. And then she wonders why on her short little frame her hips hang like bull dogs fighting inside a burlap sack.

Come on folks, wake up and smell the coffee ! Every single thing and every piece of food that goes into your mouth has to monitored. Every drink you slurp has to be counted in the food register, unless of course it's water that you drink all day long. Every little thing that gets eaten or drunk has to be looked on with suspicion. I am not kidding.

Do I like it? NO I don't like it. I hate the idea that from now until they put me down in the ground I have to look at food as if it's my mortal enemy; unless of course I no longer have my mental sensibilities, and then it won't matter. I hate having to look at food as if it's just waiting to climb on board my body and hang there for the whole world to look critically at.

We eat too much to sustain ourselves. We eat all the wrong stuff, and then we wonder why the fat police are coming to tax everything we eat.

It's up to you. And it's up to me to monitor our own food consumption. It's not so Miss Suzy can look at me in a thong. It's so I can feel better and look better for me.

I am down three inches on my waist. I already look better than I did four months ago.

It's hard. In the beginning every single day I was chewing my finger tips off from unbelievable hunger pains. I was nauseous and dizzy. I had dizzy spells from sugar lows. I know what it's like.
But, I had to do something or be like so many people in America that's living like a preponderant person.

I do this for me. It's time that you do it for you. You can lose the weight. It takes time, lot's and lots of time. It takes patience and persistence. It can be done. If I can do it, then so can you.

LOSING WEIGHT

April 17, 2007

This morning I weighed in at 208.2 pounds. Last night when I got home from work I weighed 207.8 pounds. Today I came home from work weighing in at 209.2 pounds. It's just food that's still in me and fluids.

I had 2 small waffles for breakfast, with a tablespoon of butter and syrup. I also had some cottage cheese and yogurt, along with 8 ounces of milk. For lunch I had a korean meal with 2 cups of rice and different kinds of pickled vegetables, along with a fried egg on top of it all. For dinner I had a TV dinner. It was a meat patty with, some mashed potatoes and corn. Then I had a scoop of peanut butter. I haven't figured out all of the calories yet.

As you can tell I am not letting myself starve. There is no need to. It's not good for the heart or the head.

Today I was watching a pretty young girl in red shorts running her heart out for excercise. She was very thin on top but her thighs were very flabby. I know she's running because she wants to lose those flabby thighs. She can run all day long until her knees fall off. If she doesn't change her diet she won't lose the flab. Listen ladies, don't deceive yourself. You have to cut the calories inorder to lose weight. That's just the way it is.

I don't like it, but it's true. Today I watched this lady at work scarfing down the chocolate hershey bars. She had worked so long to lose weight. Now, for some reason she is giving up. Why? It's because she isn't monitoring her progress. She doesn't know how many calories are in one of those little mini chocolate bars. Ten of those little guys is 500 calories. That's one meal for her.

Weight Loss

Today I woke up and weighed myself. I weighed 208 pounds. Could this be the breakthrough that I have been working toward? I don't know. This is 3.2 pounds less than I weighed yesterday. It's what I wrote before, up, and down the weight goes until suddenly there is a drop. That is the next plateau.

Then from there I'll struggle for a day or two to see the weight drop again. I was looking at my past log sheets. There were days when suddenly I dropped 2 or 3 pounds. Then I would sit there for days weighing in the same or maybe gaining. Then I would suddenly drop more weight again. It goes like that.

The game is to be persistent at regimenting the food intake, the keeping of records, and constant monitoring looking for the results. It's damned inconvenient. I am getting used to it.

Today I saw a woman who couldn't have been more than 25 years old. She was working at a gas station. She was huge. She had so much fat on her face it rolled on her chin. She wasn't ugly, but she was way way out of her body fat index. If only she knew she doesn't have to stay that way. She doesn't. Who will tell her that there is hope?

I can only hope someone will read this blog and start believing he /she can cut off the extra pounds. I could only wish that someone would wake up after reading what it is that I am writing. Maybe someone will realize that this weight loss things not easy, but it can be done.

When I was at a funeral dinner this past weekend I was talking to a woman who really wanted to know how I lost 30 pounds. I told her what I was going through. She has more physical issues to deal with than I do.

However, it's how many calories are going in that matters. If anyone exceeds the amount of calories needed for the day, eventually it starts showing up on the body. I told her to keep a food diary and to weigh herself at least once per day. She said she would try it.

My dad was always thin. He very rarely ate three meals in a day. He almost never ate breakfast. Instead he would put three teaspoons of sugar in his coffee. He usually had two cups of coffee. So he would consume 6 teaspoons of sugar. That was his breakfast. Then at lunch if he was hungry he would eat a rolled up piece of bread. Then at night he would eat some dinner. Then he would binge on chocolate. This is how he ate. It was like this for years until he died 3 years ago. I don't recommend this type of diet. But if someone examined the total calories he would consume in a day, I doubt that he ever would exceed 1000 calories with all the sugar and candy he would eat. He had an automatic cut off point that the sugar would activate. He wasn't diabetic either.

