This morning I woke up real early and went to work. I weighed in at 200.6 pounds.
I ate a Lean Pocket, and a granola bar for breakfast and left for work. When I returned and weighed myself at 11:45 I was 199.4 pounds.

Of course I did use the porcelain throne a couple times. I guess I'm just full of ...........!

I was carrying around stuff that had to leave...

Yesterday I had about 1,090 calories total. I had two TV dinners, and a granola bar. I wasn't real hungry yesterday.

Today I had:

• Lean Pocket (280 calories)
• Granola bar (120 calories)
• Healthy Choice TV dinner (300 calories)
• Milk (150 calories)

Feeling Real Good
This morning I was laying in bed thinking about how much better I feel having shed so much weight. I wake up easier in the morning. Most of the time I don't use the clock.

I am feeling a general better disposition about life. I was thinking I FEEL GOOD!

You will too if you lose those pounds.

By for now...

Oh Those Holiday Temptations

Yesterday was Memorial Day. I didn't blog, but oh did I eat.

I stepped on the scale in the morning weighing in at 201 pounds. Just before noon I stepped on the scale again at 199.6-pounds. This was the weight I weighed even after having eaten breakfast. So I am flirting with the 200-pound limit still.

About a week ago I blogged that I would now rocket down to 190-pounds. I couldn't have been more wrong. This is tougher than I thought that it was going to be.

This morning I stepped on the scale weighing in at 201 pounds.

Now, I suspect that this is yesterday's dinner waiting to make it's exit. We shall see.

Yesterday's menu was a disaster for my weight loss program. I went to a friend's house and they were barbecuing. I ate more than I really needed to. Oh it was all very good food. It's just what would I look like if I ate like that everyday? I would be back up at 240 pounds in no time at all.

This is the menu for yesterday:

In the morning:

• Fish-two breaded (290 calories)

At noon:

• Cottage Cheese (110 calories)
• Eggs-two boiled (140 calories)

Around 3 O'clock:

• Steak-7 ounce (440 calories)
• Bratwurst-2 ounce (256 calories)
• Chicken Breast-Whole breast (472 calories)
• Macaroni Salad-about one cup (200 calories)
• Brownie-1 1/2 pieces (180 calories)
• Chocolate Cake-two small slices (500 calories)
• Fruit Salad (150 calories)
• Tea with honey-tablespoon (60 calories)

Total intake for this holiday 2,788 calories.

The difference to my 1,500 calorie goal was 1,288 calories. That's almost one day's worth of food there for me.

Well, I certainly think this delays me getting under 200 pounds and then staying there. But, the food was good.

As I wrote before, how long do I think that I can eat like this and not regain all the weight that I have fought so hard to get off? It would all come back on with a vengeance. I would regain everything and then some more.

The Holidays Are Hard For Weight Watching
I'm not saying oh I want sympathy. But, I can certainly understand why we struggle to keep the weight off.

Everyone I know thinks the holidays are a time for celebration. These are the day's we can indulge and act irresponsibly. I know, this is what someone was telling me yesterday.

Here is the problem with this kind of thinking. We already overindulge ourselves everyday of the year. This is why we are becoming a nation of fat people.

The Holidays become a day of extra overindulgence. We just double our efforts that's all. We double our over consumption.

The Friends And Their Temptations
My friend was sneaking brownies off of a plate on a kitchen counter and he offered me one. I said I will take a small chunk. Well, I took the small chunk and ate it.

It was a delicious little morsel of food. That little chunk turned out to be 50 calories. Before the day was done I ate one whole brownie myself. That wasn't so bad until I had the chocolate cake to go with it. Then together I estimate I consumed 680 calories. Maybe I had more than that. I had no way to measure what I ate. I just guessed at how many calories I actually consumed.

This is where we all run into trouble. We aren't aware of what it is that we are eating. Then we all wonder why we blow up like balloons.

There was a woman at this back yard barbecue. She saw me writing down what I ate. She said some doctor said that we shouldn't deprive ourselves on holidays. She told me to stop counting the calories. She also told me to throw away the piece of paper that I wrote what I ate on.

Now, it's people like this we need to ignore. I want to lose weight, and not killing myself to do it. I need to know what it was that I ate.

I can't afford to listen to people who think that they know better than me what I should do. You can't either.

Now this woman that I was sitting in front of admitted to me she was 40 pounds more than she should be. ........... What?............ She's giving me weight loss advice?

Be nice to people like this. Be polite, but don't listen to a thing they have to say when it pertains to your goals to lose weight. Let people's helpful suggestions roll off you like water off a duck's back.

Here is why, their suggestions are just foolish nonsense. Some people think they are actually being wise, but they have absolutely no idea how you or I got fat in the first place.

They weren't there at the last holiday when we thought we could get away with two ice cream bars, half the pizza, and twenty pieces of hard candy.

They weren't there when the last helpful friend was suggesting stop counting calories.

Did I write fat? Yes I did. I get tired of these people. You should too. With friends like this who needs an enemy?

Understand Why You Are Preponderant
There is only one way that you and I can figure out why we are so preponderant. This is why we write down everything that we consume. We need to diagnose our food consumption.

If I listened to this woman and threw out the paper that I wrote on I would be missing a key component of my diagnostic tool for weight loss.

I would be blind as to how I could change what I need to change. This is why I tell people to write down what it is they are eating.

I say get into the habit of writing down everything that we eat. This includes counting those little packets of sugar that we toss into our morning coffee. After all sugar is 30 calories a teaspoon full. The calories add up.

If I were to ignore what I am eating and tried to guess what I am eating meal to meal, eventually I would mess up and regain all the weight again.

I can't remember anymore what I ate. I don't ever try. This is why I write down every thing that I eat.

I am reminding myself if I ate when I am getting hungry. I am diagnosing my food consumption. I am pre-planning my food strategy.

I am not just shooting into the dark with my food consumption and then hoping I hit my target or that my metabolism will be high enough to burn off the extra fat.

If by chance someone is reading this blog and you want to lose weight, you have to start writing down what you are eating.

You have to have a written record of what it is that you ate. I do. It's helping me.

Bye for now...

After I Blogged I Ate A Little Bit More

Sunday-May 27, 2007 I blogged in the afternoon. I went home that evening and was hungry at around 10:30 at night. I had a small amount of cottage cheese, and a small salad before I went to bed. I also had two beers earlier in the evening. This put my total calories in at around 1,500 calories for the day. Not bad...

All Is Not Lost In This "Battle Of The Bulge"

Well, due to technical difficulty I wasn't able to blog for a few days. My weight has gone up, and it has gone down.

After I blogged on Thursday, May 24, 2007 I went home. I stepped on the scale at 199.8-pounds. So I suspect that the extra poundage was just food waiting to find it's way out.

As far as my weight for this morning goes, I weighed 201.6-pounds. I ate late last night. I suspect that most of that too is food waiting leave.

I won't be blogging tomorrow because of the Memorial Day Holiday.
Today's menu was:

• Bacon-3 strips (120 calories)
• Eggs-2 fried (160 calories)
• Salsa on top (20 calories)
• Cheese (30 calories)
• Pretzels (110 calories)
• Potato Chips (190 calories)
• Subway Cold Cuts Sandwich-6 inches (410 calories)
• Mayonaise (110 calories)
• One small chocolate cookie (50 calories)

That's all that I have eaten today so far.

I have consitently eaten less that my 1,500 calorie goal the last three days. I don't have the tablet with me so I can't tell you what I ate, or even weighed.

It's safe to say I have been a good boy the last three days. I do expect it will pay off.

That's all for now.....

Third Day Up And Over 200 Pounds

Oh, the shame, I am back up over 200-pounds. Today I woke up and stepped onto the scale at 201.6-pounds.

What is happening?

Ummm, let's see. Last night I went to the Chicago White Socks game. And I got to watch them lose 4 points to 0 points.

I was an invited guest and we were up on the patio over center field. This was a great view by the way.

Anyway, there was all this free food there. I ate a hamburger on a bun, a large hot dog on a bun, and a chicken fillet on a bun. That was all my 1,500 calories for the day in those sandwiches.

Since it was so late in the evening all that food was still inside of me when I woke up in the morning. I had not eliminated yet.

The same thing has happened today. A friend paid for my lunch. I had a corn beef sandwich with a large baked potato.

I fully expect to step on the scale at least 3 pounds up over 200 pounds tomorrow. Oh well that is how it goes.

Remember, I am just like you. I over eat too. Sure beats getting my stomach tied.

Bye for now....

Second Disappointing Day On The Scale-He's Over 200 Again

Well, this morning I stepped on the scale at 201 pounds.

This may seem dismal after having been just under 200-pounds the other day at 199.8 pounds.
For you maybe, but for me this is fabulous. What? Hey, I'm not going to be neurotic about cutting off the pounds here.

I refuse to get my underwear in a knot because I went back up a couple pounds. Remember the overall trend over these last six months has been down. If there are any statisticians out there who could graph my weight loss progress they could draw a straight line across the middle of the graph and see my weight is trending down.

Yesterday I ate sensibly. The day before yesterday I ate sensibly. I didn't eat to much food, and I didn't starve myself either.

This weight loss thing that I am doing is going to be a life long thing here.
It's not a hit the mark and then forget I ever lost weight; then I get to go back to pigging out.
NO!

Talking To A Real Fat Man
Yesterday I was talking to a man who is a charter bus driver. He was telling me how he lost 42 pounds last year by eating one McDonald's Egg McMuffin in the morning, skipping lunch, and then eating a salad in the evening.

He said he did this so he could pass the physical to renew his Drivers License. What? He did it just for that?

Here is the sad part of the story, he said he regained it all and more. That's right, when anyone starves themselves to lose weight the body kicks in extra reserves of fat.

Why, oh why, after struggling to lose four 10-pound-bowling balls, or five one-gallon jugs of water off of their body would anyone let it come back again?

I tell you the truth I lost weight, but couldn't figure out how to keep it off. I never really made the calorie connection thing here. Now, I know what calories mean. I know what monitoring my weight means.

Now, I have the weapons I need to lose the weight and keep that weight off. To hell with all the stinking critics out there with there comments like, "Well, you gotta keep it off."

