I'm off of DTG but still trying to maintain.

Since parting ways with DTG a few months ago I've managed to only re-gain about 10 pounds. I'm not proud of this but as we all know if we're left to our devices we tend to go back to the way we were eating before. You suddenly crave all the "good things" you missed out on while dieting. Somehow they creep back into your life. I've started my walking program again and being that it's August in the deep south I've been sweating all the time. Including indoor and outdoor activities. Just thought I'd give a quick update for those that care and wish you al the best in your weight loss endeavors. Sincerely, Bo.



















My son and I while on vacation a few weeks ago.

In remembrance of my Father.

Yesterday marked the 14th year of the passing of my father. I remember it clearly as I was enjoying a crawfish boil at a friends house north of Lake Pontchartrain. My wife and I were on our way back when I noticed my I'd missed several calls on my cell phone. By the time I got to my house and played the messages on my answering machine I knew something terrible had happened. They were very vague but urged me to get to the hospital immediately. I had a Corvette back then and needless to say I made it there in no time flat but it was of course, too late.

My father actually expired at his home with my mom looking on. He hadn't been feeling well that morning so my mom made him a roast beef sandwich thinking it would perk him up a bit. She recalls his color changed and in mid bite he fell forward in his plate. The paramedics came and she watched as they performed heroic actions to revive him but she knew it was too late and he was gone. By the time I got to see him at the hospital he still had the intubation tube still in his throat. I hugged his rather large belly, kissed him on the cheek and said my goodbyes.

I tell this story because my dad was only 59 years old when he passed. As a teen he was athletic, good looking (in a Richard Gere sort of way) but had already picked up several bad habits as most children growing up in the fifties did. He began smoking cigarettes at an early age and his taste for alcohol was increasing as his job demanded more of his social life. While I was growing up I recall him coming home late many nights after a large dinner with potential clients and always an after dinner drink or three. It's weird that my dad rarely if ever drank at home; he was the definition of a social drinker. We always had a well stocked bar for parities at our house but I never saw him drink more than a beer or two occasionally after boiling crawfish or doing some yard work.

I now have a beautiful son who will be 8 years old in October. I too embraced the unhealthy lifestyle at a relatively early age. I played lots of sports coming up but after being hurt in a football game I decided not to play any longer. By then I'd learned how to play the drums fairly well and was playing on Bourbon Street and around the French Quarter regularly by the age of 17. I would frequently have my dad to pal around with on those nights. Sometimes he would call me late on a school night to have me come down and meet him at a club where a famous jazz musician was playing. Sometimes I'd sit in with the band, too. My weight slowly crept up after college and save for a few periods of weight loss I've always been in the 240lbs plus range.

If you've read any of my previous posts you know that I was paid to lose weight on several of the really popular diet programs. As with most of you, once you stop the plan the weight comes back on with a vengeance and usually more than before. I've had my struggles with the Diet To Go plan as well. Sometimes you get bored with the food; sometimes you just want to eat something that doesn't come wrapped in plastic in a small black tray. I've been able to stick with the program pretty well save for an occasional carb pig out here and there. I've learned to jump right back on it and keep plugging along. Believe you can do it and you will succeed. I find that with each passing year I miss my father more and more. Now more than ever I feel his presence but really wish I had him to guide me through what has been a pretty rough year. If you read this all the way through and your parents are still alive; call them and tell them how much you love them.

As a post script, I found out yesterday that my 72 year old mother, while on spring break in Destin Florida with my 5o year old sister and 22 year old niece all came back with TATTOOS! My niece I can understand, she's in the age group that does that. My sister who was the 2009 Louisiana teach of the year, I never thought would get one but my mom was the shocker. I'm happy for her though. I'm just happy she is still with us all...tattoo or not.

Hey, I'm just a few short pounds from my goal.

