Do You Need A Nutritionist?

Well, I stepped onto the scale weighing in at 197.6 pounds this morning.
Am I scared? No. This is my weight loss thing. It's not anyone else's.
I didn't join a club and make some promise that by such and such date I'll be down to a certain weight.
I didn't make any promises to anyone about my weight loss. I just decided to do it.

So, even if I go back to 200-hundred pounds, it's still my thing. I own the weight not someone else.
This is why I am writing that I am losing the weight for me. No one else.

I am writing this blog as an encouragement to someone who may be attempting to reduce weight. If you are someone who is attempting to lose weight then read on.

Someone Read My Blog And Critiqued It
I have a friend who is a nice lady. I haunted her to read my blog. I gave her fair warning that she may not like what she is reading. I haunted her and taunted her anyway.

She capitulated and finally read my blog. Well, she thought it was concise. She did not like my food choices. Umm, she obviously didn't read a whole lot of this blog. Now, I am supposed to be weary because I ate 14 eggs a while ago. I really should go see a nutritionist. So she thinks.
She wonders what my cholesterol is. Well, it's 155 the last time it was checked.

Hey, a nutritionist isn't any smarter than me. I can read. I am not some stupid moron that fell off the boat. I know about the balance of carbohydrates and proteins, and all that stuff.

Does a nutritionist eat birthday cakes? Does a nutritionist eat a fried donut?

Tell me folks, what in the world is any nutritionist or doctor going to do for you or me to develop any will power? What is that nutritionist going to do? Hold my hand at every meal?

I eat what I want to eat. You can too.

It's high time we begin to realize that our major problem with getting fat is that we EAT TOO MUCH food.

The challenge is trying to figure out at what calorie level someone has to stay at to feed himself/herself a good diet of food and still burn that fat.

I don't endorse fasting. It destroys muscle tissues, and eats away at the fat linings in the brain.
Fasting deprives the body of essential nutrients it needs to function.

The only time I endorse fasting is for a period of time to purge the body of toxins. That I say should be very limited.

I write about my food choices. This morning I had two cups of mixed vegetables that I stir fried. I tossed in a can of chicken. There were spices in the food for flavor along with some wine and honey. It was a terrific meal.

How is that for a food choice? What's that educated nutritionist going to say to that?

We Live With Ourselves
Ultimately at the end of the day when any of us clicks out the lights we are there with ourselves. We aren't there with anyone at the end of the day but ourselves.

Why should I worry one bit about what some nutritionist thinks about my food choices? It's my heart, my brain, and my body.

Where was anyone to give me the motivation that I needed to lose weight? There wasn't anyone except some old man that literally called me a fat pig.

Did I know I had to lose weight? I sure did. I couldn't figure out how. Finally it hit me. The rest is history.

The Fat Didn't Melt Away
This same lady said that the fat must have melted away. No, it didn't melt away. It never does melt away. I suffered to get that fat off. I kid you not.

I can't go eat every thing that is out there and expect to lose weight. You can't either. You have to limit your food portions. And you have to be patient.

IT'S HARD TO LOSE WEIGHT.

It is... Don't fool yourself... You will have to struggle. But, all I am saying is it's worth it.

Bye for now....

Empty Calories In The Beers Added Up Quick

Hello weight losing fans...

Well I stepped onto the scale this morning only to see those digits flash even higher still. Oh my, oh my... What have I done this time?

It's the beers. Yep, I started drinking beer three nights ago after I had stopped drinking them for about two months. Man, they just add to the weight. Part of the problem is I didn't stop at one beer. I had more than that.

Needless to say I am up, up and away again. If I keep this up, I'll be up, up and away like a not so beautiful balloon. I stepped onto the scale this morning weighing in at 197.2-pounds.

What can I say? Not much. Did I expect this? Ummm, yes I knew it would happen. I knew I blew away my calorie count a few days ago at work. And I knew drinking four beers that night wouldn't help.

So here I am. I am heading back up to the 200-pound mark. Whoops...

Whoa Nelly...

I have no words of wisdom to share at this time.

I will say before I go that right now I am done eating for the day because I have almost consumed all 1,500 calories. I had a big batch of French fries for lunch and a hamburger. Those French fries were at least 400 calories, and the hamburger was almost six hundred calories.

Bye for now...

Read How A Young Girl Is Fighting "The Battle Of The Bulge"

Wow, that's two comments in one week for my blog. This time it's a young woman.
http://thechubbygirldiaries.blogspot.com/

GOOD JOB LIZZY ... "CHUBBY GIRL BLOG"

Hey, ladies read how the women and girls are fighting to get off those unwanted pounds. See the anguish and the frustration that she is wrestling with as she fights "The Battle Of The Bulge."

Read this young girls blog.

Bye for now...

My Food Menu

Just to let you know. This morning I stepped onto the digital scale weighing in at 195.6-pounds.
I am up from yesterday, but I am well below that 200-pounds that took me so long to bust.

Yesterday I had an interesting day. I consumed more than my 1,500 calorie day.

I had a lean pocket in the morning (260 calories), a glass of milk (150 calories), a slim fast shake (190 calories), At work I had a large sausage pizza (600 calories), a large piece of cake (600 calories), and in the evening a friend treated me to a Burger King Whopper (700 calories).

Yes, I blew way past the 1,500 calorie limit. Maybe it was the cake? Could this explain why I am up two pounds? Who knows?

I go up and I go down. I don't make days like yesterday a habit.

Today I had a turkey sandwich that someone gave me from last night.
It was a large sandwich with those large pieces of bread. I weighed each slice and calculated just one slice at 135 calories. So that sandwich came in at about 400 calories with the bread, the turkey, and the cheese.

This is all I have consumed for the day so far. I came in late last night so I made a deliberate attempt to get some extra sleep.

See my other post from earlier today...

Someone Read My Blog

Hello Weight Losing Fans. All one or none of you.
Hey I am so excited someone read my blog and commented on it. This guy lost 130 pounds and is now down to a normal weight.

WAY TO GO...SKINNY GUY

Follow the link to this man's web site. See how you too can get off those excessive pounds like we are, and he did.
http://gottakeepitoff.blogspot.com/

It Doesn't Have To Be Like This
I have two close family members who became adult onset diabetics. Now both of them were able to get off the diabetic medication just by reducing the amount of sugar that they consumed.

One family member was consuming at least one two liter of Regular Coke a day. Years ago I was too.

I gave up the Regular Coke, and turned to diet coke. I lost five pounds doing that in six months. I turned to the Doctor Atkin's Diet Plan and lost another 60 pounds.

I couldn't keep that fat off. I eventually regained 40 pounds and sat on Thanks giving day in a funk because I was now unable to button my uniform pants. I felt like a bloated Turkey.

I was having a fit trying to figure out how to get off this excessive weight. Then I saw a TV commercial for Seattle Sutton's Healthy eating. I got a stroke of genius.

The next day I went out and purchased a 30 day supply of lean cuisines, and ate them three times a day until my freezer was empty. Voila, I was down at least five pounds.

I was now inspired. I next turned to Healthy Choice TV dinners. There are more food and calories in one box, and at the time they were on sale for less than the Lean Cuisines.

Again I lost more weight. Then I went to regular TV dinners with still more calories and much less cost per serving. The rest is history.

From there I figured out how to start counting calories and began keeping a weight loss and food journal. This is where I am today.

A friend of my kept haunting me to begin blogging something. Well, I couldn't think about what to blog. I began to blog about losing weight.

This is now one of my Crusades. It's to help people like me to get inspired to get off those excessive pounds.

I am not a dietitian. I am not a doctor or a weight loss expert. I am only blogging about what I have seen and done. And just because I don't have a degree from some university doesn't mean that I don't know something.

If you'll go to the "skinny guy" blog, you will see this man and I have reached the same conclusions about losing weight. Here it is EAT LESS FOOD.

You will find that in the beginning we both struggled with agonizing hunger. We both struggled with our bouts of temptation. WE all do.

But, if the two of us from two different parts of the country can get results, then so can you.

As I wrote you don't have to turn into a type-two diabetic like my family members. They ate way more sugar and carbohydrates than the body could handle. They developed insulin immunity.

