A diet that works.

America is overweight. Scores of people have offered a solution... a diet of some sort which they guarantee will reduce your weight. Nearly everyone has tried one or more of these diets. Most people fail to lose weight.

For years, I weighed about 175 pounds. In recent years, thanks to reduced physical activity and the pleasure of eating, my weight increased to 190 pounds. Most of my trousers became too tight to wear. I longed to again see 175 when I stepped on the scale.

One month ago, both my wife and I contracted some sort of stomach disorder which affected our appetites. We almost quit eating for several days. If we forced some food down, our stomachs objected rather decisively. I lost 14 pounds. Wow! The scale said 176! (My petite wife, always a light eater, lost 4 pounds).

When my affliction had passed, I wondered if I could keep the weight off. That, I reasoned would require some adjustment in my eating habits and some increase in physical activity.

I have always believed in a balanced diet and enjoy meats of all kinds, vegetables raw and cooked, along with fruits, bread, etc. My wife knows that if she puts it on my plate, I will eat it. Being a child of the depression, long taught "waste not, want not", I always cleaned my plate.

I decided to begin with smaller portions. Much smaller portions. My wife served a salad, grilled boneless pork chops, baked potato and green beans. I took about one half the amount of salad I would normally eat and added a very small amount of dressing; I cut about one-third of a pork chop; likewise, about one-third of a baked potato with a small amount of butter and no added salt; took a spoon of green beans and ate very slowly. To my surprise, I was satisfied with that meal.

I usually have a glass of wine or a snifter of brandy after dinner. I wondered it I was becoming "hooked" on that daily drink and if I could be happy without it. I stopped drinking daily, just to prove I could. Yes, I'll still drink a beer with pizza or Mexican food - happily I do not miss the daily drink.

Out for a drive last week, we stopped at a hamburger place, ordered a #1... a small burger, small fries and a drink. My wife took the drink, I had water. She cut the little burger in half and we also split the fries. Our appetites were satisfied.

Do I get hungry? A little. But I am not in agony. And now, when I eat with others, I gasp at the way they pile their plates with food!

This morning, one month after this all began, the scale still said 176.

So, here is the secret... quit eating so much!

Every day I find it takes less and less food to satisfy my appetite.

Can I keep this up? We shall see. My "diet" requires that I stay aware - totally aware - of what I am eating (every meal - no more between meal snacks), until my eating habits become more firmly fixed. I once read where some guy said that if he had been diagnosed as color blind and tone deaf, he would have become a painter and a musician out of pure cussedness. Like he, I hope to do it through pure cussedness!