He was very much like his dad, who ate the same way. My twin brother eats very similarly. He is very thin. He lives on a can of coke and a sandwich. Isn't that amazing?

I am not like that. For one thing, I see what it does to the teeth. Second, I need bulk in my stomach. Besides too much sugar makes me loopy. I had about ten different cookies the other night at a wake. I went on a sugar buzz that gave me a head ache. It was too much sugar all at once. I had a devil of a time staying asleep all night long after that.

Here is what happened. I just came from work. It was at least 5 hours since I had eaten anything. I was very hungry. The cookies were there and so on impulse I ate them.
The result was I went on a sugar high. I could feel it.

Now, I am not diabetic. I am not hypoglycemic either. It's just I was very, very hungry, and there wasn't anything else there to eat except some small pieces of meat. The cookies were a quick snack. Well after not eating a lot of sweets as of late it had an almost instantaneous impact on me. The next morning I woke up with a headache and I was absolutely ravenous.

This is what happens when I impulse eat. I am aware of this. My insulin levels spiked when I had that much sugar. I could feel it.

I am tuning into what my body does when I am hungry. I have to be weary of what I eat when I feel like that. Here is why. What the body doesn't break down with insulin and metabolize, it stores as fat. If I kept this up day after day I would rapidly put back on the fat that I have already gotten rid of.

You have to tune into your body too. If you don't then like so many others you will go along blindly until one day you look into the mirror and see you are a preponderant person. Then you will be in the "battle of the bulge" like I am and so many others are too.

LOSING WEIGHT

If you want an easy economical way to lose weight, eat a TV dinner in the morning, eat a TV dinner at noon, and eat a TV dinner in the evening. This way the portions are carefully divided out, and you won't starve to death.
David Dane

Today I awoke and weighed in at 211.2 pounds. I am up 1.2 pounds from yesterday. For the week I am down.

Yesterday I went to the funeral of a friend's dad. I was treated to a very nice after funeral lunch. I ate 2 large portions of prime beef, a large slice of ham, some musticolli, carrots with brown sugar sauce. For desert I had a cup of vanilla Ice cream. Later I ate some shrimp tempera, with a baked potato, and green beans.

As I have been writing before, don't kill yourself to lose weight. I can eat anything that I want, but I have to reduce the amount of the portions.

Do remember losing weight is a life long commitment. I have been accused of being obsessed with food. Yes, I am obsessed with food, it's just I tell the truth.

Don't be fooled. I know people that every time I see them they are eating or drinking something. Food is everywhere. It's easy to forget that a long time ago food wasn't so easy to get at. Now there is cheap already prepared food. I am not knocking it. However, it makes it so easy to eat whenever we get hungry, or emotionally upset.

I am at a point now where I have hit a wall with my weight loss program. I am up and down. I can't seem to break that low barrier of 209 pounds. It was the same thing when I was at 231 pounds back in January 2007. It was the same thing when I was at 220 pounds two months ago. I would go up 3, 4, or 5 pounds and then I would come down. Then one day out of the blue the barrier would collapse and I would suddenly drop 10 pounds with hardly any effort. Well, I am at that point. I am at the 10 pound barrier. When it breaks suddenly I will be at 200 pounds.

Losing weight will probably be similar for you. You will hit plateaus and it will be days, and maybe weeks before you'll lose even a pound. Then suddenly you'll drop 5 or even ten pounds. I am not starving to death here. I am not avoiding totally a little treat here of there. You shouldn't either. You are human after all.

Just don't go out and eat a monster candy bar every day and then expect to lose weight. It won't happen for you.

LOSING WEIGHT

Today I woke up and weighed myself at 210 pounds.

I had a friend send me an e-mail after reading my blog. Her concern was that I am too concerned about my weight. She said that I should be Healthy. What in the world does that mean? This is from someone who is very thin. I told you there would be critics. And in her mind I think she means well.

These are the critics who can't understand what it is to struggle to lose weight. They never wrestle with weight loss.

You will run into the opponents who won't even try to lose weight and because of jealousy they will try to discourage you. Ignore them all. Don't even listen to the ones who want to cheer you on. It's time to find your own motivation to lose weight and to be independent of outside thought.

What do you want to look like when you have lost the weight? How do you want to feel by losing 10, 20, or 30 pounds? Other people don't live inside your skin. You do. You must do this weight loss thing for you.