Get those pounds off before it happens to you. Don't let yourself get so obese that by the time you get up into you 40's or 50's they have to give you all kinds of medication.

Start to tame your appetite now before you are seriously sorry later on in life. You'll look better and feel better.

My disposition has changed. I don't feel like the same person that I was six months ago. I don't slug around like I did seven months ago.

My blood pressure is down, my heart rate is down, and I have reduced my chances of getting that dreaded type two diabetes.

Your future doesn't have to be bleak if you will start to do something now. Otherwise you can go on into your future the preponderant one you are.

Bye for now...

What Does Your Metabolism Speeding Up Mean?

Today someone told me that my metabolism may be kicking in finally.
I thought, what does that mean?

What does my metabolism kicking in mean? Hey, if you are alive you are metabolizing something. That's right. Your body's cells from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head need energy. And if you are still breathing air you are consuming energy.

What matters is how effective are you at consuming energy. Hey as we age any number of things can go wrong with the body to make us slow down. We can become ill.

However my problem hasn't been that I am ill, or even that I have a "slow metabolism." My problem has been that I have eaten more than I need to. That's it.

I have developed the habit of consuming food until I am comfortably full so to speak. In almost all cases this means that I have eaten way more food than I needed to live and maintain life.

In America this is the problem with most people who are preponderant. We over eat, and wonder why we turn into beach balls.

If you ever hope to get off the extra poundage you have to figure out at what calorie count you can eat and still need just enough more energy that forces the body to go for the fat reserves.

In my case it's about 1,500 calories. In the case of a woman, dependant on her makeup, it may be 1,200 calories. I am convinced that a woman can get away with 1,500 calories.

And believe me 1,500 calories of food can disappear in one McDonald's value meal at a noon luncheon. After eating a Big Mac, Medium French Fries, and a regular size coke, there goes just about 1,500 calories. If not just toss in that chocolate shake and you can say goodbye to eating for the rest of the day.

People don't really think about this kind of thing. I saw a beautiful young woman at the check out counter that would be a real knockout if she lost 35 pounds.

I am not so sure she even knows how to begin the process. I am not so sure she is even aware that she needs to. She is young and at her age she can wield around a few extra pounds.

When you get to my age it's a whole different story. That extra 45 pounds was beginning to destroy me. I couldn't walk up the stairs anymore. My joints were wearing down wielding around 240 pounds.

I have successfully gotten off 5.5 gallon jugs of water or 4 1/2 ten pound bowling balls from my body. Just put that kind of weight in a sack over the shoulder and see what it does to you.

This is why I am blogging about my weight loss success. I want others to learn that they too can get off the extra weight.

Your life depends on it.

Bye for now...

That Last Barrier May Be History-200 Pounds You're Outa here

200-pounds you're outa here.
Oh yeah, Oh yeah, Oh yeah

Today I stepped onto the scale weighing in at 193.2-pounds.
Is that 200-pound barrier gone? Ummm, if I get stupid no.

Today's meal so far was: Lean Pocket (260 calories), mixed vegetables (60 calories).

We'll see what the rest of the day brings as far as my total food intake goes.

I have to get on my way.

Bye for now...

He's Turning The Corner And Passing 200 Pounds

Hello weight losing fans.

All one of you. Hey, Hey, Hey it's another day here at the David Dane clinic for weight loss.
Remember I am the one who advocates losing weight sensibly, don't kill yourself.

I woke up this morning and weighed in at 194. 2-pounds.
Is that 200-pound barrier a thing of the past? Well, let's see...

Anyway I am turning that corner and I have officially shed 45-pounds since December of 2006.
Here is a key note: I didn't kill myself to get there.

Did I suffer with hunger? You bet I did.
Did I feel sorry for myself along the way? There were some days I wanted to quit.

Do I feel better? Unequivocally YES I do!

I can't stay to blog right now. Maybe I will be back later today.

Quickly: Today I had two breaded chicken patties (440 calories), mixed vegetables (60 calories), a slim fast shake (190 calories), and a glass of milk (150 calories)

I have to go for now.

Bye for now...

Who Killed That Fat Man?

Who killed that fat man?
Come on...
Come on...
Who killed that fat man?

I killed that fat man!

Doctor Who Treats Diabetes Advocated Counting Calories

Hello weight losing fans. I have missed two days of blogs due to the fact I haven't been able to get to the computer. It's been work, work, for me. No rest for the weary.

Well, this morning I stepped on the scale weighing in at 197-pounds. I was awake at 6:30 AM and went back to bed to get some more sleep. I have had a very rough three days and I got in after midnight this morning. So I re awoke at 11:30 AM and stepped onto the scale weighing in at 196-pounds. I am surprised.

Saturday I went to Wisconsin. I had two hamburgers on buns at 370 calories each. I had potato chips, potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw, some macaroon dip, fruit salad, and one hulking large piece of cake.

Earlier in the day I had four hard boiled eggs (280 calories), and two warm freshly baked chocolate cookies (400 calories).

Is it safe to say I blew away 1,500 calories and more? I would say so. How much I haven't estimated yet.

Sunday I had a hamburger patty without a bun (260 calories), and a very large bowl of fruit salad. Which was only different kinds of fruit.
Later in the day I had a McDonald's bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit (440 calories)
In the afternoon I had a McDonald's cheeseburger (300 calories)
At night when I got home late I had four ounces of red wine.

Now, I have been toying around the 198-pound level since I weighed myself on Friday.
I haven't had regular access to my digital scale.

I think I am in good shape here considering I ate a lot on Saturday, and got out of my regular died of low carbs on Sunday.

So, is the 200-pounds gone for good? Ummm, I don't know for sure.

This afternoon I had two chicken patties (440 calories)
I had mixed vegetables that I microwaved (70 calories)
In the morning I had a chocolate slim fast drink (190 calories)
At 3 PM I had a chocolate protein drink. (160 calories)

Now I have to make sure that I get lots of fluids because all I have had is two mugs of hot coffee and about eight ounces of water. I have to fill up here because I am dehydrated.

A Doctor Who Treats Diabetes Promised He Would Read My Blog
I am excited because I ran into a doctor who said he wants to read my blog. I told him how much weight that I lost and how I did it.

This doctor who specializes in treating diabetes said that he has been preaching counting calories. He claims he has not found a real life example. I told him this is how I lost all the weight.

This doctor has been preaching, "It's not what anyone eats, it's how much anyone eats, that gets them fat."

That's right, I have experienced this phenomena. I did the Doctor Atkin's diet. I lost 60 pounds.
I did not keep a food diary. However, I lived on the belief I could eat piles of protein and fat then still lose weight.

That system worked for a while. However the body figures out somehow to adapt those calories. If per say someone is eating a high protein diet and then exceeds the 20 carbs level, then the body immediately kicks in the fat collecting mechanisms. Then it all seems to turn to fat, the carbs, the proteins, and the fats.

I was even gaining weight just eating eggs and tuna fish. Go figure.
Well, I must have been doing something wrong.

Yes I was. I was eating much more calories than my body really needed.

I think my body just said keep handing over those heaping helpings of food and I'll put them right there on your gut, your legs, and your face.

Counting Calories The Only Sure Fire Way To Watch Your Food Intake
The only sure fire way to watch how much food you eat is to count those calories.
It's because this is the only way to count the amount of food the body burns.

If you exceed what the body needs to burn for the day, it will store the rest of the food as fat.
At least this is the way it is with most people.

I Talked With Another Lady With A Slow Metabolism
The other day at the picnic I talked with a woman who complained that her metabolism is slow. I didn't tell her to get her thyroid checked. This could be the problem.

Anyway, she told me she doesn't eat that much food. Well, maybe she doesn't but then she admitted never writing down what she eats and examining her habits.

She also admitted to skipping breakfast. Yep, if you skip breakfast expect not to lose weight.
Unless of course you don't eat all. Then you'll lose weight and die from malnourishment.

In the morning the body is ready for food. If there has been an eight hour period where the body hasn't had food then it needs food.

Keeping away from food is a sure fire way to kick in the body's emergency response. It will start to store food because it doesn't know how to adjust to the long periods without food.