Well folks, I don't want to say my life was simpler when I was fatter but it sure seems that way. Maybe when I didn't care so much about myself; I didn't care so much about anything else either. My mom has made a few trips in and out of the hospital as has my father in law. Add to that, my wife had her knee surgery last week but is recovering nicely. For me, I've been trudging through my diet and trying to get some exercise as well. I bought a used BowFlex and am determined not to let it become a large clothes rack as the person I bought from was using it for. Unfortunately my treadmill (which I loved) is in Mississippi and the BowFlex is here in Louisiana so I don't get to use them both at the same time. Hopefully I can sell the New Orleans home and combine my gear...then I'll have to find time to use them being that the commute is about 3 hours round trip or more depending on traffic.

All that aside, I was able to take off a few more pounds. I must also admit I cheated on Diet to Go. I have been feeling stuck and had plateaued at around 220 or so...couldn't get the scale to move so I felt I needed something to jump start my routine again. I'm not going to mention the plan but if you've ever come across one of those "Swedish Ski Team" diets, it's very similar. It's only for 4 days and I've done it twice now...I figured I could do anything for four days. It's hard but like any diet; if you stick to it they all work.

I'm back on my delicious DTG food now and have a new appreciation for the flavors that I once became bored with. It's not surprising after being on the program for almost 15 months now. The convenience is well worth the price for me because of my job and travel involved. My wife can feed my son and not have to worry about me. For those continuing to find the holy grail of diets I'll save you some time...there isn't one. It's the one that works for you and your lifestyle. Diet To Go has fit in the best. I'm happy to see they are changing a few of their low fat and veggie meals. I would love to make some recommendations on the low carb plan for them as there are many meals that are very good but others that could use some help.

I see I have some new followers and I really want to know how you're enjoying the plan. Feel free to reach out to me on Facebook by adding me as your friend. Simply put DTG in your request so I know who you are. You'll find me as Bo Boots Walker. I can help you with preparation as well as hunger do's and dont's, tricks and tips. Hit me up and good luck! Bo

What a crazy month!

I know it's been a while since I've blogged but with the Saints winning the Superbowl (still can't believe I can say that) Mardi Gras and a quick motorcycle trip to Texas Hill Country it's been a challenge. I'm happy to report that I didn't just go crazy eating everything in sight because of any of the above mentioned things to celebrate but I did allow myself some leeway.







We had a Superbowl party at the house with friends and neighbors. It was a great time and the Super-Nachos were just as goo. I had mine with wheat chips but the rest is all good on the low carb side...ground meat, cheese, salsa, lettuce, tomato, onion, etc. A few glasses of red wine to cap it off and the celebration was complete. This town went wild and the parade on the following Tuesday brought this town to it's knees.



I had some friends come in town for Mardi Gras and did enjoy a couple of nights out with them. Fried food at it's best at Deanies Seafood and some crawfish at a friends "welcome back to the neighborhood" party. They were devastated during Katrina and just got back to their old neighborhood. The boil was spectacular!











While on my trip west was trying at best. My riding partner was having troubles with his bike so we didn't get as much curvy road time as we'd have liked but it was nice to just get out for a few days. It's difficult to eat low carb on the road and even more difficult while in Texas. Tex-Mex is the everywhere and rice, beans and tortillas are standard fare. Even more problematic is the fact that we stayed in a little German town called Fredericksburg. The morning hotel breakfast was all German pastries and juices. Even the chain hotels offer little in the way of protein as carbohydrates are much cheaper to put out to their guests. I was able to grab a few hard boiled eggs and a sausage patty every now and then.

There was no way to travel with my DTG meals as packing space is at a premium on a motorcycle. Refrigeration without carrying an ice chest (which I do during summer trips) was not an option either. I simply went online and cancelled that weeks shipment having it pick up the week I returned. Having been on the program for over a year now I am wondering if I can get this last 20 pounds off. This happens to me a lot; after taking off 40 pounds or so I feel better physically and look a bit better so contentment sets in and I begin to slide a bit. I really don't want this to happen and I'm beginning to search for other ways to knock down that final 20 pounds.

DTG has been key in my weight loss and jump started the process for me. At some point in time I will have to begin buying and cooking food for myself. The convenience of DTG has been overwhelmingly positive with my busy schedule and the fact that my travel time has increased considerably. I'm going to buckle down for a few more weeks and really make an effort to get these last few pounds off. I plan on bringing my treadmill back to LA so I can use it on the mornings I sleep there. I'll keep ya posted.