I haven't been able to blog the last two days. However I can assure you I didn't starve myself to shave off five pounds this week. I just kept down the portion sizes.

This is what I have been writing all along. Reduce the calorie intake by eating smaller portions of food.

Write it down, write it down, write it down? What have you been eating? Write it down. What did you weight today? Write it down.

LOSING WEIGHT

April 12, 2007

Well, It’s Thursday morning. I weighed myself when I woke up. I weighed 213.2 pounds.
Does this mean I have actually gained weight? Perhaps it does since I did get down to 209 pounds.

I know that this is a long distance run. This is a life long project. I am not letting a few pounds discourage me.

Yesterday I was out away from home all day. I had some free meals given to me. So I ate a high calorie diet yesterday. In the morning I had a TV dinner (400 calories). For lunch I had a Whopper (700 calories YEOW) and diet coke. I had some chocolate pieces, (50 calories), and later I had a Big Mac (600 calories) and medium French-fries (350 calories). Later that night I ate a big blob of peanut butter (243 calories). The grand total was 2,343 calories. My goal for the day is supposed to be 1,500 calories. I am over my daily goal by 843 calories. Oops.

Hey, I would make myself crazy if everyday I was expecting to be down another pound. I am doing just fine as it is. You would be too if this were you.

I am my own conscience.

This morning I had 2 fried pieces of bacon (80 calories), 2 fried eggs (160 calories), salsa (10 calories), and some shredded cheese on top (50 calories). Yummy...

LOSING WEIGHT

April 10, 2007

Losing Weight is a long distance run. There is no sprint to the finish line. It’s an up hill and down hill run. This is going to be like no marathon you have ever run. You will pass the lines of people who will cheer you on. You will pass the lines of people who will jeer and boo. You have to keep on running until the very last, until you finish. And then you’ll have to get ready for the next run. You’ll be running for the rest of your entire life. You will want to quit the run. Weight lose is a never-ending race. So get ready. It will never end.
DAVID DANE

Well, It’s Tuesday. It’s two days past Easter. I wrote yesterday briefly about how much I ate on Sunday. I am going to tell you what the results were. On Monday I weighed in at 213.2 pounds. This morning I weighed in at 212.8 pounds. This is three pounds more than where I was.

Did I actually gain weight? I don’t know. I ate a lot of food on Sunday. I consumed more calories than what is in my daily plan. I don’t think my body has passed out all of the waste yet. Oh gross. Maybe I added a pound of body fat. Who knows? I wrote this before. This is a marathon. It’s a LIFE LONG endeavor.

Let’s just say that I manage to reach my goals and get down to the weight that I am hoping to reach, I can’t stop monitoring my weight. I will have to watch my weight for the rest of my life. If you want to lose weight and keep it off, then you too are going to have to monitor your weight for the rest of your life. That’s the truth.

I can never let my guard down on this matter. If you are serious you can’t let your guard down either. I hate it. You will too.

Look around and see all the preponderant people. These are people who don’t know what they are doing. I don’t know if they even care. Let’s just say you are reading this blog. It’s long and monotonous reading. The information isn’t compact and concise like reading a diet book.

This blog isn’t a diet book. This blog is my thoughts about what I am dealing with losing weight. I have been working at this since December of 2006. I actually started years before when I was at 260 pounds. Then I lost 60 pounds. Then I regained 40 pounds.

Here is where I tripped up. I didn’t record what I was doing. I didn’t weigh myself everyday. I gave up. When I gave up, I lost the war.

It’s hard to lose weight. It’s hard to keep the records. It’s hard to keep going when everyone else is out there doing his or her thing. It’s damned inconvenient. I’m not doing this for them. I’m doing this for me.

When I go to a restaurant to eat I have to make choices about what it is I am going to eat. I have to decide how much I am going to eat. I have to decide if I am going to eat desert. Most of the time I pass up desert. It’s because many deserts have very little nutritional value. Oh, they are delicious, but I don’t have to have dessert to live. Am I eating to live, or living to eat?

On Sunday I went to a buffet. I was writing on a napkin what was on my plate. An older member of my family was sitting to my right and he was laughing. He asked if I am going to write everything down. He asked if I know all the calories. I told him no I don’t know. I am writing it down to know what it was that I ate.

This family member thought I was foolish. (Well perhaps he did.) So what? I don’t care. You shouldn't care either. When I get older he’ll be gone. I have to face the day, and the years. I don’t like straining to get into my clothes. I don’t like straining up the stairs. I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror. It’s for me.

You know what? Many people don’t like to be around people who are overweight. People make judgements about overweight people. They assume the worst about people who are overweight. I know. I do it too.