Yes, it's hard to get the weight off. Yes, everyone has to struggle with hunger. Yes, I have to watch what I eat. Yes, it's a pain in my behind to do this. It's worth it.

I can't tell you how much my energy levels have jumped up. I go all day without napping. I get up in the morning with just about eight hours of sleep. This is without the aid of a clock. The fog in my mind seems to be slowly lifting. I feel better. I feel much, much, much better.

I'm not starving to get off the pounds. I just reduced my total intake. That's all.

I wish I could shake people and get them to listen to me. I am not killing myself to lose weight. I am not denying myself little treats along the way. Yesterday I had a granola bar with chocolate in it. Yummy...

I Don't Know When I Will Have Any Impact
I am frustrated. I see people who are so overweight. I wish I could give to them the will power to get the fat off. I can't. I am frustrated because of it.

When I was overweight I could feel it. I could see it when I removed my clothes. I still see that extra 30 pounds when I remove my shirt. My legs have really leaned out. All that reserve fat is in my guts.

It's better than it was.

I just wish I could impress on people how important it is to get those pounds off. I am becoming a nut on people. Maybe someday I'll have a show like Richard Simmons did.

I wouldn't turn to weight loss exchange cards like he did. I wouldn't turn to the food exchange program like weight watchers. Here is why, because it's the portion size that counts.

If I eat a giant hamburger on a giant bun there goes 700 calories. Last night I had a ground turkey burger on a small bun. The total calories was half that at 350 calories.

It's the amount of food that we eat that gets us into trouble.

My Other Friend Is A Sugar Addict
Yesterday I went to lunch with another friend. He purchased a piece of fried chicken. He also purchase fruit yogurt, and two boxes of granola bars.

When I sat and watched him eat, he ate the chicken, the yogurt, and three granola bars. All, had loads of sugar. He also had a large coffee with three teaspoons of sugar in it.

He, like so many people, are addicted to sugar. He has to have sugar in his coffee, he has to eat it with every meal. It's no wonder he is gaining weight.

If this is you, you too will gain weight. Then one day you will awaken with the symptoms of a type-two-diabetic like my brothers.

Maybe then he'll quit eating so much sugar.

If you are a sugar addict then you are in trouble from the start. I am convinced sugar is one of the biggest food consumption issues today. Everything seems to have sugar in it.

When I see someone that eats a lot of sugar, I don't even listen to a word he says about weight loss. That's right. I look at a sugar consumer like I look at a smoker. I think, "Here is a person with an addiction."

If he is overweight and then tries to advise me about how to lose weight, the advice flies past me. I don't even acknowledge it.

Here is why. Because the person has a habit they won't kick. I don't say don't eat sugar. I say watch what you are eating. If you eat a lot of sugar and don't realize it, then something is wrong.

Weight Loss begins with admitting the truth. The truth is if you are overweight then you eat to much food. For most people this is the case.

I didn't say don't eat. I say regulate what you eat. Keep a watch on what you put inside your mouth and swallow.

Is is hard? Yes, darned right it's hard. Do I like it? NO, I don't like it. Do I want to throw in the towel? Darn sure I want to throw in the towel. Do I wish I could just eat, and eat? Yes, many times I want to eat and eat.

Then I remember how good I really feel. I remember how my clothes fit better. I remember how my energy has gone up. I remember how I can run up more stairs now. I remember that my heart rate has fallen.

I have terrific benefits from losing those extra pounds of fat. I remember that every time I get tempted to over eat. I remember how unhappy I was. I remember how happy I am now.

I hated that extra fat. I lothed being over the weight that I should be at. I was desperate to find a permanent solution that wouldn't kill me in the long run.

I found that solution to permanent weight loss. It's as natural as rolling out of bed.

It's called EAT LESS FOOD.

Bye for now...

Going Up Again?-Back Up Over 200 Pounds

Yesterday Tuesday, May 22, 2007 I couldn't blog. I stepped on the scale at 201.4-pounds.

My Complete menu for yesterday was:

• Bacon-1 strip fried (40 calories)
• Egg-1 fried (80 calories)
• Cheese (30 calories)
• Milk (150 calories)
• Chicken-roasted brest w/skin (380 calories)
• Green Beans-1 cup (30 calories)
• Carrots-cooked 1 cup with butter (100 calories)
• Granola bar-Carribou Mint Coffee (140 calories)
• Ground Turkey Pattie (200 calories)
• Bun (150 calories)
• Total Calories for yesterday 1,420 calories

Doing A Little Walking To Burn Some Calories Helps

I Blogged this afternoon and mentioned that I weighed in at 199.8-pounds.

I went to the track after I blogged and walked for 40 minutes. I measured my heart rate in the middle of the walk and it was up around 110-beats-per-minute. That's good considering my resting weight has been around 70-beats-per-minute.

So I got my heart rate up a little while there and burned about 150 calories is what I am estimating. Now, do I get to eat those 150 calories. Well, I could, but I won't.

I went home after my walk and weighed in at exactly 200-pounds. This means maybe tomorrow I will be at 199 even. We shall see.

My Friend Doesn't Believe The Body Has Resistance Points
I have a friend that I went to the track with. He ran, while I walked. I am not in any shape to be jogging. I have a problem with my knee joints, which is partially why I was so anxious to lose the weight.

My friend and I talked about the body having points along the weight loss scale where the body holds on as long as it can to the extra fat. He said that the body doesn't count numbers.

Well, I didn't think that this was true either. But, it seems that at every 10 pound point in my weight reduction program I stuck for about two or three weeks. This 200-pound limit is where I stuck for about two weeks.

Now that barrier seems to be finally collapsing. It's going to be a rocket ride down to 190-pounds from here. Once I finally don't weigh 200 at all my body will slide down to 190 pounds.

I was sure that I would be at 190 pounds by the middle of June. I don't think that will happen.

I am going home to stir fry some vegetables, and a can of tuna fish. Then I am going to drink a glass of wine.

Bye for now...

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, The 200-Pound Barrier Is Broken

This morning I woke up and weighed in a 199.8-pounds.

It's been two weeks that I have hovered over that 200-pound weight level. My body just didn't want to give it up.

You will experience the same thing. You'll have a hard time with certain points where the weight just stays there. It could be at the 5 pound mark or it could be the 10 pound mark. But, that body set point will be there. It will be a point where the body locks in and every calorie you eat goes back to fat.

I think this is the bodies way of protecting itself. I think the body has a survival mode. I also think that our bodies are spoiled. We allow ourselves to eat everytime we want something to satisfy a need. Then it becomes a habit to eat.

The Critics Can Be Your Closest Friends
Today I went with a friend to the movies. Before that we were walking around the mall. We came upon a new food store that has a kitchen where a person goes in and personally prepares a home meal. It's a cool concept for Mom's and Dad's on the go.

My friend was talking to the woman who ran the place. She said that the food is regular restaurant food that isn't available in a grocery store. She told us there wasn't any diet food there.

Well my friend said, "Diet is just the word die with a T." Then I asked him what do you mean, "Diet is the word Die with a T." Then he said, "Yes, you can die from malnutrition on a diet."
Then he said it's the word, "Die with a little crusifix after it."

Excuse me? I beg to differ. Diet is a controlled food intake program. I am on a diet. He should be too.

How do you think people get so big. They eat way to much food. And, they eat the wrong food.
For example, my sister told me that she is back to drinking a two liter of Regular Dr. Pepper every day (1000 calories).

Every where I go I hear people who are unwilling to shave off the excessive fat making comments critical of what I am trying to accomplish here in this blog.

If you are overweight, then there could be serious consequenses to your health. Get it through your head. I feel great having lost what I lost.

It's A Different Feeling Than Before
Back in the year of 2002 I lost 60 pounds doing the Dr. Atkins Diet. I didn't keep the kind of records that I am now. So maybe I wouldn't have regained the weight.

I have a different feeling now than I did then. I am eating less food. I am not eating just one kind of food which was mostly meat.

I had a tendency to eat way too much meat thinking that it was OK. No, it wasn't. And if I could ever get a letter off to the Atkins people I would share with them my experience.

You still have to count those calories. Anyway, with the current method I am using I feel a whole lot better than I did when I was just consuming meat.

My stomach is shrinking. I am not starving myself as some people would illude to. I actually eat stuff like popcorn out the bag at the movies. I have desserts. I just total up the calories.

Now, when I hit my goal of 170 pounds, I don't know how many calories I will be able to consume to keep myself level. However, I will always, always, always, have to watch what I eat.
This will never end.

I can't get lazy and say, "Well, I've arrived at my goal weight. I can go back to eating everything that I want." That isn't going to work for me, and it won't work for you.

For breakfast I had a Lean Pocket (280 calories), at noon I had half of a lunch bag of popcorn (400 calories). When I came home I had a Beef Pot Pie (450 calories). I also had two mugs of coffee, and a diet coke.

Bye for now...

Protein Is An Essential Food-Don't Avoid It

Why Protein Digestion Is So Important
An essential macronutrient, protein is used by the body to build and repair cells, to regulate a huge number of body functions. For example, almost 50 percent of the dietary protein we consume each day goes into making enzymes, the specialized proteins that help to digest food, assemble or divide molecules to make new cells and other chemical substances. Protein is also used to make neurotransmitters, essential for sending nerve messages around the body. Protein is also used in the creation of DNA and RNA, the nucleic acids responsible for determining how our body cells are formed and how they behave.

***The above information was borrowed from a different website.***


Today I talked to my sister about the woman who I wrote about in my blog a couple of days ago. My sister agreed with me that this woman I was describing may have an eating disorder. She was telling me that more and more people in the senior years are being discovered to have eating disorders.

We also talked about people who she knows who are now ailing from having the stomach surgery that reroutes all the piping. She told me that many of them are suffering from malnutrition. She was also telling me some are now battling protein deficiency.

Both situations above are very serious situations. If a woman is overweight and decides to starve herself so she could lose weight she is heading for heart problems, an increase in the possibility of diabetes, brain shrinkage, and a whole host of other problems that come with eating poorly.

