Just a real quick one here. You want a diet that really works? Watch this video while eating. ***NOTE*** No warranties implied. Mileage may vary.

Seven (7) pounds in two (2) days! What's your secret, Steve?

I think it was something I ate. Suffice it to say I didn't lose all that weight at the gym, well almost but I made it home in time. Is it a coincident that, along with all those pleas for assistance from long-lost Nigerian relatives, I've been getting tons of email promising to cleanse my colon? Evidently it's some pretty powerful email and I stayed pretty close to porcelain all day- if you know what I mean.

I also stayed hydrated throughout the entire ordeal and ate very little. Some toasted 16 Grain, no-flour bread, a little fruit, a pickle, a protein smoothie; all in all not a whole lot. I didn't think it would be sticking around long anyway, so why make a fuss in the kitchen?

OK so there you go- I'll dwell on it no longer. Just realize that I'm eliminating anything I ate that was unique to last Sunday and Monday from any future menu plans. It's a good thing I'm tracking everything I eat on Fitday. Likely suspects? I'll point no fingers but neither will I eat any more frozen apricots or Costco meatballs; they possibly put something evil inside me.

Moving on.

I awoke this morning feeling pretty good. The run to and from the gym was the easiest it's ever been and the workout at the gym felt good- extraordinarily good. I'm refocused and hell-bent on achieving my goals. Right now I'm finishing off one of my tried-and-true smoothies and am poised to take on the day with determination and purpose. After all, losing weight and achieving your goals is serious stuff. This is the rest of my life- not some phase and determination, purpose and tenacity is what success is made of. The rest is just...

wait for it...

shits and giggles. (my apologies)

Todays Smoothie:

1 Small Banana
1/3C Frozen Berries
1S EAS Premium Protein
1S Ground Flax

Losing weight is simple- eat less and exercise more. What could be easier than that? Whoa! Losing weight is SIMPLE, not EASY. I never realized how hard it was to do those two simple little things until I started this journey a little over six months ago. That eating less part is especially tough; it requires serious commitment to change.

I have a couple of friends who went the gastric-bypass route over a year ago. Each experienced fairly dramatic weight loss. For both, it was the way to go and when asked if they'd recommend it, both said they would.

I understand that there are a couple of ways to go about similar processes and while I couldn't recommend any one way over another, Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding (LAGB) looks interesting. It's called the lap band method. Instead of suturing off a section of stomach, the lap band surgeon puts an adjustable band around the upper portion of it- creating a smaller stomach pouch that takes a lot less food to make you feel full. This is all done through a couple of tiny incisions and is both adjustable and reversible. More info can be had at the JourneyLite web site.