Ok, here is what I ate at the buffet on Sunday (Easter) I had two plates of food. On the first plate I had bourbon chicken, meat loaf, a slice of corn bread, rice, and green beans. I could have stopped there. On the second plate I had a large white dinner roll, a large turkey breast, a large 6-ounce steak, and onion rings. Next to that I had a half-cup of clam chowder soup. I could have stopped there. I did go for dessert. I had a large bowl of ice cream with a small fudge brownie dropped in the middle. I went for another bowl of ice cream and a slice of red velvet cake. Man, that cake was so good.

I consumed all of this food after having already eaten food that counted out at 600 calories earlier in the day. I know I went well above my daily goal of 1,500 calories.

RRRRRRR, we are the fat police come with us. Drop that chocolate cream puff and put your hands up in the air. Mr. Dane you have exceeded your daily calorie intake and you continue to exceed your Body Fat Index. You will be jailed in a cell and fed cardboard until you reach a point where we consider you are at your appropriate Body Fat Index. After that we fine you $10,000 for breaking the law of Body Fat Index. We are the skinny people. We are the reasonable ones. We know best.

Can you imagine this taking place in the future? Well, the fat police are all around us. These are people who discriminate and don’t tell us.

I don’t need them. I know when I am huffing and puffing that I am out of shape. When I have to go to the doctor and he tells me that I have to go on cholesterol medicine I know something’s wrong.

I can’t tell you how many male family members who are close to me are now type two diabetics. I don’t doubt that I was getting close to that point. Well, I don’t want to be taking diabetic pills for the rest of my life. I will modify my diet thank you.

Did I tell you what to eat? NO. Did I say I wouldn’t overindulge sometimes? NO. I wrote what I am eating and what I am going through. You figure it out for yourself. I can’t be your conscience. I don’t want to be. I don’t want to be anyone’s conscience. I have a hard enough time taking care of myself.

If you can stomach reading this dribble, perhaps you will find the motivation to change yourself. Maybe you won’t. But, I suffer daily for my goal. Sometimes I dive in and enjoy myself. I know what I did. I think I know what I will do in the future. If I live long enough.

I just finished off a two liter of diet Coke. I also just ate a TV dinner. The calorie count was 430 calories.

Yesterday my calorie count came in at 2,212 calories. I went to a wake and I was hungry while I was there. I did eat more than I had planned. I also had some Italian cake cookies. Each of these little cookies comes in at 70 calories.

Am I worried? Nope. I know what I ate. I wrote it down. I can adjust from there.

If I don’t write it down then the little tiny accountants inside my body will write it down for me. Then they’ll store the access where the whole world can see it.

Remember I started out at around 240 pounds back in December. I am now at 213 pounds. That is a difference of 27 pounds. I think I am progressing slowly but surely toward the weight I want to be at. I am not counting on anyone to help me get there. You can’t count on anyone either.

You can read this blog and perhaps it will give you some idea what to do.

Well, I am having more technical problems trying to get my blog out today. It seems that 3.5 inch floppy that I am using can't be read by a newer computer. Go figure.

LOSING WEIGHT

God Bless America with all of her incredible abundance. There is no country in the world like this one. There might never be again. And all I can say is we should pray with all of our hearts that God sees fit to let her stand. And we should thank God for what we have, and we should fight to keep it. These are my thoughts after eating an incredible meal on Easter Sunday.
David Dane

Well, yesterday was Easter. I had made an attempt to place a blog, however due to technical reasons the block didn't get posted. It's my fault.

Anyway yesterday was Easter, and I went with family members to eat at a buffet in the afternoon. Can anyone guess what I ate, and how much? Lots, and lots of food is the answer to the question? And I had more than one serving of dessert. When I have time I will fill you in. At this point I am not so sure anyone reads my blog.

Losing Weight

By now you are probably hoping for a miracle to lose that extra weight. Short of a miraculous change in the metabolism you are going to have to lose it the old fashioned way like me.
David Dane

April 7, 2007
Losing Weight
It’s 5:55 AM folks. I am sitting here at the computer drinking a cup of coffee. I woke up at 5:30 AM and my thoughts were spinning in my head. I am not writing a political blog here so I won’t tell you what I was thinking about. But, I got up out of bed and decided that I should weigh myself. I came in at 209.6 pounds.

Believe it or not, that’s fantastic because last night I had a late meal. And I drank a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke. By the way, don’t drink a two-liter bottle of diet coke before going to bed. Two things happen: It’s hard to fall asleep and I ended up waking up a few times to use the potty. Not only that, but if you weigh yourself like I do before you go to bed, there is four pounds of fluid sitting in your tummy.

Which is pretty amazing if you think about it. That’s how big my tummy is that I can consume a 15 ounce dinner and with it 69 ounces of fluid. This comes in at 5 pounds of food plus fluid. This explains why we as humans can stuff ourselves to the neck with food. It’s not a good idea to stuff yourself.

