Growing up, I had always been a skinny kid, so weight was never a problem. I was so skinny, that I had to run around in the shower to get wet! (just kidding) I come from a skinny family of four brothers and five sisters, and none of us ever had a weight problem, and neither did my parents, who were of average build. Throughout my adult years, I was always of average build...about six feet tall and 170 pounds, and I kept that weight for many years. During my lifetime, I have never been a heavy eater, either.

But, for a few weeks, I noticed something was not right with me. I did not feel right. I felt listless; overweight; bloated; not sleeping well; and just plain awful, etc. My clothes were not fitting right, and I was a little short-tempered! Something was wrong, and I had to find out what it was. When I found out what was wrong, boy did I get a surprise!

One day, I went to see my doctor for my annual physical examination, and I got on the scale to be weighed, and I weighed in at 209 pounds! I was shocked! Forty pounds over what I had always weighed! I was numb! No wonder everything was falling apart on me! I got off the scale, and sank to a new low, and a little depression set in right away! How could this happen? How could I weigh so much?

I was horrified! I've never weighed this much in my life...not even close! But, 209 pounds! I felt like I had just been hit in the stomach...a very large stomach! There are those who read this article and think that 40 pounds is small potatoes...but, 40 pounds are very large potatoes to me, etc. And yes, a six foot frame would have no problem carrying 209 pounds, but I didn't want that. As soon as I got off the scale, I knew the weight was coming off...but how?

Today, clothes are expensive, and I was not going to start buying new clothes that fit...not on your life! And, then what's next...buy more new clothes as I got bigger and bigger and bigger? No thanks! The thought of buying new clothes motivated me to take some serious action, and I knew a big challenge lie ahead. I was determined to lose 40 pounds no matter what! It would be my top priority, and I didn't care if it took a year, two years or three years! But, how was I going to lose 40 pounds?

When I left the doctor's office I felt awful. And for the first time, I could sympathize with what overweight people go through. My first stop was to buy a bathroom scale, because I never needed one. And, when I got home, I jumped on it, and sure enough...209 pounds! I knew nothing about weight loss and diets and so forth. I didn't like the feelings inside of me at all. I thought to myself that people were going to be looking at me a certain way and calling me names! I was sick!

There are millions of books out there on weight loss and diets. I had no idea where to start. First, I had to take a couple of days and think things out as what would be my game plan. I needed a little time to get out of this panic attack that I was in! I got a yellow pad and started scratching down some notes, and I chose to do the following:

Attitude: Attitude is everything! I thought attitude could be the most important in all this. For, it was attitude that helped me to quit smoking 30 years before. A mix of attitude and discipline...that's what I wanted in my game plan. If I could quit smoking, I could lose 40 pounds! I was ready to kick some butt...some BIG butt! I had to get rid of my cry-baby attitude and self-pity. That's not like me! To accomplish my mission, it would take the following: discipline; determination; sacrifice; agony and a lot of whining on my part!

Patience: The next decision was to be patient from beginning to the end. Losing all this weight is going to take time. There's NO magic pill; there's NO magic malt; there's NO magic dust! Now, that I decided that patience was going to play an important role in my success to lose weight, I could now settle down a little.

Aids: Books; pills; malts were out the window! I decided to make my own rules. I would not spend money on all this stuff. Instead, I could by myself a nice dinner to enjoy! (just kidding) If my game plan didn't work, THEN I would go out and get the help I needed to lose the weight. There are no books, doctors, malts that are going to help unless the person WANTS TO LOSE THE WEIGHT! When I quit smoking, I did it because I WANTED TO...nothing would stop me!

Moderation: Next, came the idea of moderation. I would eat everything I ever ate...but, less of it. I decided to cut all portions in HALF! Instead of eating two eggs for breakfast...only one! Instead of eating two slices of pizza...only one! Instead of eating a whole apple...cut it in half and save the other half for a rainy day. Like my mother, I have a sweet tooth, and I love sweet things like candy, pies, cake, and all this would have to be cut in half, too! (boo-hoo) By doing it this way, I would maintain the quality of life I always enjoyed, only I would now have HALF of what I enjoyed before. In other words, I would have my cake and eat it too! (forget I said that!) Doing it this way, would keep me from going completely crazy...just HALF crazy!

Water diet: Several years ago, I heard about a water diet of some sort, but knew nothing about it. Usually parents will not let their kids ear candy or sweet things before a meal, because they will fill up with water and not eat their meal. Makes sense to me. So, I decided to drink a full glass of water before a meal and then I would eat less.

A pound a week: The thought of losing 40 pounds was overwhelming to me! I didn't like it! So, I decided to get rid of that thought, and I would think of losing a pound a week, which sounded better to me than losing 40 pounds. As you can see, I created my own rules and my own game plan. Since I'm not a rocket scientist, my math told me it would take about 40 weeks or about 10 months! That's okay...it took me about 10 months to quit smoking. But, the little train that could was ready to go up the mountain, and I was anxious to get started. I knew I was going to do it, but how long would it take?

Everything I ate was cut in half, and by the end of the month, I had lost three pounds! Yahoo! I was making progress right away and I was enthusiastic and I had to stay motivated. I thought my game plan was a good one, and each day, I couldn't wait to get on the bathroom scale, to see if there was any good news. Six weeks after I started, I went under 200 pounds! I was on cloud 9!

I have two big advantages over people. First, I have been walking/jogging 15 miles a week for over twenty years, and the jogging helps me to sweat out the good times, etc. I had to use discipline to quit smoking over 30 years ago, and now it would take discipline to get the weight off, etc. So, week after week and month after month, I stayed with my game plan.

A pound lost here, and a pound lost there, and I was on track. My attitude was the most important part of this whole operation. I know I can...I know I can...it was only a matter of time before I won the battle. But, it was a roller-coaster from the beginning. At the six month mark, I was down to 185 pounds, and I was on cloud 42! Up and down...up and down...up and down...I would lose three pounds and gain four! The toughest part was to get down below 180 pounds. It took me three months to do it...up and down...182 pounds...down to 178 pounds...up to 185 pounds...down to 179 pounds and so forth. It was driving me crazy...sorry...half crazy!

FINALLY, I got down BELOW 180 pounds, and I couldn't be more proud! Yahoo! I was on cloud 67! This was about nine months into the mission, and I had a little more work to do to get down to 170 pounds. But, I knew I would do it! Yahoo! The little train that could...a pound a week...40 weeks and 40 pounds gone bye-bye!

When I went back for a physical the following year, my doctor said to me, "You've lost a lot of weight over the past year. Have you been ill, or did you lost the weight intentionally?" I JUST SMILED! YAHOO!

The weight was lost in the year 2000, and as of the year 2006, I still weigh 165-170 pounds. In my view, I think I have not gained the weight back because of patience...it took a long time to do it, and the body adjusted. Today, we live in a fast-paced society, and people don't have patience. They want everything yesterday. There's NO easy way, you just have to suck it up and do it.