I'm so happy I didn't order the Nutri Sytem...really happy.

OK, I’ve only had 4 complete meals since starting the Diet to Go meal plan (I’ve stopped calling it a diet because It’s hard to believe that eating this food will make you lose weight) but what I’ve eaten has been very flavorful and filling. After last nights healthy portion of Orange Roughy and cous cous I had a really good nights sleep. Now, I can’t really give for the snooze to starting Diet to Go but maybe the fact that I wasn’t over-full and my body didn’t have to digest a huge meal helped me wake fully rested. Little did I know I would totally need it…

Fridays are generally busy for the simple fact that as production director of seven radio stations and seven streams we have to make sure that we have all of the commercials ready for the following 3 days; Saturday, Sunday and Monday (since it officially starts at midnight Sunday night and the workday doesn’t start until about 8am Monday morning). Everything must be taken care of before we leave Friday night and I had to produce an unusually large number of commercials. I left the house with a bagel, cream cheese, apple juice and banana crème pie yogurt as my breakfast and the shrimp bisque, jichama salad, chocolate mousse, small seasoned pita and V-8 for lunch. I plan on bringing a toaster to work for the bagel and pita but otherwise, breakfast was just enough to calm my huge handful of pills and a cup of coffee.

I spend most days working through lunch which is usually Ramen Cup-o-Noodles or a microwave sandwich. Breakfast took me all the way past noon and I was excited to try what was in the quart tub. Living in New Orleans I’ve eaten my share of seafood bisque but the only thing this was missing was a few shots of hot sauce (which I put on everything) and some jumbo shrimp. It’s all pureed pretty fine but it had good consistency and flavor. Really good portion too. I occasionally dunked the pita in the bisque and really enjoyed the jichama salad although I thought it would be better as a Superbowl dish served with nacho chips. I would have added finely sliced jalapeños for the right balance of sweet (mandarin oranges) and heat. The purple onion lets everyone know you’ve opened the container but damn it was good.

I saved a bit of the banana crème pie yogurt and the chocolate mousse for a mid afternoon snack. I usually get “snackish” around 3:30pm and have a drawer full of 90 cal oat bars or some peanut butter crackers. I was happy to reach back into my little fridge and retrieve that sweet treat…I mixed them together and enjoyed the goodness. It really helped to get me to around 6pm when I left. Because I am riding my motorcycle in Mississippi tomorrow I left the “clean up” work to my assistant and came home to load my bike on the trailer and pack my gear for the trails. I wasn’t starving but I managed to make it till 7:30pm before I stopped to heat my dinner.

The corn and baked potato didn’t reheat as well as I would have liked but I think because the potato was really baked and the corn par boiled it made them both a bit soggy upon reheating but the sour cream and chives made the potato taste good. I was tempted to slather the small ear of corn in butter but instead opted for a little salt and pepper. The Tamale Pie made with ground turkey was again very flavorful and tasted fresh made once micro waved…I added nothing. I keep saying that if all I have to do is just eat the food I’m being sent to lose weight, I’m in! I keep wondering where the “diet” part is because all the food I’ve eaten so far has been properly seasoned and proportionate to what I should eating…not what I think I should be eating. I’m sure the freshly packed meals have some advantage over the frozen and shipped ones but so far they seem to have traveled well.

Challenges for this weekend: riding with my buddies used to consist of stopping off for breakfast at Waffle House (greasy eggs, hash browns, bacon, toast and grits---I’m from the south…we have to have grits). On the way to the trails we would stop at Blimpies and pick up a $5 sub. We’d ride till noon, eat half the sub, ride some more and eat the other half. Once home; that’s when the beer drinking would start. Reliving the days events over a cold beer or three, four five was always the best part of the day. That usually led to grilled burgers, steaks or worse so tomorrow I plan on eating my Fajita Omelet with seasoned artichokes before I leave the house and bringing my Roast Turkey sandwich with me in the truck. I burn a lot of calories riding so I am bringing an orange with me as well. My buds have decided the beer drinking has to stop as well so I’m hoping I can make it back to the house and nuke up my spaghetti pie for dinner. I don’t even want to talk about Superbowl Sunday…I’ll let you know how I do!

The food is here...THE FOOD IS HERE!!!!!

