Good luck to you Dave, and to others here. You're not the only one starting to realize it's time to take care of yourself... I've got an extra 15-20 pounds that I'd love to drop. Sitting in an office instead of being on your feet running around is a big part of that.

About 6 months ago I started cutting down from eating out (in the evenings) 3 or 4 times a week to once every 3 or 4 weeks. I've cut down eating fast foods at lunch from every day to once every 2 weeks. I've cut back on eating larger portions here at home too, and have been trying to replace regular meals/food with fat-free or low fat items. Lite dressing instead of regular, fat free snacks instead of a huge bowl of ice cream, that kind of thing. And I already drink diet instead of regular cokes which is a big thing on the calorie scale.

I've increased eating vegetables, but I have to avoid fruits for the most part. Citrus fruits, bananas etc are not worth the acid indegestion attacks that follow them (even zantac doesn't help). Apples, peaches eetc just make me feel really weak and shaky after I eat them.

I've tried getting out for excercise, but with the baby that's been tough. A 10 minute walk with the baby and my girlfriend each day doesn't do anything for me as far as exercise. With all of the cutting back I've done, which has been a HUGE decrease in fatty foods, fried foods, etc and I still haven't lost one pound after months. Kind of a downer. I've just become convinced that excercise is required no matter how much dieting I do. I guess we are all battling that lower matabolism thing...

Off to make a salad...

Daniel