Even if it's only and apple or an orange eaten for breakfast you should eat something. I even told this woman if she has to have a piece of candy have it in the morning.

Get your body starting to rev up by eating on a consistent basis. Don't think that starving and fasting for long periods of time is a good thing.

We are designed to ingest food for energy. Give your body energy, or something to get it going early in the day or when you crawl out of bed like I do some days.

I tell people that I don't fast to lose the weight. I eat something at the very, very least three times a day. Sometimes I will eat more than that.

By taking care of yourself you can improve your quality of life. I do my best to try. It gets real trying on some days. Yesterday was one of those days.

Bye for now.

Experimenting With Eating Protein Only

Hello weight losing fans.

Yes hello to all one of you, or none of you. I can't tell if someone is reading my blog.

I couldn't blog yesterday at all. I was far to busy and I didn't return home until 1:30 AM.
All you anxious fans that are hanging on to my every profound written statement had to be deprived yesterday.

Anyway, yesterday I stepped onto the scale in the morning weighing in at 197.4-pounds.
Yeah !!!!

Well how did I do it? The day before I ended the day at 1,400 calories. I had these high calorie snacks that totaled up the calories fast and gave me little food in return. I ate some trail mix, six peanut butter crackers, and a bag of pressed fried chips. These things wiped out my total calorie consumption very quickly.

If I had not been paying attention I could have easily ended the day with way more calories consumed than the 1,400 calories. You have to pay attention to those snack foods folks. There is a lot of calories in very, very small amounts of food. It's all empty calories too.

Today Showed Improvement
Well, I am not back down to 195 like I was on Thursday of last week. Although, I did wake up this morning and weigh myself at 196-pounds.

Does this mean I have cracked forever the 200-pound barrier that zooms up everytime I eat away at an extra hamburger? Well, I don't think so.

Here is why. On Saturday I am supposed to be going to a family reunion. Now I am only going to be there for a few hours. In a few hours I can do a lot of damage eating away at the food sprawled out onto the family picnic table.

I can eat enough food to easily pack on five pounds of excessive weight. And as a result stand on the scale with my mouth drooping onto the floor from disappointment as the numbers tick back up over 200-pounds.

It's been a real trial to keep down away from that 200-pound mark that took me over a month of trying to get below.

I will see how I progress the next few days here. You will to if you want to read my blog.

I Had An Interesting Menu Of Food Yesterday
In the morning I had an eight ounce glass of prune juice (180 calories).
This I consumed to keep myself regular throuhout this experiment.

I decided the day before yesteday to test a theory I had about carbohydrates adding to me weight so quickly. I thought, "Hmmm, I wonder what would happen if I went all protein for a couple days?"

Well, I boiled a couple dozen eggs two nights ago and put them into the refrigerator.
Yesterday I brought with me 21 eggs to work. Through out the day I managed to consume 14 of the 21 eggs.

The calorie count was 890 calories.

I also had some small chunks of fruit and some chunks of cheese that were in a snack box that was given to me. I didn't eat the little brownie that was inside of the box. I also didn't eat the snack crackers that were in the box. I did not eat all of the cheese that was in the box either.

The snack crackers alone would have added 150 calories to my calorie count. That brownie would have added another 250-300 calories. With the addition of those little chunks of food I would have zoomed up and over the 1,5oo calories I set for myself.

Not only would that be so, but I would have blown my test for carbohydrates effecting my weight loss and gain.

I did have fruit. They were little chunks of melon, and a few berries, and grapes. They didn't really add a lot to the carbohydrates. Besides, they help add fiber to the diet. So I ate them.

I ended yesterday under 1,500 total calories.

Well, that's all the wisdom I have to share with you for today. I hope that you are encouraged to get off those excessive pounds.

I have a new goal of getting down to 160-pounds. I decided that was where I want to be.
Now I'll be a real light weight compared to what I am now. I will look better.

I am already looking better than I did. It's getting near the time to buy some other clothes because the ones that I have now are hanging off of me.

Bye for now....

Weight Up And Down

This morning when I woke up I stepped on the scale weighing 200.2-pounds.

This evening when I got home from work I weighed 198-pounds.

I'm still not back up to 240 pounds. That's good. Isn't it?

I wondered why did I gain so rapidly? Hmmm, I think it's just stuff that had not left.

That's what I think.

Maybe it's a regaining of some pounds. Who knows?

Watch Out For Bags Full Of Goodies
Today I had someone give me a box full of goodies. It was a box of snacks.
I thanked the person for the kindness.

I surely could have cursed the person when I opened the box.
At first I thought that there would be a sandwich inside. There wasn't.
There was a bag of artificially manufactured chips, two chocolate chip cookies, an eight ounce bottle of water, an apple, and a bag of what looked like trail mix.

That little bag only weighed two ounces. Here is what the back panel said the total calories for that little bag of goodies was: 290 calories. Wow...
That little treat came in at 145 calories per ounce.

Now this little bag was meant to be some benign little snack. It would be something someone would consume in let's say three fists tossed into the mouth. Something like this disappears in seconds when consumed without thought.

The consequenses are deadly. Who would look at the side panel and see this little bag was a ticking time bomb of excessive calories? No one does.

The bag of chips that were just pressed corn chips was 1.5 ounces and came in at 210 calories.
That too was a ticking time bomb of empty calories.

I had no other food available so I ate them. But I completely blew away 500 of my 1,500 calories with that empty food. Then I ate the apple. That was another 100 calories.

Be Careful When Snacking
With these two examples I showed it's easy to over eat when someone's not aware of what he/she is eating. You have to be careful what you eat all the time.

Most people in our society aren't even aware of the dangers inside these little bags of food. If that's all someone eats all day then so be it. But people eat this kind of food just to snack on.

I never felt one bit of satisfaction after eating them. They didn't even start to cut my hunger.

The cookies were three inch in diameter chocolate chip cookies. I forgot to take them with me. I had no intention of eating them today at all. That was over 200 calories per cookie. I was saving them for another day.

I forgot them so that's no great loss.

You have to be careful what you eat. I am always looking at food suspiciously.

Today I didn't go over 1,500 calories. I am around 1,400 calories right now.

I had a small bag of peanut butter crackers. Those six little crackers came in at 200 calories for all six. That just goes to show how easy it is to eat and not realize how much food we are packing away.

Bye for now...

I Am Delighted

Imagine my delight when I got back home this afternoon and weighed 199.4-pounds.
It's not the 195.4 pounds that I was at last week, but it was still under 200-pounds.

This is wonderful. I am up four pounds but not at 200 pounds. Here is why this is so remarkable; it's because I have busted the 1,500 calorie count for three days in a row.
Last night I sat at the computer and ate two bowls of Ice Cream and three glasses of wine.

Sunday night I had a large piece of birthday cake at a family member's house.

These were all high sugar laden foods. I thought sure I would be stepping on the scale up at 201 or 202 pounds. Nope, not today I didn't.

Now, do I have to exercise caution. I sure do. I have to go back to 1,500 calories and stay there religiously if I expect to keep dropping weight. I am at 1,400 calories today. I am done eating for the day. I just ate some clam chowder soup (380 calories).

I am satisfied. My next meal will be early tomorrow morning.

Bye for now...

Binging Happens, We All Tend To Over Eat

We all have a tendency to eat beyond what we need to survive.

Last night I had ice cream, and three glasses of wine. The ice cream I estimate was 440 calories, and the wine was probably about 350 calories. It was a fruity white wine. So I am sure it has some serious calories attached to each glass. I have no way of estimating it now.

Now, am I going to kick myself here? Well, I haven't yet weighed in for the morning. I don't have my digital scale with me.

Dieting Opens A Whole New World Of Temptation
Folks let's face it. In America we are very well off with the amount of food that we have available.

I hear this talk all the time about how the poor don't get enough in this country. When I go into Chicago I see a lot of fat black people. I see a lot of women especially who are fat. I see a lot of fat white people too.

This is because of one reason and one reason only. They eat more than they need to sustain life.

We all eat more than we need.

