Wonderful news on my weigh in on Friday March 10; my weight is down by another 2 pounds (900 grams) in just a week. That is double my target figure and it seems to get easier each week. My weight is now 188 pounds (93 kilograms). That means that the seventeen-week program that was going to shed 17 pounds (8.5 kilos)will now end in around 10 weeks.



This week the biggest plus has been that my stomach is now becoming used to smaller portions and it is easier than ever to accept smaller servings. This may seem a long way off for some that are following the program; just trust me for now, this will happen for you too in the very near future.

Serving sizes are the cause of most instances of overweight and were I asked for a single specific goal for all overweight people it would be to slowly reduce the size of servings. Get your daily calorie intake down to 3000 or less. ? An adult body requires 2000 calories each day to function properly, three thousand a day is still considered high by more than half the population of the world.

The best part of this program is reclaiming my aerobic physical fitness. In the past five weeks I have witnessed the return of my leg muscles, my stamina levels have increased and finally my lungs are responding to the extra (deep-breathing) exercise they receive. I am now able to take a deep breath over the count of 8, hold it for the count of 12, and exhale over the count of 8. This is 35% better than it was at the start. (The counts I refer to above are slow counts, each figure taking at least one-second.) In fact I now enjoy stepping out up the final hill of my morning walk to lose my breath because each time I lose my breath my lungs are being exercised and my heart is pumping solidly.

Note: As I said in the first article of this diary, and repeat in the exercise program ? ?Never start a physical exercise program until you have discussed it with your doctor, just in case you have health problems that preclude this type of exercise.?

Over the weekend I didn't eat any chocolate or cake. But today I look forward to a serving of chocolate cake. - Honestly, I'd never stick to a weight loss program if I had to give up anything that I like to eat.

This article is copyright ? David McCarthy 2006.