Anyway as I mentioned I weighed 209.6 pounds. This means that I didn’t gain even after eating a late evening meal the night before. I use these little test strips that test for ketones (Acetoacitic Acid) which I pass through the urine stream. Sometimes the strips don’t turn, sometimes they turn pink, and then sometimes they turn purple. Well, this morning the strip turned purple. This means that I am pumping out ketones into the urine. This means that I am burning fat.

I am burning fat even after having eaten a delicious TV dinner that I purchased at Dominck’s Foods. It was on sale for $2.79 with my Dominck’s card. The meal was “Marie Callender’s Country Fried Beef Steak.” This was a 15-ounce meal comprised of a hefty sized breaded beefsteak, a generous portion of mashed potatoes, and a portion of glazed carrots, with a side packet of delicious gravy. YUMMY... I take my hat off to Con-Agra foods for this one. It was a delicious meal. The best part is it came in at a total calorie count of 540 calories. http://www.conagrafoods.com/brands/marie_callenders/index.jsp

Hey, you preponderate people go get yourself a TV dinner and bring it to work. That’s right you scale tippers save yourself some money by carrying a frozen dinner to work. Then when lunchtime comes around pop that little puppy into the microwave.

I went out shopping last night because I was hungry. I was actually looking to purchase a small package of meat to mix with some vegetables. I was surprised to find the above mentioned TV dinners on sale. If I had a bigger freezer I would buy more of the above mentioned meals. Not only is this so but I found Banquet TV dinners on sale at 10 for $10 dollars. I couldn’t pass this up either. I would have purchased more of those too, however my freezer is a little stuffed with some other things as well.

Here is what my food intake looked like yesterday.
Morning: Two scrambled eggs covered with salsa and melted cheese on top plus a four-ounce glass of pink grapefruit juice (total 355 calories). Later I had a fistful of trail mix (100 calories). At night I had the above-mentioned dinner. The total calorie intake for yesterday was 995 calories. No vodka today, I’m out.

Was I hungry yesterday? Yes I was hungry! I am learning to live with it. I am not starving to death. I have lots more body fat to trim off. My body isn’t starving. It’s readjusting to a new reality. I also take in different supplements like vitamins and fish oil.

Hey, don’t endanger your life trying to lose weight. I mean it. You can lose weight sensibly. It’s going to take persistence and time. You have to figure out why you want to lose weight. I told you why I am. I am tired of huffing and puffing. I am tired of looking bloated. I am tired of poor fitting clothes. I remember what I looked like in the army when I had a 32-inch waist. Besides, I’ll be much cuter than I already am.

MY FOOD SCALE
I am going to tell you about a slick little food scale that I picked up at Bed Bath and Beyond for $70. It’s a SALTER Nutritional Scale. It’s a digital scale with a stainless steal tray on which food can be weighed very accurately. Not only can it weigh the food, but also it has a wealth of nutritional information that it can tell anyone about the food that’s being weighed. It can tell you the weight of food in grams, kilograms, ounces and pounds.

Put some food on the tray and the scale instantly tallies the weight and displays it with a digital readout. Next you can look in the book that comes with the scale, punch in a code for that food then find on the scale the calorie count, sodium content, protein content, fat content, carbohydrate content, cholesterol content, fiber content.

This is a handy dandy little thing to have around when there isn’t a package to look at with a panel on it with the nutritional information for the food that you are about to consume.

Let’s say one night I just have to have some peanut butter on the spoon. I weigh the spoon, then zero the scale with the spoon on it. Next I dip that spoon in the peanut butter to scoop up a big blob. I put that blob on the scale with the spoon and weigh it. Since I zeroed the spoon out, I know what the weight of the peanut butter is. Then I put in the code and get my calorie count. Usually it’s around 250 calories. I next write down the amount of calories. It adds to the total calories for the day. Finally I’ll put that blob of peanut butter in my mouth. Umm, so good!

I highly recommend getting this little time saving device. It will save anyone from guessing. There are more features on the SALTER Nutritional Scale than what I am mentioning here. You can look it up yourself. http://www.salterhousewares.com/

Then when you have weighed what you are going to eat, write it in your food journal. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Write it down. This way you can say to yourself, “I ate something.”

April 6, 2007

Well, did you purchase a note pad yet? Did you make some space in your computer for keeping records about what you ate today? I woke up this morning and weighed myself. I weighed in at 209.6 pounds. Now I am sitting here drinking a cup of coffee and writing.

If I was a manager and I was hiring someone to be a manager I would ask to see that persons food management records. What? How dare I? That’s right I would. I would also ask to see that person’s diary, and records. It’s because when a company is run it has to keep careful records. If someone can’t keep careful records then what could I expect him / her to do with my company? I’m not talking about discrimination. I am talking about being able to diagnose what’s going on.