We eat cake, candy, ice cream, donuts, breads, and all kinds of other high calorie foods to such excess that we are becoming a fat society. We all over eat.

It's easy to over eat. It takes some real will power to resist the urge to eat. It takes real will power to make the correct choices when we are hungry.

It takes knowledge and the belief that the quantity of food is the problem and not the kind of food.

I can eat a bag of cheese puffs each day and lose weight. But, that better be all I eat. I can't have anything else that would be more healthy for me. Here is why; it's because every food that I drink or eat has calories.

The only thing that may not have calories is the artificial sweeteners. Anything else has calories. Even vegetables have calories in them.

So if you like me are on some sort of diet; then the calories are going to be counted. That's it.

Choosing Healthy Foods
I saw this program on TV the other day where this doctor who has written a very popular book about dieting was telling someone about food choices.

He was showing this woman how to choose salmon instead of beef. He was showing her the kinds of vegetables she needs to choose. Da... Thanks Doc... You've solved all her problems and mine too.

Great, I am going to pick the red peppers, the green salads, and the very best proteins I can everyday now that this doctor has shown me how. Well, I will until I go to that office party where all the goodies are out on the table. I will make all the right choices until I go to a birthday party.

What happens when we go to that party in the late hours, or we go to that banquet? If we are hungry when we go to the office party then we most likely will over eat. We all tend to over eat.

Don't kid yourself. If you like chocolate cake then you are going to want to eat chocolate cake. The temptations don't go away.

The frustration that goes with trying to lose weight never, ever goes away.

This is life, we want often what we know we should not have. This is where the power of the will comes in. And this is where writing down everything we eat comes in.

Write Down What You Eat
If you write it down, you can make adjustments all along the way, and still most likely hit those weight loss points you hoped for.

I tell people to write down what they have eaten. It's a habit that needs to be practiced. If you can see what you have eaten then you can adjust from there. If you forget what you ate, then you won't be able to adjust because you can't possibly remember everything that you eat.

Writing what we eat down helps to slow down the impulse to eat. If anyone gets into the habit of writing down what he/she is eating then he/she will have to think about what is being eaten. This gives the mind time to react and slow down eating impulses.

This is a long life project losing weight. You can't ever give in and quit. You can't let the critics and skeptics detour you. You still have to keep chugging along everyday.

Eventually it gets a little easier.

Bye for now...

Getting Discouraged And Giving Up Is Not Good

I have an In-law that criticized me last night. See was critical of my tactics to lose weight. She jumped onto the matter of me eating a piece of cake in front of her.

She seems to believe that this piece of cake will ruin my weight losing plans. She also thinks that counting calories doesn't work. Well, she is ignorant and people like her are ignorant.

Here is my weight loss system in a nut shell. Are you ready? Can you handle this profound truth? Are you willing to believe me? Cus, here it comes.

I am going to tell you how to lose weight. I am going to tell you how to over come the people that are critical of your efforts. I am going to open your eyes to the wonder of wonders.

Here it is. Get ready. I am going to knock your socks off here. I am going to baffle the sceptics with this one. I am going to fix all your weight loss problems with this one little statement.

This is going to make science history here.

Here it is. It's the shocking profound truth.

EAT LESS FOOD

Oh I did it again. It's that eat less food statement. Come on, can't I just take a pill?

Here is another profound statement: It's not what we eat, it's how much we eat that gets us into trouble.

What? You mean I can eat a birthday cake? Yep, I have eaten birthday cake all along. You mean I can have hamburgers? Yep, I have all along. Well, then what are you telling us? We can eat anything we want? Yep, we can eat anything that we want in moderation.

My ignorant in-law doesn't understand that calorie counting is just a way to measure the quantity of food that I have consumed.

If I eat 3,000 calories of food that's 1,500 calories more than eating 1,500 calories.

It means I ate more food. That's it. I'm not eating the calories, I am eating the food. The calories are a way to measure the food. That's it.

"Eat less calories" is the same as saying "eat less food."

We are all going to run into the fat people who want to stay fat. These are the people who claim they have lost all this weight and then regained it.

My In-law told me, "I lost 90-pounds in six months eating 900 calories a day."

Have you ever heard of the word malnutrition? That's what she was doing to her body. That's what anyone is doing when they cut back so far on the food intake.

There has to be an immediate source of food for the body to function normally. If you cut so far back on the food as to starve the body you are setting yourself up for trouble. One such trouble is heart failure.

As my in-law stated she was eating 900 calories a day for over six months. That's way too few calories for anyone over that time period.

She claimed that counting calories didn't work. Folks 900 calories a day isn't a lot of food. It's food but it's not enough food.

She claimed that she could eat anything she wanted at 900 calories a day. She claimed that a woman's metabolism is slower than a man's.

A woman has less muscle mass than a man. This gives the apperance of a slower metabolism. She burns fat slower because she has a lower muscle mass.

If a woman had the muscle mass of the average man, then she too would burn calories quicker.

So is this a slow metabolism? If I have a bigger engine it will burn more fuel. If I have a small engine it will burn less fuel. That is just physics 101 there. The higher muscle mass in the man is just a bigger engine than the average woman.

Well, isn't this the metabolism. There seems to be confusion here as to what is metabolism.

If I rev up the small engine and it works faster then it too will consume more fuel. With the woman if she revs up her muscles then she too will burn more fuel. As we call it calories which is the measure of turning food into energy.

If my in-law would add more muscle mass to her body she would actually increase her body's ability to burn more fuel.

Why am I so critical of my in-law? Because these are the kind of people you will run into. They are the experts on everything.

Well, just because she is weak doesn't mean that I have to be as weak. She couldn't trim down and stay in shape, doesn't mean that I can't trim down and stay in shape.

The same goes for anyone else that is trying to lose weight. We can't depend on the outside criticism of the skeptics and critics.

It's Easy To Quit And Give Up
Unfortunately everyday we will run into people who are going to be critical of losing weight. These voices can be a big part of discouraging progress and increasing our desire to quit trying anymore.

Giving up on losing weight is not good. Your life may depend on it.

There is a man I know who got cancer in the Colon. The doctors cut out a small part of the colon. As a result of the surgery he had to change his diet. He had to wear a colostomy bag for a time while the doctors figured out if they were going to take out the rest of the colon.

In the mean time he lost a tremendous amount of weight. Well, they resectioned his colon back together. Here is what he told me, "I have never felt better in my life." Why? It's because he lost all of the weight as a result of the circumstances he found himself in.

He benefited by losing so much weight. You will too.

He has only lost a small part of his colon. So, he can now go back to eating. He has regained his ability to over eat and get fat again.

It doesn't have to be that way. I warned him now keep off that weight. He intends to.

If he knows how, he will keep off the weight. If he remembers that he ate those little cups of fruit. If he remembers to eat smaller food portions. If he remembers to eat less food then he will keep off the excessive weight. Chances are real good he won't remember.

He will get hungry and eat to satisfy the hunger. This is what we all do. We eat to satisfy that gnawing hunger. Then poof we find ourselves overweight.

We all get hungry. It's takes some thinking to keep out of trouble when the hunger pains strike. This is where the will comes in.

Learn How To Beat The Hunger
Learning to tactically beat the hunger is a key in not losing the battle of the bulge.

I am assuming you really want to get off the weight. This is why you have stayed this long reading my blog.

Eat a tablespoon of honey before you go out to eat. It's 60 calories of instantaneous energy. The body assimilates the honey into sugar quickly. This spikes up the sugar level.
After that when you eat anything you will seem to fill up faster.

I have taken tablespoons full of honey before I go eat. After that I don't desire to eat as much.

Well, why not use sugar? Honey has more going for it nutritionally than plain white sugar. There are flavonoids in honey that help fight cancer.

Eat more vegetables. Bulk up on the vegetables instead of the bread and pasta.
Salads, cooked vegetables, and anything that is a green or red vegetable is lower in total calories than things like potatoes and starchy foods.

Losing weight will take all the will power you have. It's hard to do. It's also hard to keep that weight off.

Getting discouraged when there is no progress is also easy to do. I certainly have had my share of discouragement with my weight. But giving up is not a good idea.

You have to fight the fight and win "The Battle Of The Bulge."