Having ones stomach rerouted is beginning to show the same results. I am predicting that in the future they will discover that people who have had their piping rerouted will live shorter lives.

What Can I Do That's Reasonable To Lose Weight?
Now, what can be done about this problem of being overweight?

You can start by purchasing a good quality digital weight scale. And if you are over 300 pounds you will probably have to purchase a very special digital scale. Most digital scales only go up to 300 pounds.

With that scale start getting into the habit of weighing yourself each morning when you roll out of bed like I do. When you weigh yourself immediately record the date and your weight.

When you have finally gotten into the habit of weighing yourself everyday, then you can begin to record the food that you eat. That's right every single item that you eat has to be recorded.

Record each piece of candy that you suck on, and every piece of chewing gum that you toss into your mouth as well.

Why? It's because you are developing the habit of watching your food intake. Sometimes I have to resort to writing my food consumption on a napkin. Today I used the corner of the restaurant paper that goes under the food plate.

When you have finally developed the habits of recording your weight and the food that you eat then you can move on to counting the calories.

Right now all I want you to do is to record what you are eating.

It took time to get used to writing down everything down I ate. Sometimes I would forget and later realize I hadn't recorded what I ate. The habit is more ingrained now. It's still a pain to do it though.

People think I am nuts. The fat people feel guilty because it reminds them they don't pay close enough attention to what it is they are eating. The skinny people are annoyed because they can't figure out why someone would have to go through so much trouble to write down what he eats.

So, it's a no win situation with most people who you encounter. Forget about the critics, just write down what you eat.

When you see what it is that you are eating you will be able to evaluate why you are putting on the pounds instead of taking off the pounds.

I will end here with beginning to lose the weight. I will continue that on another day.

My Critical Friend
I have a friend who is critical of my methodology to lose weight. Today he was telling me, "Diets don't work. They never have, and they never will."

Meanwhile as he is saying the above mentioned statements I am thinking, "Well then what is sitting directly in front of you?"

He is just one of the kind of people you will run into while on a diet.

At church today there was a very large preponderant woman sitting to my left. I was dying to tell her, "Hey lose the weight." I kid you not.

Here her husband was thin, and she's overweight. She had gigantic breasts and a big fanny. She could stand to lose 80 or so pounds.

After worship I turned to her and said, "I can tell you how God has answered one of my prayers this last year." She said, "what?" I said, "He gave me the wisdom to carefully lose 40 pounds."

Her is what she said, "Well, lets see if you can keep it off."

I wanted to say, "Hey FATSO let's see if you will lose anything at all." I didn't say what I was thinking. I was gracious and said, "I will keep it off because I monitor carefully everything that I eat."

That was shear jealousy flying out of her. You will run into those people.

There isn't anything you or I can do for those kinds of people. The old saying holds true here, "Change yourself, don't even try to change anyone else."

This weight loss gig is my thing and my thing only. If by chance you are attempting to lose weight take heart, "If I can do it. You can do it."

I woke up this morning and weighed in at 200-pounds again on the dot. I still haven't broken through the 200-pound barrier.

My body is giving me stiff resistance here at this set point. I expect this is going to be a battle to break the barrier. I have been hovering just over 200 for over a week. My body goes up, and then it goes down, but it never goes through that barrier.

By the way this is probably normal. If I was cutting off the pounds to quickly, I am not so sure that's really healthy. My body is letting me know somehow it wants to hold on to that extra fat. This is because the body wants to stay where it was. It's gotten dependent on keeping fat around. I have also probably become somewhat immune to my own insulin. More on that another time.

Today I ate:

• Mixed vegetables-2 cups
• Tuna-1/2 cup
• Honey-1 tablespoon

At lunch I had:

• Talapi fish-3.5 ounces
• Corn-1/2 cup
• Rice-1/2 cup
• Brocolli
• Buttered French Bread

That's all I am going to have today. I am pretty much set for my caloried count for the day. I haven't calculated my calorie count yet. I am quessing it's pretty close to the 1,500 calorie mark here.
Bye for now......

The Barrier Is Breaking; Persistence Pays off

Well, I woke up today after having been out all night on a Lake Michigan Cruise. I had the buffet last night and it was after midnight when I was eating. So do I enter that as yesterdays food, or today's food?

Anyway when I woke up at 11 AM I weighed myself at noon in at 200-pounds on the dot.

I am so close to breaking the 200-pound barrier my digital scale kept flashing between 199.8-pounds and 200-pounds to finally settle with 200-pounds on the dot.

Will I finally go under 200 tomorrow. Who knows? I am glad to have gotten this far. It's been rough. I kid you not.

When I went out on that cruise last night there was a buffet all kinds of bite sized delicacies.
I wondered if I really should eat something. I gave into my desire. I even had some desert.

The only reason I was questioning if I should eat anything is because I really wanted to finally get below the 200-pounds today. That's all.

I totaled what I ate at the buffet with what I had during the day. I am estimating I came in at 2000 total calories before I retired to bed at 6 AM in the morning.

Today I ate around noon. I ate breaded fish (290 calories), and a salad with dressing (140 calories). That's all I have had today so far.

I don't know what I will eat when I get home.

I am going to mention something. I remember when I was much younger than I am now. I don't remember having food so easily available every place I go. Every function that I go to has food associated with it. Doesn't it seem like every place we go there are people eating or drinking something?

It is no wonder there are now so many preponderant people everywhere. It's because food is everywhere.

Now last night I didn't feel one pang of guilt because I ate what I ate. I had to eat something because I was going to be up all night long. And, I had not eaten anything since almost three o'clock. I figured I should eat.

I picked and chose. I could have eaten more because I was still very hungry. I just said no to fulfilling my desire to satisfy myself.

But, most people don't do that. This is why there are now so many preponderant people tipping the scales.

I ate at the buffet last night (or was it this morning?):

• Bite size raviolis with sauce x 4 (est. 200 calories)
• Finger sized tortilla's filled with meat sauce x 4 (est. 400 calories)
• Small ham sandwich (est. 150 calories)
• Thumb Sized Chocolate Eclairs x 3 (est. 150 calories)
• Tostito Chips x 4 (20 calories)

Total calories as I wrote above are estimated at 2000 calories for my time awake before bed time.

I have no words or insights to share today. I am still a bit doggish from having been awake all night long. So I am not feeling real philosophical right now.

Bye for now...

Weight Set Points Can Be Broken; Change Up Your Foods

This morning I woke up and weighed in at 200.4-pounds. I thought for sure last night before I went to bed today would be the day that I would blow through the 200-pound barrier.

It's now been a week that I have been hovering above the 200-pounds barrier. It seems to be a normal set point for my body. Every time I get close to the 10 pounds point I hit this invisible barrier. I thought that maybe it was just something in my mind.

It's like I wrote before, "slow but steady." Don't kill yourself to lose weight. Monitor your progress. Be persistent in a set plan of attack for the weight. Eat a little bit less. Count those calories.

Some people say count the fat grams. Hmmm? Let me see. If I count the fat grams then let's completely eliminate fried chicken, fried eggs, fried fish, fried food entirely. It's because fried food absorbs fat.

How many fat grams in a piece of fried chicken Mr. Expert on weight loss? Oh, you can't tell me off the top of your head? Then what am I and the general public supposed to do?

What is the average weight-watcher, or preponderant person supposed to do? How, with all of the different ideas about weight loss, is a person supposed to navigate through the tidal wave of information coming at them with diet books, diet tapes, diet cards, and other people who have hair brained ideas about weight reduction?

Do what works, that is what I say. EAT LESS FOOD! But, for goodness sake eat something!

What Should I Do?
How do you eat less food? How do I know when I have had the right amounts?

Answer: Read the label.

On every package of processed food there is a label. Two facts about the food are on the label. Portion size, and calories allocated for that portion.

There is also a table that gives government recommended total calories. Most labels show 2000 calories for the average person.

This fact was established years ago. The average diet should only be around 2000 calories.

What? I have to eat 2000 calories? Well, maybe? If you are like me 2000 calories may even be a little bit too much. After all at 1,500 calories I am just barely shedding the pounds. With 2000 calories a day and my current activity levels, I may actually gain weight. You might gain weight too.

Let's say someone is laid up in bed. There is very little physical activity. Someone eating 2000 calories in that case may just be eating to many calories. I don't know for sure.

I have a friend that can eat a whopper hamburger with three meat patties on it. Every time we go out he eats gigantic amounts of food. He eats full size sandwiches, big beef burgers, etc.. Yet he's thin as a rail.

How is that for him, and not for you or me? I don't know. He has a different metabolism. I can't answer for him. If you are preponderant (tipping the scales) then you aren't like him either.

Living in denial of what is fact and fiction gets us all into trouble. The fact is: I was obese. I was preponderant. I had to do something to fix this problem.

If you want to get trimmed up, then you too are going to have to do something. You can pay hundreds of dollars for advice, or maybe read along with my blog.

I don't charge for what I am writing. I am having fun writing this blog. I hope someone stumbles upon it and can see that there is a real person out there losing weight, and not killing himself to do it.

I couldn't blog for yesterday. I stepped on the scale in the morning at 201.4 pounds.
I ate a Lean Pocket Ham & Cheddar Cheese for breakfast. I was up at 4:45 AM. At 11:00 I ate at Burger King. I had a Large Omelet Sandwich (730 calories). Ouch! I also ate small potato hash browns circles (230 calories). My total calories for yesterday were under1,300 calories.

After I had that sandwich which had eggs, sausage, bacon and cheese on it, along with the potato hash browns; I figured out that I was pretty close to my daily allotment of calories.

I quit eating after that. Yep I went the rest of the day without eating. Was I hungry? Yes, I had some hunger. I also knew that I wasn't going to starve to death. I had eaten. That was it. I hit the wall on the calories.

I could have squeezed in maybe 300 more calories of food. I decided why bother? I wasn't as hungry as I used to be.

In the beginning of my dieting adventure I was dying of hunger. Now, I am learning slowly to deal with the hunger. I think about what I ate, and realize I am not going to die today from starvation.

Why Did I Write About Someone Else?
Two days ago I wrote on my blog about a woman who I know personally.

I talked about my view on her weight loss. I also commented that I think she has a problem. Why?