Diet to Go still surprises me.

OK, after a year on Diet to Go I think I know the menu pretty well and there would be very few food surprises at this point but I had to blog about tonight's meal. The beef short rib just blew my mind...again. I certainly have my favorites and yes, there are some that are a miss for me but the beef short rib in bordelaise sauce is just a really good dish. Here's why; yes, the beef is tender. It's a delicious little riblet swimming in a rich and creamy bordelaise and the whole thing sits in a pool of celery puree.

Whoa whoa whoa...before you start going off on what you think puree's may or may not be, let me tell you that a couple of my other favorite dishes are also accompanied by puree's. I Love the cauliflower puree that comes with the whole half-chicken and the catfish with wasabi pea puree is just terrific. Let me tell you that if someone would make celery puree for me every day I wouldn't eat mashed potato's ever again...it's that good. The celery puree is thickened with a little corn starch and heavy cream (yep, on the low carb diet, heavy cream is acceptable). I would prefer it a bit thicker but I move all the vegetable medley of green beans and peppers right into the mixture and eat the whole thing that way with a slight sprinkle of garlic powder and a few grinds of fresh cracked pepper.

This meal with my obligatory glass of cheap red wine was enough to pull me away from everything I have to do (remember, the Saints are in the Superbowl) just to blog a few lines. I'm on a diet, remember. It's called Diet to Go...and it works. Trust the food; someone else has figured out how it all works so you can lose weight. If you've tried it on your own and tried every other "miracle" diet up to this point then you have nothing to lose but the weight with Diet to Go. Order it online or call the 800 number. The people there will do everything they can to help you succeed. Granted, YOU still have to do the work but for mindless weight loss while eating very tasty food you can't go wrong with DTG!!!

Now, I have until Saturday night to mount and wire the surround sound for my new HDTV to watch the Saints beat the Colts in the Superbowl on Sunday. My menu includes Super Nachos (more on that later) and Crawfish, hot dogs and burgers...all of which are allowed on my 2 days off from DTG so enjoy the game and the menu!!!

Saints going to Superbowl...I must be dreaming.

I don't have enough time to tell you of my entire relationship with the Saints football team so here's just a few highlights and low lights. My family moved here in 1974...before the Superdome was open. When it did in 1975 my first game was against the Houston Oilers (a team I supported since we moved from Houston just months prior). We (Saints) lost I believe by the score of 13 to 7. It didn't get much better after that. Our team was hapless, had coaching and player issues for years. If I heard it was a "rebuilding year" once I heard it a thousand times. Fact was they made some very odd personnel choices throughout the years...most of whom went on to great things after leaving the organization.

My dad had 5 season tickets for as long as I can remember. Throughout college, if he had extras he'd give them to me. Knowing they were going to lose I'd do a drive by at the dome and sell them for beer money that week. As my broadcast career took off I was forced to follow them and I recall some very exciting games and good times in those seats. I also remember boycotting them for 2 years because the Atlanta Falcons beat us twice one year with a pair of hail Mary's to win the game on the last play. Suckers!

I recall if we played a team that hadn't won a game yet we would always hand them their first win. Or if there was a record to be set on the other team it would happen while they were playing us. I was in Pro-Player Stadium one year (yes, the same place the Superbowl is being played in Miami) and Dan Marino tossed his 300th TD or something. You could always count on the Saints to give that kind of thing up. I vowed to travel to at least one away game per year a few years back. Charlotte was a kick and their stadium was brand new at the time. San Fransisco had its charm...we actually won that game; I cried and ate dungeoness crab. Chicago was interesting. It was October of 1999 and the last season the Bears would play in Soldier field. I was mere weeks away from having my second back surgery so I was furiously "numbing" my pain and becoming quite a pain in the ass to the home fans. We were winning 14 nothing with 2 minutes to go. We all lit Cuban cigars and cursed their fans until they scored two TD's and a field goal to win it in regulation. Since that day I don't celebrate until I see all zero's on the time clock.

