My name is Tony and I was fat.

     While weight-loss was my original goal, I found that I could not maintain that loss without improving my health.  These two goals go hand-in-hand and that is what this website explores.  I have 14 years of college, several degrees, but none are in medicine or biochemistry.  However, those subjects have certainly become a most interesting hobby.  I tell you this because you should check with your physician before copying anything I have done.  We are all unique individuals.  I tolerate protein and fat very well in my diet, but people with liver disease could end up in a coma or even die if they eat too much protein.  Likewise, someone who has had their gallbladder out will find increasing fat in their diet will send them scurrying to the bathroom at the worst possible moments.  So read this site for your own enjoyment and if you find anything interesting, discuss it with your doctor before trying it.  Okay?

      I should tell you where I started.  The before picture above (my mother and I) is not me at my heaviest, but probably within 15 pounds of it.  Some overweight individuals are comfortable with who they are and enjoy life to its fullest.  Oh, they might like to be thinner, but it doesn't stop them from dancing, going to the beach and living life like it was meant to be lived.  I'm not one of those people.  Like many overweight individuals, I would hide from cameras, wouldn't be caught dead on a beach in less than a winter parka, and have made myself miserable with just about every diet fad to come along for nearly 40 years.

      Where I started from: height 70 inches, weight 283 pounds, body mass index 36 (normal 16), age 54 years, blood pressure 185/119 (normal is 120/80 or less), and blood sugar 162 (normal is 70-100).  I should probably have been in a hospital.  I nearly was;  I collapsed mowing the lawn that summer.   My Dad died from heart failure at 56 and his stats weren't much different than mine at the time of his death.  I really felt I was looking the Grim Reaper in the face that day. The collapse was the trigger event that made me take a serious look at my health, my weight and decide to do something serious about it.

     I'm not where I want to be yet, but a world closer: height 70 inches (still), weight 204 pounds, body mass index 22, age 57, blood pressure 117/68, blood sugar 107.  I still have some way to go, but I continue to slowly lose weight as a result of improving my health.  My blood pressure went from "call the ambulance" to excellent.  My blood sugar is heading towards normal (130 or above is considered diabetic, 100 and below is considered normal).  But these are not the only improvements.  I'm mentally much clearer and sharper, my memory is the best it has ever been and retirement (I qualify for senior everything now) doesn't look attractive - I've too much still to do.  I take no medications and exercise moderately 40-50 minutes six days a week.

     To use this site, go through the menus in order.  I created the menus to be like chapters in a book making it easier to go back and look things up again.  Reference are given to current research and books wherever possible in each chapter.  No one book or article is the "magic" cure but each can give you insights into your own body.