Where were you and what did you do? My memory isn’t that good like it used to be. I used to keep careful records. Why did I quit? I guess I got lazy.

Last night I watched a video from NOVA. It was about the making of the new Joint Strike Fighter. Both the companies in the competition employed hundreds of people to build two prototypes. Well, so what? During every step of the manufacturing process every detail was documented. It was even filmed. When it came time to test the planes every single movement of the planes was recorded.

If it was important to record the making and testing of multi-million dollar airplanes, how important is it for me to keep a record of what I eat?

Why did I get so big? I can’t tell you. How did you get so big? Do you know? Do you care?

This morning (9:30 AM) I ate two fried pieces of bacon (80 calories), two scrambled eggs with cheese and salsa (290 calories) and four ounces of pink grapefruit juice (65 calories)

By the way I forgot to add something that I ate yesterday. I ate a fistful of trail mix (1 ounce 100 calories)

Did you eat a big blueberry muffin this morning? It’s OK. Did you write down the 600 calories? Don’t eat anymore until lunch. That’s it no more. So what if you get hungry? Look back on your records and tell yourself, “I already ate.”

Did you get the paper or journal?

April 5, 2007
Well, did you go get a spiral notebook or a lined journal to keep a record of what you ate? No, why didn't you? Are you serious about getting off the unwanted pounds? If you didn't get a journal ready, then at this time, you must not be ready to go for it and lose the pounds.

Let me tell you how I ended the day's food intake yesterday. I opened a 6 ounce can of tuna fish and then mixed in some mayonnaise with a quarter cup of shredded cheese. So one can of tuna (120 calories) plus one tablespoon of mayonnaise (100 calories) and the 1/4 cup of shredded cheese (100 calories). My total calorie intake for yesterday was 1,245 calories. Oh, I also had a shot of vodka (110 calories). By the way let me tell you something about alcohol. If you drink a lot of it, you'll get drunk. There... (I'm so profound.) And, I don't know if the tuna fish was dolphin free. Oh, and I don't know how much mercury was in it either.

WHOOPEE, you think. Who cares? Hey, you don't have to read this blog. And, I am letting you know, if you desire to lose weight you will have to do the same mundane, boring, redundant, peculiar, out of the ordinary things that I am doing. I warned you that's it's not going to be a cake walk. I just wrote a pun. Did you hunt down that calorie counter yet? The one I use is from the T-factor diet. It's a little calorie counter book with other information about the nutritional content of foods included. I got it cheap at the bargain bookstore.

I am going to tell you what I ate for lunch. A friend of mine and I went to Boston Market for lunch. I had the Day's special sandwich for $4.99. It was a 1/2 sandwich wheat roll (150 calories), with a few slices of turkey (100 calories), tomato (not many calories), some lettuce (not many calories) and mayonnaise (50 calories). The side dish was a whole pile of green beans. I had a couple of glasses of diet coke. That's it. I skipped breakfast because I got up later than I usually do.

Guess what? I walked away hungry. I didn't buy the big sandwich. I didn't try to fill every square inch of my tummy. I walked away. Now while I am blogging I have a tinge of hunger. Unfortunately I will (you will too.) have to get used to it. Do you think for one second I enjoy it? Oh, heck no I don't.

This morning I weighed myself at 210 pounds even. That's 30 pounds from where I started this adventure back in December of 2006.

Whoopee, yahoo, who cares? ME! Let me tell what losing 30 pounds is like. Take 3 ten-pound bowling balls put them in canvas bags and tie them to yourself around the waste, or strap them over your shoulders. How long could you walk around with those things on and not tire out? Well, that's what I felt like. Just think of the mass of those things. Bowling balls are more dense than fat. Imagine 3 ten-pound bags of fat hanging around the waste and shoulders. How convenient and comfortable would that be? Are you with me so far?

Some skinny guy that I work with made the comment to me, and I am paraphrasing, "I don't know how you could let yourself get like that." "Hey", I told him, "I didn't do it on purpose." That's right if you have a preponderance problem, you probably didn't do it on purpose either. It just happens.

In America there is an abundance of food. It's wonderful. However, most people aren't aware that they have an addiction to over eating. Many people consume more calories than they should to maintain a good weight for their height. I don't believe anyone deliberately makes himself / herself overweight. It just happens, unless of course, someone is getting himself ready to star in a Santa Claus story.

In my particular occupation I see a lot of over weight people. I see a lot of pretty young girls that could and should shed 20 to 30 pounds. I bet they don't know how. There's no one to show them how. There's no motivation to lose weight either.