It's because this might be you. You may be one of those people who thinks everything is OK because you aren't eating. If you aren't eating then you are slowly starving. You are depriving the body of the nutrients it needs to survive.

When I write about losing weight, I am not advocating starvation. The only time I might advocate starvation is for purging the body. Doctors do it with patients before testing in the colon area.

I might say fast for one day to give the body a chance to detoxify itself. Then I would recommend water and fluids like juice or gatorade during that time period.

However fasting as a program to lose weight and then not realizing that there is a problem is just a recipe for disaster.

Don't be foolish. Eat something. If you are persistent you will be able to figure out what works. For me 1,500 calories is about all I can take in before I stop shedding the fat.

Your Body Will Do What It Was Designed To Do
Your body will do the what it needs to get energy. If you give it some protein it won't destroy your muscle tissue for amino acids. If you give it some vegetables and fruits it will have some sugar and fiber. If you give it a little bit of carobohydrates it will have a little glucose. If you give it some fat it will get some fat for the brain.

I say just enough to live. After that the body is going to go after that stored fat. It will have to. That's when you will begin to see the fat start to melt off.

And don't think your spoiled body isn't going to throw temper tantrums because it will. In the beginning you'll get dizzy, you'll feel hungry like crazy. You'll think that you're going to die.

Sooner of later the body gets trained to think, "Hey, there is another source of energy called fat here."

Don't give in, and don't give up. It's not easy. It's been a little hell for me to get off 40 pounds.

What Did I Eat Today?
This morning I ate stir fried vegetables, with a can of Tuna Fish.

I stir fried two cups of mixed vegetables in a wok. This time I tossed in some salsa, honey, grapefruit juice, and olive oil. I fried the veggies for 10 minutes or so. Then I tossed in a can of Tuna Fish.

It was yummy. It was a filling meal with not so many calories. The vegetables really act to bulk up the stomach with food without adding so many calories.

You might try doing this for a meal. I was a tad bit hungry after I ate it. But, when the sugar inside the food finally hit the blood stream the hunger dissipated.

Bye for now....

Eating Disorders

This morning I blogged and mentioned something about a woman I know who lost 16 pounds over the year. Well, I did some Internet searching and found that she may have an eating disorder.

That's right, she may have an eating disorder. A couple of years ago her husband died. She has been alone ever since. She has no family close by except her estranged sister. She is in her early sixties.

The woman may be struggling with depression and she is unable to admit it. She may not even know she has a problem. I asked some people about her. My elderly mother seems to think that she may very well have lost her appetite.

Nonsense, many woman in there older years are now being discovered to have self image problems like teenage girls. They are finding woman who are alone with no support to be having behavior problems like anorexia nervosa and volemia. See the link below.

http://www.anred.com/elder.html

I wondered if I might be wrong here. This is a woman who has been overweight for as many years as I have known her. Now suddenly she is endowed with no appetite. Something is wrong.
She is only about sixty years old, and she puts on see-through blouses and mini-skirts.

Call me ignorant, but that picture isn't right. She isn't healthy. If she doesn't eat properly eventually she will die from malnutrition.

There may be medications that she is taking for depression that she doesn't know suppress her appetite. She may be on an anti-depressant and she won't tell anyone because she thinks there is a stigma attached to it in people's minds.

I don't know, but I don't think she is OK. And I can hardly say that I am so excited to see her losing weight without eating.

If you are like this maybe you should seek help.

I have been systematically watching my food intake. I don't deliberately starve myself. I try not to mis a meal if I can help it.

I have experienced a little bit lower appetite myself lately. This is only after I eat. If I skip food in the morning I feel it. I can't go without food.

I don't want to go without food. I know that I should eat something. I just try to keep my calories at around 1,500 for the day.

I finished out today with a lunch bag size buttered popcorn at the movies. In the evening I had a lean pocket.

That Set Point Is Breaking, Will I Break Through 200 Pounds?

Hey, today I woke up and weighed in at 201-pounds.
After I took my bath I stepped on the scale at 200.4-pounds.
Gee, was it just dirt?

I am now hovering just over 200-pounds. Will I Break Through the 200-pound-barrier? It seems that my set point is beginning to break here. Even after having gone back up as high as 206-pounds. It may just have been a back up in my intestines. Who knows?

I have made a fundamental change in my diet, thanks to my aunts unwitting suggestion. I am now eating fish, instead of red meat, and chicken. Could this be the change that I was looking for?

Today I stir fried some more vegetables, and tossed in another can of tuna. This time I tossed in 40 grams of raisins>1/4 cup (130 calories). The whole meal this morning was 420 calories. I had a glass of whole milk this added 150 calories. My total intake this morning was 600 calories.

Am I killing myself here? NO, I had over a pound of food this morning. I better not be.

I also took my vitamins, calcium, vegetable drink, and ester C today. So, I am supplementing.

Some Woman's Recipe For Death
Yesterday I heard a woman talking about how she lost 16-pounds over the year. She thinks that God has done it for her. NO, he didn't. Here is why. She's not eating. She claims that she has lost her appetite.

If someone lost their appetite either he / she is on drugs, or they are sick. That's it. (My ex-girl friend was a cocaine user, I have first hand experience here.)

I asked this woman what she has done to lose 16-pounds. She said that she has been eating maybe one meal a day. She said when she gets hungry she'll eat a Twinkie, or a cup cake and then she feels full. ...........What?...... She eats a Twinkie, and then feels full?

Hey that isn't normal. This woman is so screwed up about what she thinks God does for people. This isn't normal. She isn't eating right here.

I saw her come to a friends house when I was there. She had on a mini-skirt. The hem line was four inches below her private area. She obviously lost weight, but her legs weren't smooth. Her legs had ripples of wrinkled skin. She didn't have the tone of healthy fit legs. She looked like a hag in a mini-skirt.

She thinks God did this? NO, she is delusional or sick. She's fasting to lose weight and lying about it. She thinks no one with brains can tell the difference. And any old woman that puts on a mini-skirt and says well, "God is doing something for me" is nuts.

Here is the sad thing. If she keeps going with this course of starvation she will eventually die from malnutrition. That's right. We are supposed to eat food. We are designed to have food for energy. It's what we eat and how much food we eat that gets us into trouble.

This woman is setting herself up for a big physical let down in the future. She is weakening her heart. She is weakening her brain. Remember Karen Carpenter? She did this fasting thing. Then her heart quit.

This woman is so lonely that she is pushing herself to the brink of death with her foolishness. Yes I dare to judge the situation.

When I talk about losing weight I tell people reduce the portions. I don't say starve yourself. That's dumb.

Change the food that you eat. Eat more vegetables. Eat fruits. Eat all kinds of fruits. Eat some little pieces of corn bread, and bread, and pasta. Just don't eat way to much. That's all.

I have to go.

Bye for now...

Flash, Big Change In The Diet

Hey, this morning I weighed in at 204.4-pounds. Hmmm?

I guess all that food I have eaten hasn't pasted itself to me yet.

Did I say kill yourself to lose the weight? No, I didn't. Who said don't eat cake? I just said keep within a certain calorie window. That's it.

Yesterday I was talking to my aunt. She said she lost eight pounds eating fish, and vegetables. Hey I thought that sounds like a new strategy to break the 200 pound barrier to me.

This morning I stir fried two cups of mixed vegetables in a wok. I put in two teaspoons of honey. I added some grapefruit juice. When the vegetables cooked for five minutes I tossed in a can of tuna fish and some lemon. Voila, a great little healthy meal, and on the cheap as well.

So, you don't have to starve to death to lose weight. I am not dying of starvation here. And yes I have times that I deal with hunger. It's not as severe of a hunger that I used to have though.

Bye for now...

Still Hovering Over 200 Pounds

I couldn't blog yesterday because I was gone most of the day. When I returned home all the places that I blog were closed.

I am still hovering over that 200 pound barrier. Yesterday, Sunday, May 13, 2007 I weighed in at 205.
This morning I weighed in at 204. 6 pounds. I am up around three pounds above 202 where I was. Oh well...

What caused it? Calories, calories, and more calories. On Saturday I went in the evening to a graduation celebration. I was at a restaurant where we were serving ourselves out of pitcher filled with soda. I unknowingly served myself three extremely large glasses of Regular Coca-Cola and drank them down. I wondered about the flavor. But I thought that the pitchers with the tape on them were all diet Coke. Nope...

Surprise, I served myself up about 900 calories of Coca-Cola. Add to that: three pieces of garlic bread, four slices of pizza, salad, and a slice of cake and my calorie count blew way out of the dieter's window. It was all over for this guy.

The day before that I didn't do so much better. I went to a buffet in the morning and in the evening. Those calories were out-of-there. I ate more calories in two days than I would in one week.

It's no wonder my weight loss has come to a screeching halt.

To add insult to injury I went to McDonald's today. I had a number one meal. Do you know what that is? It's a Big Mag, and Medium Fries. That wasn't the best part. I immediately had and Ice Cream with M&M's in it. Add to that I was visiting my aunt. She served me two hefty pieces of angel food cake.

I haven't calculated the calories yet. But I will.

So now that I am done binging for the week, will I get serious. Well, maybe I will. We shall see.

Am I now downtrodden and broken hearted? NO, not at all. I am still at 205-pounds. I will get it off eventually. Just you wait and see. I will, I will, I will, get off those pounds.

Today I saw my cousin. I love her, she's such-a-kick. She's thin as a sapling tree though. She's never been plump in her whole life. She doesn't eat much either.

She was telling me that I should do like the movie stars do. I should eat all that I want and any variety food that I want before two-in-the-afternoon. Now, did she mean Two-in-the-afternoon until midnight or did she mean two-in-the-afternoon until eight in the morning? What do the stars do? Does Oprah Winfrey know about this magical formula?

Listen, my cousin means well, but you can't pig out on all kinds of food up until two-in-the- afternoon and then expect to lose weight.

Hey, if you are over weight, you don't have a speedy metabolism no matter what time of day it is.

I hear this stuff all the time. Some people say eat a big breakfast, and then eat some small meals later. What does that mean. What's a small meal? How many calories are in a small meal?

