One again, I'm back.

I started this blog in mid July, when I weighed 272 pounds (I now weigh 222 pounds, and was down to 218 twice during the Thanksgiving to New Years holidays).  It wasn't the heaviest I'd been - that was about 305, in the late 1980's, but it was far more than was healthy for me.  I was determined to lose the weight.

I graduated high school in 1974 as a skinny guy, 6' tall and 180 pounds.  From there it was a slow, but steady up, with a few diet downs along the way - classic yoyo action from fad diets, and silly exercise strategies.  I never once tried counting calories.

When I started this weight loss journey, I began with a three day juice cleanse.  I lost 8 pounds during the cleanse, felt 100% better, and was convinced of two things; juicing is hard, and I still wanted to lose more.  My girlfriend, Kasi, suggested that we try counting calories using the MyFitnessPal website and app.  I agreed to try it.

I set the system's parameters up to reach 225 pounds, while losing 2 pounds a week.  The app limited me to 1800 calories a day.  I decided I would take it very seriously and track as much as I could, and eat as well as I could.

I also decided that depriving myself was the quickest way to fail on my weight loss journey.  So, if I truly wanted something, I planned for it.  Pretty soon, I stopped wanting most treats, but I never stopped wanting chocolate.  I now eat a small amount of dark chocolate most evenings.

Anyway, on August 20th, my 56th birthday, I got a job as a line cook, making a lot of tasty, but not so healthy food.  It used up my blogging time, and my personal cooking time, and while the weight continued to come off, I don't feel the food was as healthy for me as I had been eating.

The line cook job is at a local university.  we are closed until Mid January, so I am turning my attention back here - and to my FoodieLite Facebook page (www.facebook.com/foodielite).

I am sick today, and not cooking, but hopefully soon, I will.

My new goal is 210 pounds.  I am only 12 pounds away, now, but I've changed the system's parameters to lose 1 pound a week, so now I am allowed 2350 calories a day.  Frankly I can't imagine eating that much every day, anymore.

It's time for round 2.  I hope you will choose to come along on this journey with me.