Bye for now...

Still Hanging Under Two Hundred Pounds

Well, I got home to my place last night for a little while. I weighed myself and was 199.6-pounds.
That's four pounds more than the day I weighed 195.4-pounds.

Is this so traggic? Well, I would have liked it if I were lower. However, I did eat a bit more food the last two days than I usually do.

Let's see what happens over the next week.

Lately I have been eating more carbohydrates than I usually do.

Last night I had a slice of birthday cake. It was two inches, by two inches, by four and one half inches.
I haven't figured out the calories yet.
I estimate in the frosting alone it was 200 calories.

So what's my point? It's exactly as I have been writing. More food taken in eventually results in more weight. And since I have a tendency towards obesity, I gain quickly. Most likely you will too.

Bye for now...

My Weight Today Is A Mystery

Well, I still am not in a location to weigh myself with a digital scale. I don't know what I weigh now.

I stepped onto an analog scale this morning and it say's I am over 200-pounds. I have a tendency to believe what I saw there. It's not completely accurate, but I did see an increase.

Last night I went to a Chinese buffet and ate more food than I usually do in one day. In one plate I had what I would eat in one day. I had two plates. I also ate two bowls of ice cream.

That was 400 calories just for the ice cream.

It's Sunday and I won't have access to a computer later in the day so I am going to have to go with what I have written here.

Bye For Now...

Eating At The Buffets Can Ruin That Diet

Boy talk about the urge to over eat. Go to the Chinese Buffet like I just did. I ate two plates of food and two bowls of Ice Cream.

Let's see what this does for me in the next few days. Add that to what I ate yesterday.

I have this feeling that I can kiss that 195 pounds I was at a few days ago goodbye. At least for now.

Earlier in this day I had a bagel with cream cheese, and for lunch I had an English muffin with peanut butter on it and some diet spread imitation butter.

Well, It's Graduation Season And Time To Eat!

Well, I don't know how much I weighed today. I don't have my digital scale with me.

Yesterday I consumed:

• Four chocolate raisin oatmeal cookies
• Two beef sandwiches
• Fried Chicken Thigh-one
• Several fists full of Doritos
• Pretzel Sticks-two
• Beers-two bottles
• Shot of tequila
• Three scoops of ice cream
• Piece of Cake

This morning I had a bagel with cheese on it.

Yesterday was a time for celebration. My friend's son graduated from the police academy.

We went over to their house and I pigged out a little bit.

I wonder what I will see when I stand on the digital scale.

Bye for now...

Good News, And Not So Good News

This morning I was under 200-pounds. I weighed in at 199.2 pounds.

Bye for now.

Losing Weight Is No Picnic

Contrary to some people's belief losing as much weight as I have has been no summer picnic (Now almost 45-pounds and going down).This hasn't been like falling off a log which is easy to do.

It's been a real nerve racking challenge to lose weight. It's not over either.

In the beginning I struggled with gnawing, mind consuming, dizzy making, headache splitting hunger. I kid you not.

Even keeping to a system of weighing myself everyday, and writing that down has been a challenge. This is because during the last few years I have been prone to forget to do things.

Writing down every nibble of food has been troublesome as well. Of course for the same reasons just mentioned.

By the way, I'm not expecting my readers to feel sorry for me while reading this.

I am just trying to inform anyone who decides that it's time to shed those unwanted pounds to expect it be a personal trial. That's all.

If I could do it, then you can too.

Bye for now...

Imagine My Surprise At This New Weight

This afternoon I came home from work. I for the fun of it decided to weigh myself.
I stepped onto the scale and weighed 195.4-pounds.

I am indeed surprised. I guess all the sacrifice is showing some results.

Is the 200-pound barrier going to be a distant memory? Well, let's see.
I am not going to be so bold as to write that it's going to be a slam dunk getting down to 190-pounds from here.
After all I thought weeks ago that by now I would be down where I wanted to be.
It didn't happen. Oh well...

What Did I Eat?
Today's menu totaled in at 1,220 calories. I wrote this first because I want people to see what it's going to take to lose weight.

The last two days I have come in below 1,500 calories. This is because on Tuesday night I had a chunk of cake that shot me almost four hundred calories above the 1,500 calorie count.

I will say though that I did come in under the 2,000 calories recommended by the U.S. Government. I am such a good boy...

Today's menu:

• Lean Pocket Pepperoni Pizza (280 calories)
• Apple (100 calories)
• Protein Drink (160 calories)
• Coffee (0 calories)
• McDonald's Cheesburger (300 calories)
• Mixed Vegetables-two cups stir fried (100 calories)
• Chopped Chicken-three ounces (120 calories)
• Honey-tablespoon (60 calories)
• Apple (100 calories)
• Total 1,220 calories
  That's it I am done eating for the rest of the day.

I may have some tea with honey later, or I may drink a cup of grapefruit juice which will add 120 calories to the total. It's not much, but it does count.

Weight Watching Is So Hard

I heard someone today mentioning her sister lost 20 pounds doing weight watchers. Yeah, so what?

You mean to tell me someone needed someone else to take their money to do for herself what a little research and self discipline would have already done?

Who needs Weight Watchers? It's overpriced food, and overpriced advice.

Here is some Weight Watching advice. EAT LESS FOOD!

I guarantee if you eat double portions of the product Weight Watchers sells you will still be fat.
That's the truth.

Start looking at the side panels on manufactured foods at the calorie content, the sugar content, and the other nutritional values.
If you would do a comparison of Weight Watcher's food and regular food you will find that their food is pretty much like everyone else's out there.

Weight Watchers isn't doing you any favors collecting up your money.

I lost 43-pounds without Weight Watchers. I didn't use a diet pill, or phen phen, or any other gimmick to shed the pounds.

Here is why. If you get dependent on anyone system then you are stuck with that system. If it's the Doctor Atkin's diet plan, the Weight Watcher's plan, Doctor Godum Goopta, or any other plan; once you use it you're stuck with it.

There is no flexibility in any other plan but counting calories. That's it.

Cut back on the food portions. That's it. If you eat Ice Cream, then skip the cookies.

If you eat a big hamburger, then skip the Ice Cream desert. Or, if you must have the Ice Cream then get ready to give up something else in exchange for it.

You can have your cake and eat it too. Just write down that piece of cake and adjust your calorie intake for the rest of the day accordingly.

It's how much food you consume that gets us into trouble. Quit over eating and you will lose weight.

My Weight Today
This morning I weighed in at 197.2-pounds.

I am disappointed today. I planned on being down to 190 by now. That's what I assumed would happen.

Now, if I had eaten exactly 1,500 calories or less every single day maybe by now I would be at 190-pounds.

I like you get tempted to break my own rules. I eat a little more than I planned.
Man, the food was good...

I am so glad I didn't cut up my stomach just to lose weight. What benefit is there in forever, and ever, and forever, and ever never ever being able to over eat? (I wrote that on purpose.)

I mean every word of that question. What is it to not once in a blue moon eat a big bowl of ice cream? Or what is life if I can't eat a real big holiday meal?

All I am writing is you can't do that everyday of your life. This is what I am writing about. I am passionate about this.

Don't kill yourself just to lose weight. Golly, you have one life.

If you are fat, then admit it to yourself. Then take the action you need to get that fat off.

Your quality of life depends on it.

Bye for now...

Speeding Up That Metabolism

Hello Weight Losing Fans.

I have an idea that I want to share with you. Someone told me, "I have a slow metabolism."

I am assuming this slow metabolism is responsible for someone not being able to lose weight.

I guess this may be right. A slow metabolism may mean that the body's fat cooker is on the fritz.
The body can't burn fat with a slow fat cooker.

So let's examine the slow metabolism. First: let's examine the thyroid. The thyroid is responsible for producing energy. If the thyroid is under active it is producing less energy. If there is a problem with the thyroid then a doctor should be consulted.

Let's examine another way to effect the metabolism. This is called eating food. Yes I wrote eat food. Eat foods rich in iodine that effect the thyroid, which effects the metabolism.

