If you think that's sad, let me tell you what happened at our house. Sir Husband had a flair up of high blood pressure when his weight had gone up to 185 from a normal of about 165.

Doctor got him to a dietitian, she worked out a strict diet limiting a lot of stuff that we were used to, like red meat and eggs, and adding more things like beans and vegetables. My weight was good, but I ate the same stuff thing as he had on his diet.

He quickly lost 20 pounds and I quickly gained 20 pounds.

Years ago, it was explained to me that "calorie in, calorie out" was true only if we actually used (via exercise) each calorie in. "Calories in" should be eaten for nutrition first (eat the broccoli) and for fun foods only if the calories used in exercise have exceeded the calories taken in. (Meaning I should take a brisk 4 mile walk before eating that thin slice of apple pie.)

We may not like eating 'properly', and it's so much more fun to play with formal diets - weird or sensible- but when all is said and done, the only way to healthily lose weight is to eat a varied and nutritious diet which totals fewer calories than we use each day.

While it is true that the bigger in size one is, the more calories are required simply to maintain weight -- if you gain weight while he loses, AND are eating comparatively smaller servings, then you are not moving [exercising] as much as he is. Calories taken in will move out only if *we* move/exercise enough to use more calories than taken in.

General rules for a day's menu planning (1/2 cup is 1 serving or one slice bread): have 3 servings of whole fruit each day; 3 servings of whole grains; a minimum of 3 servings [of different] green vegetables; 1 serving of white (rice or potatoes or noodles); and 2 two servings of yellow or orange or red vegetable.

I was also taught that most fresh foods contain sufficient sodium (salt) to supply our body's needs so we don't need to add more salt when cooking; but we do need a scant teaspoon of fat each day, which can be taken in the form of 1 t butter, or ¼ cup any whole milk product, or 1 t oil for frying. Note that one slice of well-drained broiled bacon contains twice your daily need of fat. If you aren't sure of the fat content in food, read the label -- you only need 50 'fat' calories each day.

Men are stinkers when it comes to dieting. Like they have a diet gene we don't ;)

I got on the scales at the doctor's office today
and nearly fainted when I saw the numbers.
My fat behind is going on a diet as soon as I finish
up those apple fritters in the kitchen.