About motivation; this is for you. Don't expect the world to stand up and go bravo you are losing weight. I guarantee they won't. Most people don't want to try. They think they can do it without keeping records. It's not true. If you don't know where you've been or what you did, then you won't be able to figure out where you are going. This is something that has to be monitored continuously. Get used to it.

Here's the end of the day meal. I had a Weight Watcher T.V. dinner SMART ONES. This particular meal was Fettucini Alfredo with broccoli flowers. It came in at 300 calories. It was a small pile of noodles in a very flavorful sauce, sprinkled with chunks of broccoli. Then I finished off a container of Plain Milk Yogurt (125 calories), and an eight ounce glass of whole milk (150 calories). That's it for the day for a grand total of 1,245 calories for this day. OK, I'm going to take a small nip of vodka later. That will add 110 calories.

I am going to tell you a story about what I saw today. I was outside of a well known coffee shop that's inside of a gas station. As I was filling I was staring in the window. They had a wide selection of baked goods inside of a plastic case. A very hot looking blond caught my eye. She was with her hot little friend. Blondie walked up to the case that had these giant sweet rolls inside. She reached in and grabbed one. That puppy was over 600 calories. The average woman shouldn't consume more than 1,800 calories a day. Now if that was her meal or a treat, how long do you think she could eat those things before she starts to split her bluejeans? She won't be able to for many years more that's for sure.

But, do you think she has any clue what she is doing to her self? No she doesn't. She would have been better off grabbing a piece of fruit. She could save herself a lot of trouble if she would start watching what she eats before she gets to the point she has to diet. Who will tell her? Will she even believe? I don't know.

April 4, 2007
What did you eat for breakfast? You mean you don't know? What did you eat last week for breakfast? You mean you don't know? I'll tell you what I ate this morning for breakfast: Coffee with Splenda (0 calories), two pieces of fried bacon (80 calories), two scrambled eggs with salsa and shredded cheese mixed in (eggs x 2=140 calories, cheese 28 grams 100 calories), miscellaneous for fried food (50 calories). Later at work I ate: 2 fried eggs (140 calories plus the 50 for frying), two pieces of toast (2 x 120 calories=240 calories), 4 ounces of orange juice. (65 calories), small bundle of green grapes (28 large green grapes 90 calories). How do I know? I wrote it down. When I get home I'll add it to my food journal.

Yes, I have a food journal. Years ago I used to keep one then I got away from it. Now, since I am working to shed those unwanted pounds, I'm writing one again. It may sound peculiar but it's the only way that I have to remember what I have eaten. And I use it to diagnose my food intake. I am resolved to keep it for the rest of my life.

You see, I can't go from day to day not knowing what it was I ate or I drank. I have to keep a record of everything. I know that this may sound peculiar, however, if I don't know then how can I change my diet? Not only that in the middle of the day when I get those awful hunger pains I have to be able to say to myself I already ate something; see I have it written down.

Did I write awful hunger pains? That's right, I wrote awful hunger pains. I have them now, even though I ate not more than three hours ago. I am not intaking any kind of diet pill to curb my appetite. I'm not munching on a stick of celery right now hoping they will go away. Because they won't go away. Not completely anyway.

And I defy any so called diet pro or doctor to prove to me that he/she can make those hunger pains disappear with the "right kind of food balance." Nonsense... It's not true. I've tried. I've used all kinds of diet pills, like Ephedra, and that African diet pill that supposedly kills hunger and gives energy. They don't work. Even if they did I wouldn't recommend a diet pill because I have to learn to control my appetite. So does anyone else need to. And it's hard. It's blinking, stinking, nausiatingly hard.

I could bulk up on foods like green beans, lettuce, cauliflower, and other green vegetables. That helps, but then sooner or later I will have to face the hunger pains. Then I can eat some comfort food, or just remember that I ate and learn to deal with it.

And, I know that there is some smart pants nutritionist that wants to tell me well if you'll do this or you'll do that then you will be more successful. Then she'll want to charge me for the advice. Nope, their isn't a magic formula for losing weight.

Your food journal doesn't have to be complicated. All you have to do is go to Office Depot and pick up a spiral legal notebook or some kind of a ledger book. I also found at a bargain book store some calorie counting books from the T-factor diet. These little guys are slick, not only do they have food items in there for most foods, but they include a list for some of the most popular fast food restaurants. Years ago before the internet became popular calorie counting books were everywhere. Now, they are scarcer than hens teeth. I had a devil of a time finding a small book that I could use to count calories with.

Well, I could go on the internet and count calories that way. Try it. Everyone on the internet wants to charge for the information. Not only so, I can't carry my desktop with me everywhere I go. So there. The government has a free calorie counter and nutritional web page.