Don't skip meals. Eat in the morning, eat in the noon hours, and eat in the evening. Maybe eat six or so times a day. This way the body has to be metabolizing food. If there is no food and the body kicks into low then there is no fat burning.

Build more muscle. That's right if the body has muscle mass, it needs more energy. Building muscle in the legs by doing leg lifts and standing squats will help.

Build more muscle in the arms. That's right more muscle in the arms will help to burn fat.

Here is how to build muscle in the arms. Use weights that stress the arm to fatigue out. Then press a little beyond the fatigue. This will build muscle.

These are some over simplified ways to increase the body's metabolism.

For more details about what I wrote about search the internet. These suggestions are far to complicated in detail to address in this blog.

Bye for now...

Hunger Has To Be Dealt With

Hello weight losing fans. All one of you, or none.

Today I weighed in at 199.2-pounds.

That's better than yesterday. It's not much better. I thought sure by this time I would be down at 190-pounds. Nope, I'm still up playing with the 200-pounds.

Hunger A Weight Loss Problem
Yesterday I was talking with a woman who was saying she gets hungry and because of that she can't lose weight.

Well, I am sorry she gets hungry. I am sorry we all get hungry. This is the body's way of saying, "Feed me."

But, those hunger pains have to be resisted if anyone hopes to lose weight. I am here to tell you that eventually you get used to them. Here is why. It's because the body is lazy. It wants a convenient source of sugar and nutrients to get the energy it needs.

If you will realize that the body has to be conditioned to go after the body fat you will get over the severe hunger eventually. I have.

I don't have those gnawing hunger pains and the dizzy spells that I once had. I do get hungry, it's not so severe as it was.

I know that it's not easy to get used to restricting food intake. I am just like anyone. I like to eat too. But the benefits of shedding the pounds and getting thin again can't be over emphasized here. It's wonderful to be lighter.

Don't give up.

Bye for now.

I Jumped Up Back Over Twohundred Pounds

I weighed in at 201.4 pounds this morning.
What happened? I surely don't know.

I haven't been eating so much that I would jump up so high of a weight in such a short time. Or did I maybe eat too much on Sunday?

Let's see. Saturday night I had a bowl of ice cream. On Sunday I had this huge roll. On both days I came in over my allotted calorie count.

Could this be my downfall? I don't know.

It Can Happen To you
It doesn't take a long time to start adding a pound here and a pound there. This is why I caution people to weight themselves everyday, and then write down that weight.

Because I was once so heavy, it wouldn't take a lot of food to start regaining all those lost pounds. It's because my body is used to storing fat.

If you are like me and you are preponderant, then you too will have the same trouble.

Write down what you weigh. Keep a diary of everything you eat. Then you will be able to see the results of your food consumption.

Bye for now...

The Mystery Of Losing Weight

I didn't weigh myself on my digital scale today.

I stepped on an analog scale this morning fully dressed and weighed less than 200 pounds.

Menu for this morning:

• English Muffin-two muffins (260 calories)
• Diet Butter spread (160 calories)
• Peanut Butter-four tablespoons (380 calories)
• Total calories so far 800 calories

That's a lot of calories so early in the day.

I get 700 more calories today and I am done.

Last night I ate a lot of Ice Cream. It probably came in at 400 calories or more.

Weight Loss The Great Mystery
Yesterday I was visiting friends I have known for years. Many years ago they were slender. My man friend was with me in the Army reserves. He was much leaner then than he is now.

He saw how much weight that I lost and he asked how I did it. I told him and it seemed to be a mystery to him.

His wife was amazed at how lean my legs are now, and commented that my legs have disappeared. No they didn't disappear, she forgot what they used to be. Many years ago my legs were this lean as they are now.

She was curious too how I lost so much weight and wanted to know how I got this result. I told her. She too was mystified by the simple explanation of counting calories and reducing food portions.

We Are Conditioned To Over Eat
Many people in our country are conditioned to over eat. As they over eat they become fat. When someone like me comes along and hits them with the truth they are baffled by it.

It's because to face the truth means that a course of action may have to be taken that is not so easy to accept.

Looking in the mirror and admitting that I was fat was facing the truth. Searching for the answer to my over weight dilemma was my search for the answer to that truth.

Watching my food intake and losing the extra weight was a fulfillment of that truth.

It's not a moral truth. Although avoiding gluttony is a part of moral truth.

I don't know that I was deliberately gluttonous.

I actually thought that I wasn't over eating. But, I was. This is my facing of the truth, acknowledgement of the truth, and fulfillment of the truth.

The truth is we eat more than we need to. We get fat because of it.

If we all want to lose weight then we have to learn to eat less.

If you finally accept the truth that you are overweight you can begin your search for the answer and fulfillment of that truth.

Here is the answer: Don't Eat So much...

Bye for now...

Slow Progress Breaking Barriers

Well, it's Sunday, and I woke up this morning weighing in at 197.4-pounds.

It's better than 200-pounds, but I am not holding my breath that 200-pounds is gone forever.

Today I had for breakfast a croissant pocket (360 calories), milk (150 calories),
large bread dough bun (300 calories)

For lunch I had a Vanilla Protein Shake (110 calories).

At a friends house I had a Polish Sausage on a bun, three fried cheese sticks, and 10 fried mushroom pieces. I haven't figured out what the total calorie intake is yet.

Ice Cream (300 calories)

Bye for now...

I'm Still Pushing Two Hundred Pounds

I'm still pushing up near 200-pounds. This morning I weighed in at 198.8-pounds. That's about one pound shy of 200-pounds.

I thought for sure by now I would be down around 190-pounds. This was my goal that I set back in January, 2007. I am still 10-pounds away from that. Well, almost 10-pounds away.

What's wrong? Why with my careful food consumption, and logging am I still coming in close to 200-pound? I can't answer that. I am truly baffled on this one.

I haven't been cheating with the snacks. I have pretty much kept to 1,500 calories or below. There have been some days I indulged myself. Those have been few and far between.

I guess this is my body's-set-point. This is the point where the body seems to believe it belongs. That's my only guess on this matter.

Granted in my life right now I am not really physically active. Oh I go walk a mile or two each day but it's not enough activity to really spark up some fat burning calories. I guess maybe I am just too sedentary. "Oh preponderant man that I am."

My menu for today:

• Vegetables-frozen mixed vegetables that were stir fried
• Chicken-two ounces canned
• Honey-tablespoon full
• Chocolate protein drink
• Total for today (490 calories)

I ate vegetables this morning in a stir fry. A friend called and he thought that was odd. Well, what's the difference between eating vegetables stir fried or eating them in an omelet?

The vegetables help to bulk up the stomach. They help some to curb the appetite. Lately I have had some real bouts of hunger, and had to fight my will because of it.

This is part of the weight loss dilemma. We fight hunger and the uncomfortable feelings associated with it.

It's not easy. Don't kid yourself. Hey, I am human just like you. I want to pack in the food too.

Even now as I am blogging I am fighting hunger pains. I ate a whole pound of food this morning. I ate two cups of vegetables, chicken, and a protein drink. And, I am hungry again.

I am also frustrated because I am not where I thought that I should be. I was hoping to be at 190-pounds by now.

I am also getting those little dizzy spells that come from being hungry. So, I understand the frustration and problems that go along with trying to lose weight.

I am here to tell you that it's not easy. So far it's been worth it. I FEEL MUCH BETTER!

I really do. If you are reading this, I am telling you will feel better too if you get those pounds off. You will, I promise.

Bye for now...

Tonight's Results

Tonight after work I weighed in at 198.2-pounds.

It seems that 200-pounds is hard to leave behind.

I think I lost a pound today just using the potty. As for the 197-pounds that I have been toying with we shall see what happens in the next few days.

Tonights Menu:

• Healthy Choice Chinese Cuisine TV dinner (430 calories)
• Mogan David wine-8 ounces (120 calories)

By for now...

Two Hundred Pounds Not In The Distant Past

Well, I weighed in this morning at 200-pounds.

Why, I don't know. I went to dinner last night and had a fairly large amount of food. I had a chicken breast sandwich with bacon on top. I also had two dinner rolls, french fries and a bowl of soup.

I came in at 300 calories over my 1,500 calorie goal for the day.