And I was being kind so I didn't comment on her statements about weight loss. I thought to ask my cousin, "Do you mean that at eight o'clock in the morning I can eat a stack of pancakes, a stack of toast, three eggs, and a bunch of fruit for breakfast. Then I can come along at one-in-the afternoon and eat three big macs, two french fries, and a couple large shakes? And as long as I eat my last bite before two in the afternoon, I will lose weight?" I really thought about asking that. But, I didn't want to make her look foolish. So I bit my lip.

Nonsense, stupid utter, ridiculous nonsense; what makes anyone think they can eat all that they want for half the day and still lose weight? Come on here, throw me a bone.

Wake up, and smell the brewing coffee. You can't lose weight eating all you want. It won't work. It will never work. It doesn't matter if it's eight in the morning, or midnight. If you don't count those calories, you will see them hanging on your hip line, and your bottom.

My cousins reasoning was that on a diet a person is deprived. Well DA, of course. Yes, when on a diet someone is deprived. He / She is deprived of over stuffing himself / herself.

My contention is that most people eat more food than they really need to sustain life. We eat the wrong stuff, and to much stuff, and wonder why we can't wear the same clothes we did before.

We all make bad food choices. I did today. I ate more angel food cake than I should have. My aunt didn't have anything else to offer me. So I ate what she had. It won't kill me. It won't help me get skinny any faster either.

We did take my blood pressure with her fancy blood pressure machine. It was 120 / 74. My heart rate was 77 beats per minute. When I wake up it's now been around 70 beats per minute.

Before I lost this weight my heart was clipping along at 90+ beats per minute day-in-and-day- out. This was even at rest.

Just by losing thirty-eight-pounds I reduced my heart rate 20 beats per minute. My heart is doing a lot better for that. Not bad.

I am imagining where my heart rate goes down to when I lose 30 more pounds. It will probably go back to 60 beats per minute, or real close to that.

People don't think of these things when they let themselves go to preponderance. (That's tipping the scales).

For a long time I didn't care anymore. I had given up. I tossed in the towel and let myself go. I got discouraged, and smelled the food, so I ate, and ate, and ate.

Well, I am back in the battle. I will get off these pounds. Follow my blog as I do it.

Bye for now....

You Have To Monitor Yourself

I am back in Illinois. Yeah!

Today I weighed myself in at 204-pounds.

What happened? Well, I couldn't weigh myself for one. Weighing myself has become an impetus for my goal. I look forward each day to seeing if I am progressing or regressing in my weight loss. The second thing was I ate a lot of food yesterday. I will soon explain. But, if you read my blog from yesterday you'll soon figure it out.

I had actually thought that by the middle of June, 2007 I would have gotten to 190 pounds. I don't think this is going to happen. Here is why? I'm not going to kill myself trying to lose weight. This is a "Steady as she goes" game.

Now, do I look at every piece of food that I eat with scepticism? I sure do. It's kind of a love hate thing here. I love to eat and enjoy the flavors. Yet, I love the benefits of not eating.

I have a friend who actually is in his own battle to get into shape and stay there. He made a comment about my blog. He says if we can't monitor ourselves and we do the right thing then we'll eventually get good results.

Hmmmm? Let me see, if you are like me, then you can't remember what you ate last week; let alone what you ate three days ago. If you are like me, you have a convenient memory. My memory is actually becoming inconvenient. But, that's a story for another day.

In manufacturing, every process is monitored. The nut's and bolts are counted. The raw material is counted. The results are tallied. Then some CEO gets together with his managers and his accountants and they go over the results. Everything is written down.

Yesterday I attended a track meet. All the results of the competition were written down. Every event was carefully recorded. Years ago they used to use a stop watch and a pad of paper. Now there is a computer. The time keeper just punches a button and WA LA the results are up on the board.

Here is my point. Why is it that we think that we don't have to monitor ourselves? Why is it we don't think we have to write down what has happened with our weight?

We gained weight because we lost track of what we were. The only way to get back on track is to start reviewing what we are doing.

I couldn't possibly keep track of all the food I eat if I didn't write it down. What makes anyone think that they can?

I am going to keep beating this drum, "Write It Down!" Get out your notebook pad, your handheld, or your computer and write it down. I mean it.

The other day I was talking to this woman who has a very pretty face, but she is round and pudgy. I asked her if she has read my blog yet. She made up excuses. Mean while I watched her eat two very thick pieces of raisin toast with a calorie count of probably 200 calories each.

There isn't anything wrong with eating big pieces of raisin toast, it's what someone eats after that which becomes the problem.

This woman has no perception what is happening to her. Since I have known her over the year she has gotten noticeably bigger.

Is this you? Are you reading this and not paying attention? I don't know. I suspect no one has except a couple of people.

Don't kid yourself. Don't rely on your memory. Monitor your results. Write it down.

Yesterday I went to breakfast in a buffet. These things are not a place for weak willed people. I am one. I had a large breakfast in anticipation I wasn't going to be eating lunch. I was right. But, I did have dinner. Read below what the results were.

For Breakfast I ate the following:

• Large Omelet (3 eggs, cheese, meat, vegetables (340 calories))
• Waffle - eight inches in diameter - (250 calories)
• Syrup (200 calories)
• Pad of Land O ' Lakes Butter (100 calories)
• Oatmeal -1 cup- (150 calories)Grapefruit -six pieces- (40 calories)
• Honey Dew Melon (20 calories)Orange Juice - 4 ounces - (65 calories)
• Raisins (Calories ? )
• Total Calories this morning were 1,165 calories

Now remember I had 400 calories left.

Look at what I had for dinner:

• Salmon-3 ounces-
• Cauliflower
• Green beans
• Corn bread-a small triangle
• Potato-two small halves
• Roast beef and gravy-one ounce
• Steak-eight ounces
• Chocolate Brownie with chocolate frosting
• Vanilla Ice Cream-1/2 cup

I went over board with this meal. I deliberately made an attempt to stop after my desert. At the desert table there were unlimited varieties of cakes, pies, cookies and other delicacies. I could have gone overboard there.

I stopped myself after the first taste of desert.

I could have taken this meal, since I wasn't paying for it, to just really go to town and stuff myself. If you were there and looked around that restaurant, you would see many, many very preponderant people. I mean these were big, wide, flabby people.

Obviously they eat at buffets often. What is really sad is their children are the same way. They are big and flabby.

I was with a bunch of College Track Athletes. These kids were in shape. Some knew when to quit with the food. Some didn't know when to quit.

I watched this young black girl who was skinner than I think she should have been. I was curious about why she was so thin. I saw what she put on her plate, and ate. It's no wonder she was so thin. She had small portions of vegetables on her plate. She didn't go for desert.

I think someone needs to talk to that girl before she dies from malnourishment. Obviously she has a serious eating malady. Compared to her peers, she was way too thin.

This is what happens when we don't put things in perspective. If we don't look at a standard for our age and height, we too can get out of whack with our weight.

The Army Had Weight Standards
I remember when I was in the Army every so often we were weighed. The Army had a height and weight standard based on attained age. If a soldier didn't meet that standard he couldn't re-up. He was bared from reenlistement by the comander.

It's not like that now unfortunately. Since the Army needs all it's people it lets them get away with breaking the standards. But not so long ago when I was in this wasn't the case.

I had a weight limit of 186 pounds that I was supposed to stay under.

I have been looking at the Body Mass Charts on the Internet. According to the Web-site by the Heart and Lung association I should (To be considered at a normal weight) start at 175 pounds.

I am almost 30 pounds away from there. I remember when I was in the full time Army I averaged between 160 and 170 pounds. I had a 32 inch waiste then too.

I don't know where I want to be. It's a struggle to get there. I know for sure I want to hit 190-pounds. I may decide to go lower than that.

I still have flab on my tummy. It's got to be at least 20-pounds of flab there.

You Will Lose Weight - Keep Following A Set Food Plan

Hey, Greetings from the Library at IUPUI >Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis

I couldn't weigh myself this morning. I know I didn't go over my 1,500 calories yesterday. I ended the day Thursday-May 10, 2007 with 1,115 calories.

I wasn't real hungry yesterday either. That's good. I do wish that I could have weighed myself this morning. Oh well...

I was talking this morning at breakfast to a man who has a similar weight history to mine. He was thin when he was young, and then he got bigger as he aged. He is hoping that because he is now in his 50's he will eventually start to lose weight.

No he won't. He won't lose anything. If anything, as he ages and slows down he will begin to gain weight even faster than he is now.

I wonder who told him the myth that when we get older our body goes into reverse and we start to lose weight naturally? Tell that to my poor close family member who is gaining weight in her 70's. Tell that myth to the very large woman that was obviously over sixty and 300-pounds that I saw being pulled out of a car in down town Chicago two days before. She couldn't get herself out of the car.

You won't lose weight through fantasy. Don't be ignorant of how food works. If you eat too many calories then your body will store them as fat if there isn't enough activity to burn the calories.

This man I was talking to today was a track coach. He should have known better than to believe he could eat anything and it would magically disappear with age. That's nonsense.

As this man and I talked he told me about how he struggles with the same things that I struggle with and maybe you my reader. We eat food just to eat food. He, like me, had to figure out if he eats for comfort, because he's nervous, or because he likes the taste, and he may not even be hungry when he over eats.

This is a common problem. Many times we eat just because we like how the food tastes. We may have long past the point of being full and satisfied, but because we like the taste we eat anyway.

Desserts like ice cream, cake, pie, and other sweets are foods we eat just because it tastes good. Then as a habit we continue to eat like this. It will eventually catch up with everyone.

You can't keep over eating and not eventually have to pay a price. That price may start as a roll around the tummy for men, and for woman a little wider buttocks. But, eventually is leads to more serious problems.

I have found that since I have deliberately cut back on my total food consumption for the day that I have had real benefits:

• I sleep better
• I have more energy
• I move up and down stairs easier
• I look a little better than I did
• My clothes aren't tight
• I have a better over all feeling throughout the day
• I am happy that I discovered a way to get off the weight

Since I was a child there have been hundreds of diet books published. Many of the authors became very wealthy with their so called insights into diet and nutrition.

