Did Ernest Lose Weight?

March 18, 2008

Since to lose weight was his goal in order to prevent diabetes, Ernest concentrated on doing just that. The Diabetes Prevention Program that advocates a change in lifestyle in order to put a stop on the obesity problem that plagues the nation was kind of a solution for Ernest.

He attended the sixteen sessions but Ernest found that to lose weight was easier said than done. He liked the DPP program though better than the ones his wife attended before because with this, he only had to lose 7% of his weight and he could take his time doing it.

He encountered problems both on the healthy eating part of the program and the exercise part as well. For the former, the problem was when he had cookouts with friends and when he went on vacations where he was sorry to say sometimes turned out to be pig-out days.

He tried to work around this dilemma by eating less the day before and the day after. By eating less didn't mean he starved himself. No, not at all for that would not have worked out. What he did was substituted some lower fat variety of dressings and other stuff for the rich ones his friends used and the food served on his vacations.

As for his physical activity quandary, while he could only play basketball once a week, he added some activities into his everyday routine. He biked to and from work and enlisted the help of a friend to jog with him after work several times a week.

As you can see, Ernest developed a schedule that he liked. He is still eating his favorite Italian dishes but this time he and his wife used low-fat oils and stuff. The homemade pizza he liked was now made with low-fat cheese and low-fat tomato sauce.

Now do you think he reached his goal to lose weight of 7%? You bet he did over time. He now weighs 186 pounds but he is not sitting on his laurels. No sir! He plans to go down to 180 to 184 pounds. Now why do you think a guy will think this way? Is he a stickler for punishment? Hmm, let's see what he says.

Aha! Now I get it. He wants to lose a little bit more weight to make room for when he goes on those tailgating parties with his friends and going on vacations with his wife. He has to have a cushion there, you see. Smart man, don't you think? Not only did he change his lifestyle and lost weight, but also he's preventing diabetes.

Now that we're done with the Diabetes Prevention Program, I will have to think of other things to blog about, all diabetes-related of course. Perhaps I will surprise you or go to some other physical activity, and fill out a contact form there so I can email you and then you can tell me what you want for our next topic.