We shall see how I progress for the rest of the week.

This morning I had a healthy choice dinner (360 calories) and a can of chocolate protein drink (160 calories)

Bye for now...

Oh That Two Hundred Pound Barrier's Foundations Are Collapsing

Hello Weight Losing Fans.

This Morning I weighed in at 197.4-pounds. It's not quite time to say that I am officially below 200-pounds permanently. I may still jump up over it.

This is three days in a row that I have woke up and weighed less than 200-pounds. But, when I go to bed at night I am still at 200-pounds or below. This is because the food I ate for the day hasn't left the barn.

Now am I happy about this so far? You bet that I am.

I was just looking at my one sheet of paper I wrote my weight on in September of 2003. I was 201-pounds and beginning to gain weight. I was walking five miles a day and still gaining weight.

If I exercise and don't control my food intake, all I am doing is just conditioning the muscles and bones. I will gain weight if I eat too much; even if I am exercising.

I haven't been this low of a weight since 1995. That's 12 years weighing in over 200-pounds.

When I left the Army reserve I weighed 186 pounds. This was the maximum limit that the Army would let me get for my age.

I am going back to a better weight. And now that I have the tools, I believe that I can stay there.

Getting The Motivation To Lose Weight
I've wrote this before in my past blogs. The reason I started to lose weight is because I was sick and tired of being preponderant (Tipping the scales). I couldn't button my uniform pants any more. I couldn't stand the way I looked in the mirror. I was tired of huffing and puffing all of the time.

Now, I have a different motivation. I am actually feeling much, much better. I am also looking a little better too. Since I am eating so much less food my body is starting to adapt. I feel boughts of hunger, but it's not like it used to be.

I am now beginning to turn down sweets and snacks that I didn't before. I walk past the candy counters now and I am not yearning for a chocolate bar.

It has taken time. It's been a real sacrifice. It's been worth it.

My Driver's License Tells The Story
I was trying to scan my driver's license on to the Internet so you could see what I weighed many years ago. Since I can't get it scanned, I will tell you. The license says 250 pounds.
I actually got higher than that.

Now I am down over 50 pounds from that weight. I started this adventure in December weighing 240 pounds.

I can tell you I didn't mean to get that fat. I lost track of what I was doing. I didn't keep a record everyday of what I weighed.

I wasn't being careful with my food consumption. Then I like so many people today was using food to comfort myself.

The cost though is terrific. For every calorie I over consumed I set myself up to gain more and more weight. I actually wasn't considering counting calories as carefully as I do now.

I didn't believe the problem with my weight was over consuming food as much as what kind of food I ate.

I reasoned if I could keep away from most carbohydrates I wouldn't gain weight. Well, I was wrong.

The Problem With Weight Is Too Much Food
We all want a magic formula to keep the weight off, or to lose the weight we have.

For years I thought that if I just ate meat I wouldn't gain weight.

It's not the kind of food we eat, it's the amount of food that we eat that gets us into trouble. Too many calories in, and not enough calories burned and it turns to fat.

That's it in a nutshell. We all eat way more food than we need to survive.

It's Not All Our Fault
When I was growing up my mother did her level best to make sure I ate properly. She made sure that we had three meals a day. She always made sure that for dinner there was a meat, a vegetable, and a carbohydrate.

I really believe she did her best with the limited knowledge she had for nutrition to make sure we were fed properly. My dad did too.

I was still a little pudgy though. I had no idea back then how to control my weight. I really wasn't even aware that I could. My parents didn't seem to know either.

It wasn't until I was 19 years old and in the military that I started making an effort to control my food intake. Somewhere I had heard if I ate too many starches I would gain weight. So I limited my starches. I did manage to stay at a good weight

My efforts then were hit and miss. Since I was so active I was able to stay below 170-pounds. When I got out of the active military is when all the problems started.

I was not well educated in weight loss techniques. Neither are most people. I didn't connect the calorie counting thing. Most people don't either

The snack food industry is out to get us. The weight loss industry is out to get us too.

Never in my life have I seen so much misinformation about weight loss. Everywhere I look I see one weight loss book after another.

One book will say watch how much fat you eat. Another will say limit your carbohydrates. And still another book will say you can have all the food you want before two o'clock and then quit eating after that.

The snack food industry wants us to over eat. Let's face it; Cheetos Cheese puffs taste oh so good. Those Betty Crocker Brownies taste delicious. Those Chicken Nuggets are wonderful.

The problem is none of the companies that manufacture food really wants any of us to cut back.

There was a time when the bread industry was suffering because the Doctor Atkin's Diet was becoming popular. Just imagine how much the snack food industry would suffer if everyone decided to lose weight and keep it off.

Imagine how the diet industry would suffer if people figured out that it's not the kind of food that is eaten, but it's the amound of food eaten that makes anyone gain weight.

It would be a catastophy for both industries.

Jenny Craig would be out of business if everyone figured out that losing weight only means cutting back on the food portions, not eating her specific diet food.

I used to eat a whole pizza in one sitting. I have friends who do the same thing. It never occured to me that I should eat just one slice of pizza, and that was my meal.

I have eaten a whole roasted chicken in one sitting. It never occured to me that all I need to eat is half of a breast, or maybe a leg and a wing for the meal.

It never occured to me to reduce my food consumption so dramatically. At least I don't remember it ever occuring to me.

I prayed For Wisdom
I prayed for the wisdom and the will to lose the weight. I actually asked God to give me a solution to my weight gaining issue.

Then one day while watching TV I had an inspiration. I figured out maybe eating Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choice TV dinners would do the trick.
It was my success eating TV dinners morning noon and night that led me to figure out how to count the calories.

That's all we really need to worry about is the calories. Now, I do advocate being sensible about our food choices. But, all the healthy food in the world won't help if we still eat too much of it.

I am watching my calorie intake like a fiend. If you do, you too will lose weight.

Bye for now...

Yesterday's Menu & Part Of Today's menu

Yesterday's menu for June 6, 2007:

• Eggs-two eggs fried into an omelet (160 calories)
• American Cheese-two slices (60 calories)
• Salsa-two tablespoons (20 calories)
• Bacon-two slices (70 calories)
• Chocolate Protein drink (160 calories)
• Chicken-Roasted thigh w/skin (160 calories)
• Macaroni & Cheese-one cup (386 calories)
• Mixed vegetables-one cup (50 calories)
• Nibbled on about 10 small pretzels (50 calories)
• Total calories 1,116 calories

This morning's menu:

• Cottage Cheese (120 calories)
• Chocolate Protein Drink (160 calories)

That Two Hundred Pound Barrier Crumbling Away

This morning I woke up and weighed myself in at 197.8 pounds

Well, I am blogging at home today. I am writing this and then I’ll send it off into psyber-space to join the rest of humanities pictures and words. My thoughts will join all the other thoughts and ideas.

There will go my suggestions whirling out into a cable and into some computers memory maybe never to be read by anyone. I won’t even be considered for my accomplishment. No one will realize I lost over 40 pounds in around seven months of working at it.

Maybe no one will read that my waistline is down more than four inches.

Who will know? Who will care? No one will care but me. That’s what matters anyway. No one lives inside this body but me. Well, maybe just me... There may be some disembodied spirits in here as well. Just kidding... Well, maybe I am...

I’m just a little fat man, hanging out at the food bar, pay no attention to me...

Not anymore, I’m not. Huh!

Down, Down, Down I am coming. Yah Hoo!

Oh how good I feel...

My uniform pants are hanging on me. The cotton uniform shirt that I got last year that shrunk in the dryer now fits again. I got this double sized cotton shirt and it shrunk. For a while there my stomach would stretch the material, as I would put it on. Now it just sags on me.

All my clothes are beginning to hang like sacks on me.

The pants that I could not button back on Thanks giving day are now puckering around my waste as I cinch my belt together.

Am I a happy camper? Yes indeed I am...

This morning I ate an omelet that I made with two eggs, two slices of American Cheese, and a couple of tablespoons of salsa. The total calorie intake for this morning was 310 calories. I also drank a can of Chocolate flavored protein (160 calories). Today’s total is 470 calories.

That’s all for now....