Well, just how successful have I been so far? I am down 30 pounds. That's right 30 pounds, and I suffered to do it. I have more to go and I'll keep you posted.

Now, who would care about what I just wrote? Well, let me tell you a true story. This story is true for millions of Americans. It's called unregulated food consumption that results in a preponderance. How's that for polite speech? That's right for many Americans if their scale could talk it would scream, "get off me, you're breaking my springs."

Anyway I witnessed this over consumption of food this morning at a restaurant. I saw a very large woman get her plate of food, and her side dish. She was probably around 50 years old. When she sat on the chair the cheeks of her fanny hung over the edge of the chair by about 3 inches to each side. This lady was real wide at the hips. This woman is way, way to big for her own good. I asked myself, "how long has she been like this?" I felt sorry for her.

I wondered has she ever tried to lose that weight? Does she even care? And who would guide her? I know she could go to some weight specialist and he or she will load her up with prescription diet pills. Oh, she'll lose weight alright. Then when she gets off of the prescription she'll put all those pounds back on when her appetite returns with a vengeance. Then what will she do? She could be like a woman from T.V. and get her stomach redirected. But then for the rest of her life she'll be confined to eating these little tiny meals that will come up on her if she over eats. That's right stomach bisecting has consequences.

And, I do believe that the jury is still out on how long a person lives after undertaking something like that. I am not talking about having the colon cut to remove cancer. I am talking about having the stomach piping all redirected. And, I already know one man who had it done. He's not happy. Oh he has lost a lot of weight. Ya know what? He can't eat a full meal and enjoy it.

The idea I am trying to get across is that with persistence you can lose weight. It takes time, it takes thought, and it takes determination to burn the pounds off.

I'm not telling anyone what he or she should eat. But, there is a smart way to eat. Yes, you can have your cake, and eat it too. I do. I also eat a donut once in a while. However, I am careful how much I eat.

He said I should

He said I should write my own blog. He held a gun to my head and said I better. Up until now I have refused despite continuous blows to the side of my head. I couldn't think of what to blog.

What do I have to write, after all, that anyone would want to know or read? After months of coercion I finally relented to his brutal tactics. I couldn't even remember my password anymore to the blog site. A few more beatings and here I am, my spirit broken and my will gone to resisting his persistence. This is my friend after all. He means well. But, I am stubborn, and reluctant. After all, aren't there millions of blogs out there being written on computers from sea to shining sea?

All those blogs are so much more important to all the rest of the world; so much more than anything that I would write. And the passion that flows from those blogs writers is so much more frothy than anything that I would even try to convey to anyone; least of all to anyone out there who I don't know. But, here I am writing my nonsense, if only to avoid one more blow to the side of my head and the humiliation that I have suffered. Perhaps if I could stir some passion somewhere in this soul of mine someone would dare to read it. Perhaps... But, I must find something inside that stirs my interest. Perhaps I could be like Doogie Howser who was said to be the worlds first blogger. I never read those blogs, but I heard about them. Would anyone dare to read on and on tirelessly about anything that I would write? I don't know.

I could tell you one of my recent passions. Would you like to hear? It's something that millions of Americans struggle with. I am sure that there is at least one more person out there like me who wishes that he or she could find that magic formula to end the misery that I have struggled with. And I am sure that he or she would love to hear it's going to be an easy fix. It's not. It won't be. But, if you'll do what I tell you then you will succeed. And I won't charge you for the knowledge that I have, although many do.

I have a family member who actually joined a club to do what I am doing. She pays a monthly fee. But, the oohs and awes of her fellow club members wouldn't inspire me. Besides, I wouldn't want to pay anyone for the motivation that comes from inside a place that's full of being sick and tired. That's right a place where I'm sick and tired inside. I'm sick and tired of huffing and puffing going up and down the stairs. I'm sick and tired of joints in my knees hurting day in and day out. I'm tired of looking in the mirror and seeing a bloated face. I'm tired of not being able to button my pants.

By now surely you have figured out what I am writing about. That's right. I am writing about losing weight, losing those excess pounds, fighting the bulge, tight fitting clothes, and day after day clothes that keep getting tighter. That's right I am talking about losing weight.

I have read the books. And believe me some of the solutions make me shutter. I know a man who had his stomach stapled. Now that poor soul is miserable. Oh he lost the weight that's for sure. But, if he eats more than a thimble full of food or drink he belches up his food like a new born baby spitting up sour milk. For me that would be a lousy way to live. Not only so, but never again will this guy ever be able to experience one of those days like a Thanksgiving Day when you just have to go overboard and enjoy oneself. I can. So will you be able to if you will read and do what I say. For now I must go, I will continue. This will get you wondering what am I talking about. But, I promise, I am successful this far. I will tell you more.