On losing weight

Losing weight. Set the way back machine to December, 2006. My weight is just tipping the scale at 415 pounds. I've been heavy, hell I've been fat most of my adult life. I like to eat. Add to that I like to eat when I'm bored. And when I'm sad. And when I'm happy.

I think you see where this is going. Even though I've been this fat all my life it very rarely stopped me from doing what I wanted to. I've been a magician, a circus clown, I've given seminars, danced taught college classes, sung, worked as on a murder mystery train. I've done commercials, trained as a EMT, CCN, HHA and a phlebotomist. And a lot of other things.

I'll admit that there are things that I haven't been able to do. I've never been able to realize my secret dream of being a... mime. I know, I know. It's the dream of every little kid. Someday... someday.

So I decided that after New Years I would start on the road to getting thin. Let me tell you, that is NOT the right time to start. Everyone is doing it, and the ads for all the weight loss places and groups are singing their siren songs to get you into them.

I looked into gyms. Some you could join by the month but at such a price. If you signed up for a year (or two) you got a great price, but most people stop after a month or two. I hit weight watchers, I tried TOPS, I would have tried Curves but they won't let me in.

I started taking the dogs for walks instead of just letting them run around the yard. Though sear force of will I lost 35 pounds. The trouble is that when you're as big as I was, it's hard to notice.

But I had trouble. I still liked to eat. I tried only buying the things that were good for me. I loved meat. Give me a nice thick steak, bloody. I liked 'em so bloody that a good vet could bring it back! I tried Atkins, I tried the The Shangri la Diet. You can find out more about it here: http://calorielab.com/news/2005/09/21/seth-roberts-shangri-la-diet-in-detail/

As the article states; Set point: Roberts believes in a “set point” theory of weight control: at any given time, your body wants to be a certain weight, and it will increase or decrease feelings of hunger and its metabolic rate in order to achieve that weight. Any attempt to modify your weight away from your current set point will meet with failure, or at least will be very difficult to achieve and maintain. Roberts compares the set point to the temperature setting for a thermostat.

Taste-calorie association: The set point idea is not new, but Roberts extends it by claiming that the set point can be modified by diet. This is the second part of his theory: the “taste-calorie association.” Roberts believes that the “tastiness” of the food you consume controls your set point. Specifically, tastier food raises your set point (i.e., makes your body want to get fatter), while bland food lowers your set point (i.e., makes your body want to adapt to being leaner).

But it wasn't until my friends Karen and John Cartwright pointed me towards the Ayurveda lifestyle that I started to really lose weight. The other thing to take into consideration is that I was having problems with my Thyroid.