Entry #3, November 28,2007

Its good to be back on. Sorry its so late in the week. When I took Thanksgiving off, I meant to be back on Monday, but this is a new blog, and I'm somewhat technologically challenged and tech problems cost me a couple days.

I had a comment or two already, and am happy to say they were positive. One of them had a question. I will try to answer any questions you send in the comments option and will also consider any suggestions you have.

The question was, " Are you going to tell how to use this diet?" The answer is yes. Everyday I post will give you a little more information that will hopefully be of help to you.

So we are now ready to start

THE JOURNEY

There really is no secret about losing weight. It is very simple. Unless someone has a metabolic problem all you have to do is burn more calories over the long run than you consume. The way to do this is with a combination of diet and exercise. While the theory is simple enough, the problem is human nature. Such things as will power and cravings come into play along with discouragment when we hit "plateaus" and the best laid plans go awry.

I am really sticking my neck out by revealing my plans before I fully test them. I know I will probably have to alter some of my intentions, and I also know my will power will probably not always be up to the challenge.

I am not an MD or a nutritionist, but neither am I totally ignorant of nutrition and health principles. I entered college many years ago in a pre-med curriculum and while I later changed my major I did take courses in nutrition, chemistry and biology. Over the years I have also read many articles and books by MD's, nutritionists, and other "experts" on health and weight loss. It is amazing how widely their ideas differ and how contradictory one program can be from another.

Thus I formed my own theory about weight loss. There are many paths to the truth. There may be some that are so far out as to be considered "wrong." There are some so common sense and practical that most people consider them "right." The bottom line probably is there so many, maybe even hundreds or thousands out there that will work; the secret is to adjust your attitude (will power) to make them work for you. This is much easier if you chose a program you don't think will deprive you to the point of being miserable. Also, unless you are by personality a very rigid person, chose a program you can alter yourself to increase your chances of success. This is exactly the kind of program I'm attempting to design.

To a large extent, I plan to sort of make it up as I go, although I do have pre-conceived ideas; and I will share my failures and successes with my readers as I go and you can decide for yourselves which of my ideas you want to try, which to alter, and which to totally discard. I will also provide you with recipes you may or may not find tempting.

Even though legitimate nutritionists tell us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I have not eaten breakfast on a regular basis in many years except for weekends when I'm not working as an auctioneer and we enjoy a few Bloody Marys before partaking of a large brunch. I am a believer in the theory that in order to successfully lose weight, it is most effective to eat four or five times a day, having snacks or small meals rather than the two or three meals most of us have. Traditional wisdom also holds it is best not to eat your major meal of the day late in the evening. This is a habit of which I am guilty; however, I recently read a statement from a well respected nutritionist that a calorie is a calorie whether consumed at 7:00 AM or 10:00 PM.

I hope to be able to continue tomorrow. See you then.