That Barrier is crumbling

I blogged this morning. I am blogging again just to tell the good news. It's good news for me and me only. But, I am doing this for me anyway.

Just imagine my excitement tonight when I got home from work and stepped on the digital scale weighing in at 198.4-pounds. I was very surprised. I stepped on a different scale this morning and thought sure I was going to be over 200-pounds again today. It's not so.

Today's total calorie intake was 1,290 calories. I ate two packets of instant oatmeal for breakfast (260 calories). Then at noon I ate a Marie Callender's TV dinner.

My total calorie intake for those two meals came in at under 900 calories. I got home from work and thought that I could go without supper. Then I realized I really should eat something. I am not on a starvation diet. I am trying to set the example of sensible eating and dieting. As a result of that reasoning when I came home from work I ate another TV dinner. I ate a Healthy Choice Salisbury Steak Dinner.

I am trying to lose weight by reducing portion size and restricting calories to a sensible amount. I am not trying to fast the pounds off of me.

Fasting the pounds off only leads to malnutrition and problems due to insufficient food intake. I am not out to do that to myself.

You shouldn't either.

Bye for now...

Success Comes In Small Increments

This Morning I was unable to weigh myself on my digital scale.
I am guessing for some reason I am back up over 200-pounds.

This morning I weighed in on an analog scale. (A scale with a needle)
I am not sure of its accuracy.

I am delighted that I weighed in at 197.8-pounds yesterday.

My Success Has Come In Small Increments
How have I achieved this sudden drop below 200 pounds? Well, it wasn't a sudden drop. I was going up and down over 200 pounds for over three weeks now.

I have consistently worked at keeping myself at 1,500 calories or less for the last week. On some days I have had only 1,200 calories or less. This is due more to my work schedule than to any ability of mine to be so sacrificial with the food.

I am just like anyone else I have a tendency to binge or cheat. I try not to, but when the food is there and I am not paying for it, then sometimes I go for it.

Now, do I think long and hard about what I am doing? Yes I do. And in the process of pigging out I write down what I pigged out on.

I write down the two pieces of cake, the extra brownies, or even a chocolate shake. I try to keep myself in reality with my food consumption.

If I am going to blow my calorie window, in the very least I know what I ate to do it. IE., when I consumed all that food at the Sox Game. That was good food.
Yummy...

Oh, I Am So Deprived
This is the cry of friends when they see me restricting my food intake, "Oh, you are depriving yourself." NO...I'm not... Last night I had a cup of Vanilla Ice Cream. I still managed to finish the day at 1,290 calories.

The night before last night I had a cup of Vanilla Ice Cream then. I still came in that night under 1,500 calories. So, I'm not so deprived.

Here is the difference in me today, and me seven months ago. I eat smaller portions. That's it. I eat, but I have adjusted down the amount that I eat.

What I Ate This Morning; Sugar
This morning I had two packets of instant oatmeal. Both of these packets had various amounts of sugar in them. Oatmeal is a carbohydrate like sugar is too.
So this morning I had all carbohydrates.

Well, what does this sugary meal do for me? Well, it tasted good. I had 260 calories.

I don't have to be at work until afternoon, so I am not worried about what the carbohydrates are going to do. They have a tendency to make me sleepy.

Usually when I am going to work I eat eggs or meat. The protein helps me stay alert longer.

It's all calories in the end though. Even if I eat a whole plate of meat, I still have to count those calories. I still have to keep myself at the 1,500 calorie count no matter what I am eating. Even if I eat something like an apple I count the calories. If I eat vegetables, I count the calories.

I am aware of how much and what I am eating all the time.

Yesterday a friend offered me a piece of hard candy. I turned it down. I was only 30 or so calories. I told her I am on a diet. I said, "avoiding little treats like that is why I am now down 41-pounds.

You can be polite about turning people down. I know it's hard to turn down little treats. I am determined to shed these pounds and keep them off.

Bye for now...

Is The Barrier Broken? Let's see...

Today I weighed in after work at 197.8-pounds.
I don't know what I weighed this morning.
I do know that I must have weighed less than 200-pounds with my clothing on because I weighed myself on an analog (scale with a needle) and came in under 200-pounds.

Still Trying To Break That Barrier

When I woke up this morning I weighed in at 201.2 pounds.
When I got back from work I weighed in at 198.2 pounds...
Lets see what I weigh tomorrow.

I missed Saturday's Blog. You didn't miss much.

It's Is Tough To Keep Those Pounds Off

Yesterday was Thursday. I couldn't blog.
I woke up and weighed in at 198.6 pounds.

Today I woke up and weighed in at 201.4 pounds.

What happened? Well, I guess I am just full of it again. You know what I mean.

Yesterday I was gone all day until late at night. I ate more than my 1,500 calorie allotment of calories. I didn't eat too much more.

For breakfast I ate:

• Lean Pocket (280 calories)
• Granola Bar (150 calories)
• Cottage Cheese (110 calories)
• Chocolate Protein Drink (160 calories)
• Vitamins
• Coffee (0 calories)

For a mid morning snack:

• Orange (80 calories)
• Apple (100 calories)
• Coffee (0 calories)

Afternoon Lunch:

• Large Sandwich: 6 slices of ham, 4 slices of turkey, 4 slices of cheese, mayonnaise (est. 600 calories)
• Apple (100 calories)
• Orange (80 calories)
• Banana (100 calories)
• Total for the day was just over 1,700 calories

Now, could all this food be responsible for me gaining two pounds in one day? I don't know. All I know is up and down over 200-pounds I go.

Will I ever reach the day when 200 pounds is a distant number? Someday I will. It just won't happen as quickly as I had thought.

This much I can proudly say, I did get five servings of fruits yesterday.

Offended Friends
I had a friend read my blog and felt bad about what I wrote. I feel bad my friend feels bad. I can't stop trying to do what it is that I am doing because I feel bad, and my friends feel bad.

If you are going to make a serious effort to lose weight, you are going to be making a public display of yourself. People are going to become aware of what you are doing because it is an all consuming effort to lose weight.

I am constantly aware of what I have to eat. I am always writing what I am eating down on paper. People see it and it pricks their conscience. It has an effect on people even though I'm not even trying to effect them. I am just concerned about me.

I am letting you know that there are internal and external temptations and even helps that effect our efforts to shed unwanted pounds. There are voices in our heads that we wrestle with and voices outside of our heads that we wrestle with.

I am constantly debating in my head what I should and should not eat. I feel like a real neurotic for it too. What am I going to do? What are you going to do? It is what it is.

Yesterday I was at a breakfast buffet. I grabbed a small blueberry muffin. This guy that I was with who knows that I have been dieting tapped my wrist and said, "You shouldn't eat that."
I said, "You know what? You are right." And I dropped the muffin. Meanwhile he grabbed a couple of muffins for himself. And off course it shows around his middle.

Meanwhile, I grabbed a cup of coffee, a banana, an orange, and an apple to eat. They were better than eating the muffin.

I am glad he said something. I was looking for something to fill that hungry sweet tooth in the middle of the morning. He stopped me. He couldn't stop himself though.

Could I have gotten away with it. Could I have eaten that muffin? Sure I could. I would have adjusted for it. I knew what I had eaten early in the morning. I knew that I had a stopping point.

I ate a large sandwich because I knew that was going to be my last meal for a long time. There wasn't going to be any stopping for food in the afternoon. As it was I didn't finish work until after 10 PM. That sandwich was the last thing that I ate all day.

I have to think ahead when I eat. If I am not working I know I can eat small meals through out the day. If I am working and know I am going to be limited on my time to eat, I have to eat bigger meals earlier in the day to give me energy for the rest of the day.

I still make an attempt to stay at 1,500 calories. On some days though I push up over the 1,500 calories. But, I try to keep it close.

Yesterday I ate more fruit than I usually do. It helps in some ways.

Where does all this end? When you are are a preponderant person like me, it never ends. From now until you die "The Battle Of The Bulge" will continue.

I will never be able to stop and say, "Today I don't have to worry about what I will eat."

The day that I do is the day I will start to regain all the fat that I so desperately fought to get off.

Bye for now....