I guess my biggest memory would have to be September 28th 1992. I was working at a radio station that was connected to the Superdome. I'd planned on going to the game right after my shift but would have to meet my friends and (soon to be) wife. They stopped by on their way to the dome and waved at me in the "fishbowl." I told them I'd be there shortly. I had a couple beers on the walk over to catch up with the gang...they tailgated and started a bit earlier than I did. A few more dome-foams later we were in position to win the game. We had the ball inside the 20 and Bobby Hebert (the Cajun Cannon) rares back and lets one fly into the end zone. My seats were on the first row of that end zone and I couldn't see so I jumped up assuming we scored a touchdown but instead found myself falling over the rail of the terrace (highest level) and into the Lodge (directly below me). I woke up bleeding on a large black man who saved my life; or at least kept me from hitting the seats below at terminal velocity. I was badly bruised, fat lip, few abrasions but none the worse for wear. I signed the paperwork on my house the next day fully medicated so that closing was much less painful than this last one. Now when I go to games I tie off but I figured I'm good from 30 feet or so.

My saints went 13-0 then dropped a big game to the Cowboys who were on a huge comeback and almost made it through the playoffs. The next loss to Tampa because of a missed field goal was heartbreaking and I feared the wheels had come off. They decided to rest their starters for the final Carolina game so we finished the season with home field advantage and were 13-3. We demolished the Cardinals and had several really nice breaks against the Vikings before our kicker redeemed himself in OT to kick the game winner. We're off to the Superbowl with Americas team. I'm hoping this magical season continues with a win because this town deserves a little something after suffering through the bags-on-head years with the "Aints."

If you're team didn't make it, rot for the Saints cause I feel I have some skin in this game...literally! Who Dat!

It's coming up on my one year anniversary!

All I can say is Thank you Diet to Go as Bo Walker has lost 40 pounds in one year while on the program. That may not rattle any cages given the gastric bypass mentality of today but doing it the slow easy way has proven to work better than the quick and hard on your body way. Case in point is I likely would have given up after 6 months or so and began eating my way back up to an even higher weight than before. I know this because I've done it so many times in the past. I'm proud to say that I stuck to a diet program for an entire year and even though I haven't met my goal of losing 60 pounds I'm happy that during an immensely stressful period of change and flux I was able to stay very close to my meal plan and succeed.

Traveling between two states pretty regularly doesn't leave me with the time I would like to have devoted to keeping up with this blog. I'm posting when I have time and including pictures when I get a chance to take them. I promise to include some shots of me in the poses I was using earlier in my weekly posts. My body has made some amazing transformations over the last year. My only wish is that I had more time for exercise. When I was walking every morning I felt better than ever and could feel myself getting stronger and more muscle definition not only in my legs but in my belly too. I look at pictures of me before my surgery (and I may be misusing the term) but I looked "cut." At least as cut as a fat guy can look. Because I had to shelf the exercise for several weeks after the surgery and have since moved my treadmill to Mississippi, I haven't had the time to walk. Something I need to fix as drinking water and exercise are the keys to consistent weight loss and regulating your sugars.

As mentioned in a previous blog post, my blood work numbers have never been in range but this last battery of tests confirmed that I was on the right track. ALL of my tests turned out to be in range. Some could be better but you know how the data kicks out the number to the right if it's out of range? I didn't have a sing number over there and that's huge!

Diet to go is not cheap but consider it an investment in yourself! You're worth it. As I wait for my work partner to have his gastric bypass I wonder how he will do without being able to have a loving relationship with food. Dieting is different from quitting smoking or drinking or whatever. The difference is you HAVE to eat. It's what you choose to put in your mouth and how much of it you decide to portion that will determine how you will fair with any diet. They all work but you must count something; carbs, calories, protein, sugar, etc. Any plan will work too but you must make the commitment to stick to it. I've tried most of the popular diet programs on the market today and some of the fringe ones too. Diet to go mixes a solid meal plan with great support and that is what makes it successful. If you are truly interested in losing weight and keeping it off log on to www.diettogo.com and look around. I'm positive there is a meal plan that works for you. The low carb worked for me because of my sugar issues and I've come back from the brink after hitting almost 260 a year ago. Good luck and thanks again Diet To Go!