[Keifer]

February, 2006...I panicked, when at a trip to the doc I tipped the scales at 231#....a 14 pound gain over my previous quarterly visit. After a solid scolding from the doctor regarding my dietary habits, I immediately went home & began to study nutritional charts & such to determine where I could cut back on calories. I got on ebay & found a reasonably priced home excercise machine & began to talk around with pals that have such machines about proper use of this gizmo....even got a Chuck Norris DVD on excercise. With several changes in eating habits and using this 'home machine, here's what's happened this far.

January, 2007....yesterday I went & enrolled at the local gym (one of my wife's Christmas gifts to me was a membership here paid up for the year). after all of the paperwork, etc, I hopped on the scales and weighed in at 202# in street clothes. I said, "hold on a second" & emptied my pockets of cell phone, keys, wallet & all...took of my boots. The scales dropped down to 198. That's a loss of 33 pounds in just over 10 months!!! Talking with this "trainer", she said that she could slice of another 20 pounds mainly working on my belly & thighs. So now, I'm really hyped. I've not seen the lower side of 180 in more than twenty years. How realistic this may be, I'm not really sure....I love to cook, so naturally, I love to eat also. I am a drinker, I love my bourbon & no, I'm not giving that up. The trainer lady kinda frowned on those two statements, but I said hey, I'm trying to improve my health a bit, I'm not into becoming a monk. On that note she laughed & set me up for a schedule of Monday, Wed. Fri. morning for an hour each day.

All in all, I'm proud of what I accomplished in 2006 & hopefully during 2007 I can continue improving my health status. I've been retired for 3 years now & it is great....I'd really like to hang on for a while to enjoy it for a bit more.