In the beginning...

Welcome to the ongoing saga regarding my personal battle with the bulge. Some quick background...

I had been a fat boy all my life until late 1995 when I went through a divorce. I stepped on a scale one day and decided it was time for a change as the needle went all the way around and back to zero. Over the next 9 months I lost approximately 100 pounds by doing nothing too terribly fancy: eat less, exercise. Fast-forward a decade and a half and I had done some fluctuating, unfortunately. By 2008 I was looking in the mirror and not feeling anything like the new person I had become years ago when I lost all of that weight. We all have our excuses for falling off the wagon - I am no different. But excuses are not why I'm here and most likely not why you're reading this. The good news is I got back on track in February of 2009 when my one-and-only daughter turned 1. I decided I needed to make a huge permanent change in my lifestyle. Since then I have learned a ton regarding nutrition, exercise, and motivation. I have some lofty goals, but the most important one at the top of the list is living long enough to see my beautiful little girl grow up.

Take these entries for what they are...advice and thoughts from a person who has been there. Many people have searched endlessly for a magic weight loss pill and I've discovered through experience that The Magic Pill for weight loss is.....(drum roll).......that there is no "magic pill" for weight loss. All that I've learned and am continuing to learn is about to be laid out right here for the entire world to see. I wish I could say it's going to be Earth-shattering. There will be no surgeries. No staples. No mirrors. No laxatives. Just mind boggling common sense. But my gut (pun intended) tells me we might all be able to learn something from each other. So please, feel free to read my ramblings...and even comment if you're so inclined.

On second thought, there might be a few laxatives...but only a few.