Just once I would like to be able to wake up and have a bowl of cereal or a couple of eggs along with a glass of juice and then move on with my day. It’s not that I can’t. I just don’t have the discipline or needed will-power  to start eating better food in order to shed a few pounds before I start start to resemble an Oompa Loompa.

There was a period of my life where I was quite healthy. I enjoyed running road races, everything from 5k(3.1 miles) to a marathon(26.2), rode my bike further and more than I do nowadays and also ate a little better and a little bit less.

All that changed when my knees began aching after runs, arthritis as it turns out. When Ann and I moved back to Connecticut shortly after our son was born, I believe it was then that I lost the desire to do little aerobic activities outside of walking.

For those wondering, I did not write this blog seeking pity because I’m overweight. In fact, fat jokes tend to be pretty funny no matter whether they’re directed at me or not. No offense to anyone out there who is in a situation similar to mine. Moving on, I’m heavier than I’ve been in a long time. Here’s how it’s happened:

One of my biggest(and worse)habits is that I love to wake up and walk our dog, Buddy, over to a nearby store where I often pick up a newspaper, a bottle of soda(Mtn. Dew), and a bag of chips to go  with a greasy egg and sausage sandwich. I do know how bad this stuff is for me, yet I’ve bought these things most mornings for about five years now. I have never smoked but something tells me losing weight is as hard if not harder than that(quitting smoking).

In the past three months of doing what I described in the previous paragraph, I have gained quite a bit of weight, roughly 40 pounds, and that’s not a good look for a man who is only about five feet nine inches tall.I so wish that my knees weren’t so creaky because I might’ve begun to run again. Instead, I’ve been walking quite a few times each day but, of course, the real clincher for me being able to lose weight again will be eating properly.

The last time that I tried and actually succeeded in my quest to lose weight was roughly a year and a half ago when I did a Medifast diet. This is a program that had  low-protein and fiber meals to go along with what was called Lean and Green meals, which pretty much added up to a salad.

The key to that diet, besides what the meals consisted of was how often the program I was on had me eating with up to five meals along with a salad as well as a healthy snack.   Though I started strong and initially lost 10-15 pounds, I ended up going back to my old eating habits. Even though I was walking Buddy to the store back then, I resumed buying most of the junk that I mentioned earlier in the story and gained that weight back in just a couple of weeks.

Now, I’ve begun a Weight Watchers’ diet and will honestly try to avoid the number of junk foods I enjoy way too much. If anyone reading this has any ideas or plans that worked in helping them lose weight, feel free to pass that it on to me. At this point I’m willing to try almost any type of diet.

Anyway, if  I have a great deal of success or any success at all, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.