No one has any excuse for being over weight in this modern age.

I see the obstacles that we face out there. Everywhere we go, from the grocery store to the counters at the hardware store, to the counters in every corner convenient store, food is readily available.

If we have hunger we can satisfy it almost instantaneously. It's cheap food compared to what was available years ago, and it's over abundant.

The trick is learning to say no, no, no. I won't over eat. I won't eat that crap. I won't go over my allotted calories.

Until someone gains the determination to lose weight, he / she will never have the will to overcome that unbelievable hunger that hits in the early stages of dieting.

I had overwhelming hunger. Now I have been at this weight loss thing for at least six months. My overwhelming hunger is subsiding now.

I do believe that my body's is learning to deal with its shortage of food. I think my body has determined it's high time to go get the extra fat if it needs extra energy.

The body has to be trained and wrestled with to force it to go after the fat reserves. I don't mean by fasting and eating nutritionally void meals either. Food deprivation is only a way to make oneself sick physically and emotionally.

I heard someone on the radio the other day talking about how many people decide they are going to go on a diet. He said here is how they do it: He / She will mis a meal here, and mis a meal there. He / She will totally go without food for a day or two. This may go on for a month. Then when he / she finds they are getting headaches, sick and hungry, they quit the diet. Then he / she makes up excues for not losing weight.

The problem with most people is that when it comes to losing weight they aren't patient, and persistent. They want instantaneous weight loss. When they lose the weight they think they are done losing weight. They think they can go back to eating huge helpings of food again. Then all of the weight comes back.

NO, weight loss is a life time battle. Losing weight never, ever, not ever, ends. It will never end.

"The Battle of the Bulge" goes on as long as anyone lives. The guards can never come down.

If someone quits watching their weight, then they will gain back all they lost, and more. This is how it works.

I will not quit this life long war.
I will wage a life time campaign against "The Battle of the Bulge."
I will not succumb to the threat of hunger.
I will not succumb to the fear of starvation.
I will not let sweet delicacies dressed in pretty foil catch my eye.
I will wake up ready for the war,
And I will lay down having fought it to the best of my ability.
I will not let the skeptics who have no will daunt me.
I will not let fear overcome me.
I will never, no never quit this life long war with my weight.
I do it for my health.
I do if for myself.
I do it because I know I will feel better.
I will continue this "Battle of the Bulge."

This morning I ate at a buffet at TGIF inside the Marriott Hotel

Here is my morning menu:

• Large Omelet (3 eggs, cheese, meat, vegetables (340 calories))
• Waffle - eight inches in diameter - (250 calories)
• Syrup (200 calories)
• Pad of Land O'Lakes Butter (100 calories)
• Oatmeal -1 cup- (150 calories)
• Grapefruit -six pieces- (40 calories)
• Honey Dew Melon (20 calories)
• Orange Juice - 4 ounces - (65 calories)
• Raisins (Calories ? )
• Total Calories this morning were 1,165 calories

Now, how many people at that buffet this morning had even more food than me? They have no idea what they ate. Then for lunch or dinner they will eat a whole bunch more calories not knowing they have over eaten for the day.

I know what I ate. I can adjust from here. Tonight I am supposed to be going to a Grill / Buffet. And I am not paying the bill.

I am going to have to be very careful what I eat. I only have 400 calories left. Now I can add 200 because yesterday I had calories left over. We'll see how hungry I feel when I get there.

Bye for now...

I Still Haven't Reached 200 Pounds

This morning I weighed in at 202.6-pounds.

I thought for sure that I would be less than that. Oh well, I am at that resistance barrier that I talked about before. It's a set point where the body refuses to let go of the fat.

Todays menu was:

• Lean Pocket Ham & Cheddar Cheese (280 calories)
• Coffee with sweetener
• Cottage Cheese (110 calories)
• Two bananas (75 x 2 = 150 calories)
• Turkey Sub Sandwich with mayonaise (Est. 400 calories)

I don't know who has read my blog yet. I have had one person from Australia write to me and say that I have inspired her to lose weight. That's the only comment I have had.

It's hard to keep going with the weight loss thing. There is so much food out there to eat. It's easy to forget what I am trying to do when I get hungry. When I am tired it gets real hard to resist food.

Last night I went home from work and ate a big blob of peanut butter. I don't even know what the calorie count was. I was so tired and hungry I scooped it out of the jar and put it into my mouth without thinking about it.

By the time I realized what I was doing it was too late. Oh well, I wrote it down.

Yesterday during the day I was stepping on the scale and it was around 203.6 pounds when I got home from work. I thought for sure this morning I would have been at 201.8 or about that.

Nope it didn't happen. Now I am away from home for two days, and I don't have a scale to weigh myself. I don't know what is going to happen while I am away from home.

I already ate a big sub sandwich. I don't have my calorie book with me so I can't figure out what it was in calories. I forgot it at home. Oops...

Anyway, I am in Indiana right now. I am in a library in Indianapolis.

Bye for now.....

I Still Haven't Reached 200 Pounds, I Am Still Going Down

Today I weighed in at 202.4-pounds.

Yesterday May 8 I had the following menu:

• 1 piece of bacon
• 1 scrambled egg, with salsa and cheese melted on top
• 1 cup of diet jello
• Turkey Pot Pie
• 3 Lenell cookies
• Chicken 8-ounces
• Green Beans
• A piece of Strawberry covered Cheese Cake (400 calories)
• My total calorie intake for yesterday was 1,573 calories

Today's menu was the following:

• Lean Pockets Ham & Cheddar (280 calories)
• McDonalds Ranch Crispy Chicken Sandwich (600 calories)
• Diet Soda
• Apple (100 calories)
• Two Oranges (80 x 2 =160 calories)
• My total calorie intake for today is so far 1,040 calories

I was talking to a man today that is a diabetic. He is so proud that he ate only a salad and two hard rolls for lunch. He said that he skipped breakfast.

I didn't tell him but I think he is totally uniformed about food and nutrition. If I were a diabetic I would not be skipping meals. If anything I would be adding in snacks in-between-meals to regulate my sugar levels.

He is a type two diabetic. This means his diabetes was probably the result of being overweight and using to much sugar. Even so, he shouldn't skip meals.

I have to go. I will finish this another day. I am so excited that I am back under 203-pounds.

I didn't go crashing throught the 200 pound barrier like I had predicted. I am lingering over 200 pounds.

Bye for now....

I Am Still Going Down and losing weight

Hey, I weighed myself this morning in at 204.4-pounds. That's less than yesterday morning. What happened? Well, I just stick as close to the 1,500 calorie a day limit as I can. My body takes care of the fat loss details.

Yes, I had a couple days there where I went way over 1,500 calories. But, my body is still in the adjustment period.

This is going to be a short blog today. I have to get going.

Today's total calorie intake so far is 1,173 calories.

I had for food today:

• One fried scrambled egg
• One strip of bacon
• Salsa on top, and a slice of cheese
• Three Lenell cookies (50 calories each)
• A bottle of diet tea
• Coffee
• Turkey Pot Pie
• Eight ounces of chicken
• 194 grams of green beans

This was all I have had for my total food intake today. Now, I am going to a friends. I may have just a bit more. Now much more.

Bye for now.....

They Say Calorie Counting Is Ridiculous

I just saw a web site that ridicules counting calories.
One of the points was someone who counts calories skips meals.

Hey, I don't advocate skipping meals.

I don't advocate starving your body to the point of exhaustion.

I don't recommend avoiding all foods.

I do say watch your food portion sizes.

I do say weigh yourself each day.

I don't tell you that you can't eat a donut.

I do say count the calories and write them down.

I am not charging you to read my blog.

Watch out for the people who want to charge you for all of the diet advice.

You are going to be fighting the "Battle of the Bulge" for the rest of your life. Face this as a reality. This means that you are going to have to monitor what your are eating. It's going to mean changing your eating habits.

Hunger is the bodies way of throwing a temper tantrum. Yes you should eat. Yes you need nutrition. It's just we all eat way more than we need to survive. And we eat the wrong stuff.

I can lose weight eating donuts and milk everyday. I kid you not. If I ate two donuts a day and kept that under 1,500 calories, I would lose weight. The problem is, eventually I would be suffering from malnutrition. There aren't enough of the right nutrients in donuts to survive and be healthy.

The same goes for eating nothing but protein. The body needs amino acids. These amino acids can come from meat or fish. Some amino acids can come from vegetables like peanuts.

It's high time we educate ourselves about our food consumption. And be weary of the people who poo-poo calorie counting.

Bye for now...

Learning To Ask Self Diagnosing Questions

Don't you think it's time to ask yourself some questions?
If you have questions, then you will need to find the answers too.

Ask yourself, "Am I overweight?"
"Do I exceed the weight which is considered normal for my height?"
"Do I eat to much of the wrong foods?"
"What would be the better choices of food for me?"
"If I am over weight, what will be the long term consequences?"
"How can I lose this weight, and do it it healthfully?"
"Do I like the way my clothes fit?"
"Will I feel better if I lose weight?"
"Will I have a better self image if I lose weight?"
"Do I keep a written record of my weight?"
"Do I keep a written record of my food consumption?"
"Are there any other excesses in my life that contribute to my food consumption?"
"Do I eat to much sugar?"
"How would I feel if I ate less sugar?"

These are just a few questions you can ask yourself to help to stimulate your imagination.

Bye for now....

Oh Preponderant Ones

I see everywhere I go preponderant people.
There seems to be more than I remember.
I look at pictures of old and don't see as many preponderant people.
Where did they all come from?
Why, I ask myself, Why?
Who is the cause of all this preponderance?
Can anything be done to stop this trend?
Will anyone listen?

I am making the Clarion Call.
Listen to me before it's too late.
I was like you, and then I changed.
You can be like me.

Oh preponderant people why won't you change your ways?
Don't you know your doom is coming?
Don't you even care?

I am making the Clarion Call.
I billow out the same.
I was like you, and then I changed.
I was preponderant too.

Now don't you know that your health will suffer?
Don't you know that you will feel better?
You will jump and hop like a gazelle if you will heed my call.

