So far so good...I've lost 8 pounds so far, and it's only been a week. Granted, I've got plenty to lose, so it's comparable to a skinny person losing a 1/2 pound.

The pills I'm using leave a weird aftertaste in mouth, like I stood to close to a campfire a few days back. It's not terrible, but it's one of a few side effects I've noticed.

I'm beginning to grow quite fond of the taste of Diet Mountain Dew. (Yeah, keep telling yourself that buddy.)

The daily workouts have been getting easier, so I've increased the resistance on the stationary bike. I get to really catch up on my reading. Just finished Clade. It was a good book, but it bogged down sometimes in techno-bio-future-speak.

That's it for now. I'll try to write in here more often, every 2 or 3 days.

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Here we get into the nitty-gritty of my weight loss plan. It all boils down to this very complicated statement: less input, more output equals weight loss.

Part 1: Reducing Energy Input

a. Replace all sodas with diet versions.
b. Replace 2 meals a day with either a Slim-Fast or Lean-Pocket
c. Eat a regular third meal, either lunch or dinner.
d. Reduce portion sizes
e. Stop eating when no longer hungry, not when full.
f. Take diet supplements to ensure a full supply of vital nutrients and to reduce appetite.

Part 2: Increasing Energy Output

a. Exercise every day
b. Take diet supplements to increase metabolism
c. Attempt to keep at least 1 part of body in constant motion when sitting or laying
d. Park at the far end of the parking lot each morning.
e. Engage in at least 1 outdoor activity each weekend.
f. Play racquetball twice a week with fiancee.

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I'll go into more details with each of these steps as the days go by. This plan is obviously a work in progress and will be modified as necessary to achieve objectives.

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Todays summary:

Breakfast: 1 Strawberry Slim Fast (I like these, they taste like the leftover milk from a bowl of captain crunch)
Lunch: 1 Pepperoni Lean-Pocket
Dinner: Burger on Sourdough with Cheese. Only ate half of the burger. Had fries as well. Ordered diet coke, despite the tempting offer of Mountain Dew. Curse you Dew! You'll be downfall yet.

Diet Supplements: 2 taken in the morning, 2 in the afternoon. Lipo 6, which is no longer sold in the States due to the ban on ephedra.

Exercise: 25 minutes on stationary bike. 3 sets of 20 on leg curls, 3 sets of 20 on bench press. Keeping the weight low with fast reps to increase stamina and endurance.

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Well, the day has come. Time to begin my diet. Why you ask? I'm getting married in a few months, that's why, and I don't want to look like a stuff sausage standing next to my lovely bride-to-be. Throw in a few morsels of self-loathing, and top with health reasons, stir and serve cold, to enhance the flavor, and you've got some damn good reasons for me to get off my ass. To start with, a bit of backstory:

I used to be...well not skinny, but not overweight either. I played football, wrestled and ran track in high school. After high school I was accepted into the US Naval Academy. Staying in shape there was not a problem. *Really* not a problem. Everything was going hunky-dory until the summber between my first and second year (plebe and youngster years). That's when I ran into a problem in the form of a 14-foot Boston Whaler and its rapidly spinning prop.

We were doing an exercise called Cast and Retrieve, something Navy SEALs do on a regular basis. Basically you're floating in the water and the boat drives alongside, you stick your arm into a rubber hoop and are pulled into the boat. This way the boat doesn't have to slow down and become a sitting duck while they retrieve SEALs from the water. Works pretty good as long as the boat doesn't drive right over the top of you. Which is what happened to yours truly. Did a nasty number on my right foot and lower leg. I had to be airlifted to the Baltimore Trauma Center, one of the best trauma centers in the world. Thankfully they were able to save my leg, after 4 surgeries.

Recovery was long and basically a pain in the ass. The walking cast they gave me had to stay on for 5 months. After my youngster year ended and I still hadn't fully healed, I had a decision to make. Finish out my 4 years at the Academy and then take up a desk job for the next 5 (minimum service obligation for academy grads), or resign from the service. I decided that spending 5 years as a Supply Clerk was not going to be my cup of tea, and tendered my resignation. Since then I've been working in IT, and now I'm running a small computer store.

I'm pretty happy with how my life has turned out so far. But this injury has continued to plague me. Walking long distances or running pose quite a problem. And I've let that effect me. For the last 3 years my lifestyle has become increasingly sedentary, and my weight has ballooned out of control.

I'm going to change all that, starting right now. And anyone who reads this will be my witness. Tomorrow, I'll fill in some more information on the technical details of my mass re-structuring.