[ripdog]

I have changed my diet out of curiousity. I added an apple, an orange (or grapefruit), and a banana a day to my diet. I switched from coffee to green and black tea (one bag per day, many cups) as well and do not get headaches when I don't have any for a day. I eat a large bowl of Wheat Chex or Cracklin' Oat Bran for breakfast and a banana--massive amounts of fiber. For lunch I have a tuna or salmon sandwich and I'm taking 3000mg of Fish Oil capsules each day. I also drink about a half-gallon of water a day. I eat dark green veggies for dinner, but should be eating more. I eat lots of spinach, brocolli, zuchini, and carrots, but only at dinner.

I've been on this diet for a month and have not weighed myself yet. The first thing I noticed is that I no longer crave soda. I used to drink three or four 2-Liter bottles a week, now I drink no pop. I have been working out three days a week and feel much stronger--just treadmill with an arm attachment. The next thing I noticed was that when I T.C.O.B. (drop a duece) I spend far less time on the pot and my turd doesn't stick to the bowl like it used to. I now drop the deuce two or three times a day compared with one a day before.

I don't expect to see immediate physical results--I'm doing this because I want to. My wife now gets to eat almost no red meat and I would actually prefer to go to a vegetarian/fish diet. What stops me is the fact that I have almost no good vegetarian recipes and fish is goddam expensive. I weighed ~175 when I started this diet, 10 lbs. heavier than when I graduated high school (1984). Energy wise, I think I'm good. I don't think there is a magic bullet for weight loss. You need to make a lifestyle change. I'm finding that giving up sweets is the tough part, though I haven't had Ice-cream since Christmas. Good luck and be careful with those miracle products.