Oh you preponderant people.
You tip the scale to far.
Your clothes no longer fit you.
You huff and puff when you move.
You can't get up from your chair.
You can't even climb the stair.
But, you won't do what I told you.
Oh you preponderant people.

NO crashing through the 200 Pound Barrier This Week

I woke up this morning and weighed in at 204.8-pounds.

Yesterday I ate brunch at Denny's. I had the Country Fried Steak Breakfast. I didn't eat anything else for most of the day after that. I didn't really feel very hungry. That's a surprise.
Before I went to bed I dipped into the peanut butter jar. I scooped out a table spoon of peanut butter (190 calories) and had 115 grams of cottage cheese (110 calories). My total calories for yesterday came in under 1000 calories. After I ate breakfast I wasn't really that hungry.

Maybe I am adjusting to a lower food consumption. We shall see.

I have had fits the last few days though. I wrote a few days ago that I was determined to crash through the 200-pound barrier. Well, it's not gonna happen. It's going to be a wrestling match. And I will be darned if I am going starve myself to hit that goal.

My total weight has slipped into reverse where some days at night I hit 208 pounds. Yeow!
Where did that come from? It was large amounts of food that did it. I had all that bread at a restaurant on Friday, or was it Thursday? I had that super size hamburger. And I had Ice Cream on top of that. On Saturday I ate a huge slice of sausage pizza, and then ate steak, a big potato, and a large salad.

Hey all that adds up. But it was all yummy. I don't have one lick of guilt over it.

I told you there are times when we "fall off the wagon." That's right. We are human and we stumble. There is no sense in feeling shame or guilt for it.

I weigh myself everyday. I am monitoring what's going on. I will hit the 200 pound level. It's not going to be this week like I had thought. It may not be next week either. My body is giving me fits here. Yours will too. Expect it.

Expect that you will lose pounds and feel a sense of accomplishment. Then, suddenly, it's as if the body says no, I won't cooperate. Here have some pounds for that food you ate a couple of days ago.

It's like that, up, and down, up, up, up, and then down, down. I lost five pounds, and then I am down ten pounds, suddenly I am seeing the pounds work their way back on to my body.

Here is why. It's because I am varying different foods throughout the week. I am not sticking to one eating plan. I won't. I am not going to kill myself to lose weight. I do sacrifice. I do avoid certain things, IE sugar drinks. Coke is out for me. Now I am seeking to eliminate Diet Coke as well.

If I have orange juice, or grape fruit juice I limit myself to eight ounces. It's because there is usually sugar added to juice in the form of corn syrup.

I haven't given up "The Battle of the Bulge." I am still in the fight. As long as I have my rational faculties I will continue this battle.

I feel so, so, so good having shed the poundage that I have. I am better than I was.

Today I went with my brother to a veterinary clinic. We walked in and behind the counter was sitting a very, very large woman. I mean she was big. It was all preponderance. (Remember preponderance means tipping the scale.)

If she doesn't do something about her weight she will have a lot of problems in ten years. Someone has to tell her. Hey, "lose that fat."

Hey, "lose the fat." What do you mean you don't know how? The library is full of weight loss books. Pick one!

Here is what the big problem is. NO ONE LIKES TO BE HUNGRY. I don't, you don't, nobody likes to be hungry. Our bodies throw temper tantrums.

It reminds me of the play, "Little House of Horrors." Remember when the alien plant would say, "Feed Me Seymour?" Well, our bodies say, "Feed me, I'm hungry." Then since we have never learned to say NO, we give in to our hunger.

The horror is, what in the world are we doing to ourselves? I mean it. I have three family members that late in life developed diabetes. Why? Could it be the incredibly huge amounts of sugar that we blindly pump into our bodies by drinking soda, and juice? Could it be the sugar donuts that we eat everyday? Could it be the fist full of cookies that we think we can eat each day for a snack?

I am not telling anyone don't drink soda, or eat a piece of pie. This isn't what I am writing in my blog. I am writing, "Be aware of what you drink, and eat. Eat in moderation."

Coming To America, "Fat Police"
If you and I don't begin to limit the food we intake, and aren't more careful about our diets, then the day is coming that the fat police will come for you. Do you think I am kidding?

There is coming to America a "Fat Tax." This is the tax that the government "Do Gooders" are going to levy on all foods. These government Nazis are going to make the excuse that we have to discourage food consumption so we'll start with a tax. This is because health officials who don't know there butts from the hole in the ground are going to say, "we have all of these fat people, we have to fix this."

Now, food can become an addiction. Sugar has qualities that people get addicted to it. It's just what happens. It takes the power of the will to break this addiction. Well, the "Fat Police" will force the issue. You think I am paranoid here.

This is how they will force us to reform. It will come in Taxes and Charges on Health insurance, on food, and anything else the "Fat Police" thinks causes obesity.

Here is the problem, an addiction can't be cured by social engineering. Cigarettes are an example of an addiction. It takes the will to break the smoking habit, and addiction. That's the only cure.

The body has to suffer to break any addiction. The problem is, no one, not even I, likes to suffer. It's hard. It's consuming.

I have had my days, and now months of suffering to lose the little bit of weight that I have lost. I am no where near where I want to be with my weight.

I think, according to the Body Fat Index, I have 35-pounds to lose. It's going to take me another six months to do it.

I have been working at losing the 38 pounds that I lost this far since December 2006. It's May now, so if I stay on schedule, I may be at 170 pounds by November 2007. God willing anyway...

Listen to me, it's not easy to lose the weight. It takes effort and sacrifice to lose the weight without a drug, or some kind of diet pill. God forbid anyone who has read my blog decides surgery is the only alternative.

We get preponderant by eating more than the body needs. That's it, too many calories, and up and away we go.

I am sitting here doing this blog in a Computer lab. To my left is a girl who has a real pretty face. She is preponderant. She just stood and I can she that she is wide in the can. She is snacking on dried fruit in a bag.

I am not knocking dried fruit. It's good for the digestion because there is fiber in it. It has complex carbohydrates in it. It's better than snacking on crackers. Well, maybe....
Dried fruit is loaded with sugar. If it is the kind of dried fruit that comes from a popular food chain then it has probably been coated with sugar to make it even sweeter.
This all adds up to consuming calories. If she isn't careful with her total calorie intake, to include the dried fruit, then she will be waisting her time trying to lose the weight. It won't happen for her.

Who is going to tell her, "dear every piece of fruit has to be counted calories?" Won't anyone tell this potential beauty queen where she's fumbling? I would.

Read my blog and follow along. See what I am telling you. I was preponderant like you. I was eating bags of oreo cookies seven months ago. I would sit and eat one whole frozen pizza in one meal. I would sit and eat a whole roasted chicken thinking that I could lose the weight.

I know what it is to suffer fighting "The Battle of the Bulge." I know what it is to lay awake hungry. This isn't because food wasn't available, it was because I was beginning the fight, "The Battle of the Bulge."

Fight that battle! Lose those unwanted pounds!

Today I had breakfast:

• one fried piece of bacon (40 calories)
• one fried scrambled egg with cheese, and salsa on top (140 calories)

Bye for now...

A Tap Of My Magical Fat Wand, Voila, Four Pounds More

Yesterday I missed Blogging because I was up at five-in-the-morning and at work by seven. I was away from home until two this morning. Ugh!

Yesterday I stepped on the scale at 207 pounds. This morning I stepped on the scale at 206-pounds. What happened David? Did you give up the fight?

Nope, I haven't given up. All this extra poundage is food from the day before and yesterday.

I told you that I have hit that elusive 10 pound barrier. I am experiencing what I went through when I hit all the other ten pound points. My body is fighting to keep on the pounds.

In three days of exceeding my 1,500 calories, I have succeeded in adding almost four more pounds. Is it fat? It may be.

Remember when I told you that I had a giant hamburer? That puppy must have glued itself to me.

Yesterday wasn't much better calorie counting. I had a Chicken Pot Pie for breakfast (380 calories) By the time lunch came around I was unbelievably hungry. I had a very large slice of thin crust sausage pizza (estimate of 600 calories).

For dinner I blew the calorie bank:

• 7-8 ounce steak
• medium baked potato
• butter on the potato
• salad with dressing, cheese, and bacon bits

As I was sitting there eating I was listening to these woman talking about their diets. One woman was way too thin for my liking. Another was way to fat for my liking. The skinny one ate like a tweety bird. The fat one ate everything that she set before herself. Then she went on about her diet. They were talking with a young gentleman about the Atkin's diet. He was saying how the Atkin's diet is almost history.

This is because doctor Atkin's died. Since he was the founder, now there really isn't anyone to press the Atkin's diet forward.

I still like the Atkin's diet. I lost 60 pounds before doing the Atkin's diet. I would modify some things though. I wouldn't tell anyone to eat all the meat, and fat he / she could.

Yesterday I watched this young kid stuff himself with a gigantic steak. Maybe with his young metabolism he can handle that. With me that much food would be way too much. As I wrote above, I ate a seven ounce steak. I could have ordered a much bigger steak.

Too much of anything in the gut backs up for too long. I even think that much steak I ate was more than I should have. I like anyone else am human. I like to eat too.

Portion size is important.

This morning I ate a Country Fried Steak Breakfast at Denny's restaraunt (464 calories)

Bye for now....

Stumble Bumble Stumble, Voila, Have Some Extra Pounds

This morning I woke up to some extra pounds. What? You were doing so well David. What happened? Um, bread, bread sticks, and a huge hamburger for lunch yesterday, that's what happened. This baby made a Whopper look like a kid burger. It had to have had 3/4 pounds of beef on that over sized bun. No kidding.

I think the bun on the hamburger was 300 calories by itself. Add to that two pieces of bacon (80 calories), a hefty dob of cheese (150 calories), and the patty which must have been 500-600 calories. That was all of my calories for the day there in one burger.

"I can't believe I ate the whole thing." I kid you not I did.
I didn't eat the fried potatoes.
Add to that all the bread I ate before that hamburger showed up in front of me.

Needless to say I bombed on the calories. Now, that big boat hamburger is making it's way out of my system. Oh, it did taste so good. But, I felt so stuffed afterwards. I was bloated.

I didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. Before I went to bed last night I stepped on the scale at 207 pounds. This was just under five pounds of food and fluid in me from the day.

When I got out of bed I weighed in at 205 pounds. This was just under three pounds at 2.8 pounds. Whoops.

Now, could that be fat that has jumped on to me? Who knows. Certainly not I. In a few days I shall know.

Two days ago I wrote that I am approaching the 200 pound barrier. This is another 10 pound barrier. For some strange reason it takes me a couple of weeks to get through a 10 pound barrier. I go up over it, then I go under it, then I go back up over it. This goes on for a while.

It's like my body has a set point that it won't pass. I think that set point comes in 10 pounds increments.

Well, I have set my mind, I am crashing through that barrier. By Wednesday I will be under 200 pounds. I am determined to keep my calories at 1,500 or below.

I started today with that strategy. I went to lunch and had a "goat cheese salad." It was good, but expensive. I had a small roll with that salad, and butter. For breakfast I had a Chicken Pot Pie. (It beats eating a donut for breakfast.) I haven't calculated calories yet.

I feel satisfied. I ate that salad for lunch and wasn't hungry afterwards. Maybe the goat cheese has a filling effect. Maybe there is something in goat cheese that shuts off my appetite. I am going to experiment with that idea.
_________________________________________________
My New Poem

Fat man.. Fat man.. can you see this ole' weight is killing me.
I can't run, and I can't jump, I can barely climb the stairs.
I can't look down and see my feet.
My pants don't fit me anymore, my butt gets stuck going through the door.
I huff and puff everywhere I go.
My hearts beating fast as can be.
Count off.. 240
Count off.. 230
Count off.. 220
Count off.. 210
Count off.. 205 now.
_____________________________________________________
The preponderant man is going for it. He's down 38 pounds. He's slid back just a little. Is he on the ropes now? Has his will power gone?

The 200 pounder barrier is approaching. Will he crash through? I don't know, but I have bated breath folks. I don't think he can do it. There are just way too many succulent little temptations out there for him. Let's keep our eyes open. We shall see...
Bye for now....

My Weight Loss Poems

I don’t know but I’ve been told, “This fat man is gonna win!”
I don’t know but I’ve been told, “This fat man is getting thin!”
Count off...
240
Count off…
230
Count off…
220
Count off…
210
Count off…
205
Bring it on down now, 240, 230, 220, 210, 205!
Boom Chugga Lugga…
Boom Chugga Lugga…
______________________________________________________
He’s coming down to the 200 pound barrier.

What will happen when he get’s there?

Will he go crashing through?
Or will he linger, languishing for weeks struggling to get past 200-pounds?
Will he agonize as those stubborn fat cells resist all efforts to release their grip on his preponderant body?
We are sitting here in anticipation folks.

What will happen next?
Will we see the barrier collapse?
Will we see him jump up and down with glee?
When he gets through that 200 pound barrier will he keep going down, or will he back slide?

Will he forget
...where he came from as a preponderant beast lugging around a ball and chain of fat?
...the slush, and burbling sounds of the fat on his sides?
...how tight his clothes were?
...the clothes he left behind?

Will he return to those big donuts, and cakes, not weary any longer that they will add to his fate?

A Foolproof Concept to Losing Weight

This morning I weighed in at 202.2-pounds. Hurray!

It Is Hard To Lose Weight
If it were easy to lose weight everyone would be doing it. My method though is foolproof. I kid you not. If you will take the time at least once a day to record your weight you will know if you are gaining weight or losing weight.

I have a friend who is doing Weight Watchers. She told me that she is only supposed to weigh herself once a week or less. It’s so the weight watcher won’t get discouraged.

I think that’s a dumb guideline to follow. Here is why. In one week someone can gain a lot of weight, just as well as lose a lot of weight. There is no adjustment period in that guideline.

I don’t recommend losing more than two pounds a week. What I am telling you in my blog is go easy. Be consistent. It’s steady as she goes. Don’t kill yourself to lose the weight.

If you are 10 pounds over what you should be, take three or four weeks to shave off those ten pounds. Maybe you’ll need more than that.

If you have 100 pounds to lose then expect to take over one year to drop those one hundred pounds. I am not kidding here. Don’t endanger your life trying to lose weight. You can get it off. It’s just going to take a steady, nice and easy, persistent disposition and effort. And you will need time.

Do you remember in one of my earlier messages I wrote I know a man who lost a lot of weight by having his stomach piping rerouted? I only wish he had found a responsible doctor who would have put him on a careful diet. That is what I advocate.

Here is what I saw happen to him:

• He lost the weight
• He lost weight way to fast for his body to adjust.
• His skin sagged on his face, on his arms, and his body.
• He looked like hell in my opinion
• He still had to learn to cut way, way back on his food intake.
  Here is why. He would throw up any excessive food.
• He was permanently changed. There was no going back.
• He could never, ever, not ever, enjoy a big delicious meal ever again.
• He was ultimately sorry for his decision.
• I won’t be surprised if someday he doesn’t commit suicide from the misery.

Why should anyone be so stinking miserable? Let me tell you something. God gave you the ability to decide what’s good and what’s bad. Getting into trouble with the weight anyone can do. It’s a different story if you don’t do anything to change it.

There are books, books and books about how to lose weight. Pick one and use it.

I like the Atkin’s diet. The only thing that I would change is that I would count total calories. I wouldn’t assume I could eat a cow or a pig and lose weight. That much food in the body isn’t healthy.

Two plates of meat in your stomach aren’t good. The stomach has to have time to move out the food. That much meat begins to putrefy in the gut. It’s not healthy.

I learned to be a calorie counter, not a carbohydrate counter. Oh I used to count carbohydrates when I did the Doctor Atkin’s diet program. I realized something. It’s hard to count total carbohydrates. I also got sick of eating only meat, fat, and eggs. The body assimilates the calories anyway. I know I had it happen to me.

The Doctor Atkin’s diet doesn’t take into account the need to break the diet. Let’s say I have a real desire to eat a Nestle Crunch Ice Cream Bar. If I am doing the Atkin’s diet there isn’t a way to account for that Ice Cream Bar. The high carbohydrate content in the ice cream bar throws off the fat burning process that resulted from avoiding too many carbohydrates.

An Ice Cream bar can bring the fat burning process to a screeching halt for three days. The body shifts into reverse. It takes that ice cream bar, the fat and meat and says OK I have to do something with this food. I will turn it into fat.

What meat turns into fat? Yep that’s what I wrote. There are calories in meat. The body will break that down too. I know it happened to me.

If I could only eat meat, fat and eggs then perhaps I would continue to lose weight. The problem is I am human too. I like sweets, breads, pasta, and ice cream. Atkin’s restricts that stuff.

Oh, you can eat some meat wrapped up in a tortilla shell. You can’t eat an ice cream bar and that too. It’s only because there are way too many carbohydrates along with the meat.

It comes down to one thing and one thing only. How many total calories have I eaten? It doesn’t matter if it’s meat calories, fat calories, or carbohydrate calories. How many calories have I stuffed into my mouth? That is what counts.

Yesterday I had half of a lunch bag size of buttered popcorn. I went to Dairy Queen and ate a Banana Blizzard. Both of those foods were ultra high in total calories. I knew that as I was enjoying every delicious bite of them. I also knew that was the end of my food consumption for the rest of the day.

I would have to go hungry. That’s it in a nutshell. I had to learn that if I was going to enjoy one thing, then I would have to give up another. I learned to make a trade off. This can only be done if someone is counting calories.

There are other systems where someone uses cards, points, etc. For me that doesn’t make sense. There aren’t any points on a box of ice cream bars. There is only a panel that counts calories, and some nutritional information. The carbohydrates are on that panel as well.

My food scale doesn’t count points for food. It counts calories. I have to look for the pink boxes if I want to count points.

In some laboratory there are people who burn portions of food of all types, and then painstakingly record the calories. Then some wizard from a weight watcher group wants to assign points to food. I think it’s a joke myself. I think it’s just to make money by segregating people and food.

Since most people are ignorant about food and how it affects the body, it’s easy for some company to come along and change the way things are done. I can tell my friend all day long to count calories and forget the points. She won’t listen because she’s invested in the point system.

I can tell someone all day long that the Atkin’s diet only works so far, and then it comes down to calories. He / She won’t listen. I learned the hard way. But, I am learning.

EAT LESS FOOD.

That’s the easy solution. I kid you not. Learn to go hungry. That’s until your body learns to go after the fat reserves. For some reason miraculously there isn’t as much hunger. I am not experiencing as much hunger as I did in the beginning. My body is learning if it needs that extra energy go after the fat. It does it quicker now than it did before.

Hunger, if you are a preponderant, is the body’s way of throwing a temper tantrum. If you are FAT then there is plenty of reserve energy there for the body to use.

I am not saying don’t eat and nourish your body. I am saying don’t over eat. Eat carefully and record what you have eaten. Count those calories and restrict them to a point that forces the body to go after its fat reserves. Eat plenty of protein. Eat some fat. Eat those carbohydrates. Give the body some treats.

An Ice Cream Bar here or there won’t kill you. Just add that bar to your calorie count for the day as I do. Be sensible. You will lose the weight. I promise you will.

What Did I Eat This Morning?
I woke up, got out of bed, took my bath, and weighed myself. I was elated to see those digits turning to 202.2-pounds. EEH HA!

Do you remember I wrote a couple of days ago some lady gave me cookies? I ate the raisin cookie this morning. It was Yummy. It was from the Chicago Club. It was hand made by a chef. It tasted like it. Goooood...

Here in lays the problem. It was a calorie bomb. What? That’s right. At 0.7-ounces that little delicacy came in at a hair under 90 calories. Six of those little guys would be equal to lunch for me. It was good. I only ate one.

• I had my usual 3 ½ mugs of coffee. That’s six-6-ounce cups in the coffee maker.
• I cooked up three strips of bacon (150 calories)
• Two eggs with cheese and salsa in an omelet. (270 calories)
• Total intake this morning was 460 calories

Keep those records. Say, "To heck with the skeptics.”

Think about how good you will feel shedding off those pounds.

YOU WILL FEEL GREAT!

I promise...

Bye for now....