.
Day 262

This is my 262nd day of walking in a row without missing a day. I am happy about this. My current weight is 186 pounds (84.4 kilograms). My BMI is 23.9 so I am getting even more into the mid-range of NORMAL body weight. I am only four pounds (1.8 kilograms) away from having lost 100 pounds (45.4 kilograms).

In thinking about how to make a mark yesterday, I began to think, perhaps an EASIER thing to do to get some "fame" and "fortune" would be to write a new diet book. For those of you who are my foreign readers, you may or may not know, but in the United States, the diet book industry is one of the BIGGEST categories of books sold in our nation. The reality about health and weight loss is simple... eat fewer calories than you utilize in a day, drink water, exercise vigorously, and get adequate rest. However, those four little items are very difficult for many of us to follow. Just look at the CDC Map of the Growth in Obesity in the United States.

The reason why diet books are so popular is that they find new, creative, and often entertaining ways to give us the basic message (eat fewer calories than you utilize in a day, drink water, exercise vigorously, and get adequate rest) in a way that makes it seem like there is some sort of magic, special way to do this without having to struggle. The reality is that the vast majority (if not all) diet books are saying the same thing, couched in a different way that is more palatable for people who do not like the real message.... eat fewer calories than you utilize in a day, drink water, exercise vigorously, and get adequate rest. Currently on the best selling list at Amazon are the following diet books:

Overcoming Overeating: How to Break the Diet/Binge Cycle and Live a Healthier, More Satisfying Life by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter

The Incredible Shrinking Critic: 75 Pounds and Counting: My Excellent Adventure in Weight Loss by Jami Bernard

The 20/30 Fat & Fiber Diet Plan: The Weight-Reducing, Health-Promoting Nutrition System for Life by Gabe Mirkin and Barry Fox


What to Eat When You Get Diabetes: Easy and Appetizing Ways to Make Healthful Changes in Your Diet by Carolyn Leontos


The PMS Diet Book by Karen Evennett

All of the books are similar in the actual message to shed weight, but they are covered by very different, eye-catching images and phrases to grab people's attention. Perhaps I should strive to do the same thing. Perhaps if I did, the catchy titles could be one of the following:

"This Ain't No Damn Diet Book!"

"Diet Through Consistency"

"Healthy Weight By The Numbers"

Who knows, perhaps I could write the next diet book blockbuster!

PipeTobacco