Good morning! Happy Monday! Okay, maybe it's just happy for me because I'm retired!!!! :-)

So, the starting weight has been recorded. It is......OUCH......196.6!! We won't even get into the percentage of body fat. Thank God for bones; it gives me something besides fat in my body!! GREAT NEWS about my weight!! I'm 4.4 pounds less than my highest weight from five and a half years ago!!!! I've never gotten back to that point! Hey, hey, hey....those of us who struggle with this know what an accomplishment that is!!!!

Anyway, my plan is to lose 52 pounds. I think that's a good number. It'll match the age I am when I get to that point AND it'll put me below 145. Oh how fat I used to think I was at 145! Now it's like, oh yeah...I'm gonna be so fine!!! :-) That's a great thing about getting older. You NEED to weigh more than when you were younger! How's that for a silver lining to aging?!

Today's plan is to do some cardio and strength training at the gym, drink lots of water, stop eating at least two hours before bedtime, eat only nutritous food (if it has no nutritional value, it's a waste of calories and an energy zapper), take the supplements of fish oil (check, already did that), a muti-vitamin, and calcium. Note that on the nutritous food, it DOES NOT mean bland and yucky.....just a good mix of protein, fat (yes, I said fat....we need that! of course the good kind like olive oil and nuts), and carbohydrates.

I will not weigh again for four weeks. That recommendation comes from Bob Greene's Phase One of The Best Life Diet. Oh how I love Bob Greene!!! If you have struggled with weight, I urge you to read Bob's book, appropriately titled....The Best Life Diet. It is so good!! He explains things so well. Even things I already know, he just puts it in another light and makes it sound so sensible....and doable!!

Okay, I gotta get dressed and get to the gym. I'll post 'before' pics and pics of a great 'motivating tool' for weight loss later today.