WOIFM

Last fall, I weighed 245

Last fall, I weighed 245 pounds - easily the heaviest I have ever been in my life. My clothes no longer fit, and the class ring I had worn since college didn't either - if I had it on, I couldn't get it off, and if I got it off, I couldn't fit it back on.

Yesterday, I stepped on the scale to find that I'd broken the 220 barrier - I weighed a comparatively svelte 219.5 pounds - 25 pounds lighter than six months ago.

What changed? Mostly, my attitude. I knew that I couldn't keep expanding like a government entitlement program. So I took action.

I knew that there were going to be limits on the kinds of changes I could make in my diet and exercise program. I jog a few miles a week, weather and pollen counts allowing, but most of my loss is probably attributable to the low-carb eating plan I'm now following. I used to consume rice, bread, potatoes, and especially sugary soda in vast quantities. Now, I simply skip them - rice, bread, and potatoes are rarely the interesting part of the meal anyway. The toughest thing for me, or so I expected, was giving up soda.

For about a month, it was. Dineen and I kept lots of seltzer water in the house (you can get sugar-free varieties with subtle flavoring) and drank it constantly. Then, one night out, all I had to choose from was soda - diet or regular. I resigned myself to the bitter aftertaste.

That night I was shocked. I used to be the kind of person who hated diet soda. I could taste it - and loathe it - through just about anything. If the bartender gave me a bourbon and diet coke, I would choke on it. But not anymore. It seemed that a month of drinking just water had deprogrammed my taste buds - or perhaps just my mind. I now regularly drink and enjoy a variety of diet sodas, especially Diet Dr. Pepper. (Oddly, I used to loathe regular Pepsi, but I prefer Diet Pepsi to Diet Coke. Who knew?)

I don't pretend that my solution is right for everyone, but if you're looking to lose weight, do some reading on how your body processes nutrition. Most modern nutritionists understand that anabolic and catabolic hormones have a dramatic impact on how you process what you take in; in turn, what you take in has an impact on the natural cycles of those types of hormones. You might be surprised what you learn.

It's worked for me so far. I've lost weight to the point where people notice and comment on it. Now, my goal is to lose another 20 pounds by the end of August - a reasonable 5 pounds per month - so that by the end of the summer, I'll be back below 200 pounds for the first time in over ten years.