Hey guys,

I have participated heavily in many ladies journals and get just as passionate within the group as the next over a pound lost or gained. I've seen the exclusivity some take in the fact that some journals are nothing more than gossip parlors. But it takes all kinds, I welcome a male slanted area, and if a lady shows up and posts, great, it doesn't mean that we've been invaded!

I have learned so much from so many, mostly women, over the last few months, and I have been low carbing for 5 years or so.

But one difference I have noticed is when man does finally get ready to lose weight, no force in the univere will stop him. A man does seem to be the perfect fat burning machine. No hormones or cycles to get in our way! Our sucess in this century of quick cheap fast food, has made it a matter of course to not only survive but to become obese, and taking us out of the food hunting/gathering equation, and becoming slaves to desks has helped that along as well.

I was always the merchants, accountants, and rich who had the obesity problems in times past, now we are all to a certain extend in their same class, men who have very little physical work to do, thus the springing up of countless health clubs wherein we run like rodents burning up countless unnecessary calories.

I work at a desk for 13 to 16 hours a day for 14 days, and then I am off for 14 days, that is my work schedule, I am lucky that my employer has great workout facilities for me while I am at work, they are highly under used, there are many fat men where I work, food is provided as well, we all tend to go the path of least resistance....

When I am off for my 2 weeks, I spend 4-5 hours a day training for my ice dancing. That is my passion. But isn't it funny that with a passion of ice dancing and working out at the gym, that I would still be over weight?? It just goes to show that what with or food needs completly met, it is so easy to overindulge in the modern world, and I must admit to being a confort food eater, a reward food eater, a celebration food eater, a moody food eater, you get the picture.

It has only been in the last half year that I have been consistantly losing weight and that's were I tie it all in to the will of man, all this time, the last 5 years or so when I was 326 lbs to start, people would say to me "You really should lose weight" I would nod and smile and agree, but on the inside I would say, "But I don't want to give up what I want" And I would continue on my merry way....

It was only reaching 38 years of age and the realization that my knees were not doing well with the poundage, and that if I didn't do something about it that I would die like this.... Then I started to take action. But even with that it has taken me from 1997 to present to go from 326 to 194. I would do well for a while then plataue for 6 months, then go opps, and start again... slow but steady I would say to myself... but in acuality, I wasn't totally commited to me being thinner. The ice dancing helped kick that into gear, because I had ice danced as a teen I do have very strick feelings on what looks good on ice skates and what looks, um, very bad.... the 1st video tape I saw of myself shocked me.... It made me change, but even that wasn't enough. It's amazing to me how complacent we can all be, let it ride is truely a easy mantra to follow, it's too easy to take it easy. So to make a long story some what shorter, I've had to really take myself by the hair and say, what is it I want? Funny thing is it's not that I want to look sexy for the ladies, (I am single) and really even though it is a concern, it's not for health really, my main reason for losing weight boils down to the fact that I want to look good Ice Dancing, it motivates me and I guess in the long run that's all that matter. As a 18 year old I gave up ice dance, due to money and work and life, I gained weight immediately... It almost seems like it has taken me 27 years to realize I'm fat because I gave up something I loved, not because of the food I ate, I don't even want that much food when I'm skating..... now there's a concept!

I find LCing the easiest way of eating, convient, enjoyable, easy, it goes hand in hand with my way of living. The skating is the same, and now I only have a little way left to go to goal weight, I'm not even worried about it any more!

Well, that was longer than I had planned! Talk to you all later.