I feel like Steve Martin in the movie The Jerk when the phone books arrived. I had to restrain myself from running around like that because I was at work. I opened the box just to check it all out and was fascinated by the packaging. There was a small box on top that contained some fresh fruit and condiments. Below a large Styrofoam sheet was the rest of my booty. The food was nicely packaged and still well frozen. I haven’t had a chance to go through it all but instead just placed everything in the beer…er uh, spare refrigerator until I could sort it all out.

So here’s how I figure I can show my progress each week. I’ll put the date and weight on a piece of paper and take a front and side shot. Yeah, I’m pretty proud of these two pics. I’m using my home scale and weighing in the clothes you see on me. 258…geez, and I used to think 220 was outrageous. I’d kill to wiggle my nose and have 38 pounds gone but I gotta tell ya; if all I have to do is eat the food being sent to me each week to get there, I’m in!

My first meal was fabulous! I downloaded the menus from the Diet To Go website. I just printed them all and saved the PDF for future reference if needed. I searched to find the Orange Roughy with coos coos and vegetables. Being from Louisiana I’ve caught and eaten a ton of catfish, redfish and trout but I have no idea what a roughy looks like. I know it tastes pretty good though. White, flakey and very moist it sucks up the seasoning and went great with the side dishes. Of course I sprinkled some Cajun spices on it but when I finished I was not only surprised by the large portion but didn’t feel the anxiety of wondering if this would be enough for me. It was. Oh, I finally realized that the food labels are on the BOTTOM of the dish...no more guessing.

I’ll get a better look at things over the weekend but I feel this diet is going to be better than anything I’ve done in the past. It’s not even close to any of the popular packaged food programs…a few dollars more but definitely worth it. Not feeling good about these pictures but hopefully in a few short weeks I’ll look and feel a lot better.

You can never go back but man, I'd like to.

Over the weekend I began weeding through a box of old photographs. I don't know what made me do it...maybe the upcoming diet. Regardless, I found myself pulling out the "skinny" pictures of myself and realized I had kind of a photographic essay of my weight losses...and gains.

The picture on the right was taken right after I lost a bunch of weight on my own using what I like to call trauma trim. In a previous post I detail my unfortunate breakup with a young woman who ran off to Miami with the local morning man on the radio. She was his "news chick" at the time so obviously they were spending more time together than we were. I found a bunch of old pictures of her as well...no need to post those here, I guess. The woman seated to my left is now my wife but this picture was taken New Years eve of 1988 shortly after we began dating. We rang in 1989 with her sister and a friend of mine...also standing with a tie. I still see my sister in law quite a bit. Him; not so much. You gotta admit, that guy in that car...pretty hot! Granted, the car didn't come along until later but in the mean time I managed to beef back up while working at a station in Biloxi, Ms. Nutri System came knocking and knocked a good 38 pounds back off of me.

The photo on the left is me sitting on the sea wall in Biloxi do a "call-in" back to the station. I used to walk that sea wall at the crack of noon daily. See, I was the 7-midnight jock known as "Wildman Walker." It was my job to tuck the kiddies in each night and then go find trouble. I did pretty well doing both with a 30 plus share in the ratings and probably 30 plus nightclubs to visit. The picture on the right was after Jenny Craig. At the time I was training for a marathon in Alaska called the Mayors Midnight Marathon. You see, during the summer solstice in AK. it's daylight around the clock. Unfortunately I lost my father to a massive heart attack in April of 1996 so my motivation left me to train. I still completed the half and it was a glorious 13 mile walk/run but I managed to put back the weight withing a year of his death. You'd think I would have learned something from a man who dies at 59 years of age with all of the problems I'm developing now. I miss him terribly still.

Above is when I did Nutri System #2 around 1990. As you can see I did lose the weight but I looked awful. I lost a lot of muscle with it because I was cheating the diet. I should have settled for less than stellar results over a longer period of time but I felt like I was being pressed to deliver so I figured out how to follow the diet most days, cheat a few and then starve or worse before the weigh in. The photo on the left was taken at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That's space Shuttle STS 50 on the launch pad behind me. I got thrown off the air for reasons I won't disclose here so instead of staying home whimpering a buddy asked me if I wanted to go see the shuttle lift off...are you kidding me, of course. It's still a memory that raises the hair on my arms to this day. very cool. I'm skinny though, right?

Above is around the same time, maybe 1991. This was an event at the local mall for a CD and poster signing with the girls from Wilson Philips. That's me mugging with Wendy, Chynna and the one that was forever referred to as "the fat one" Carnie Wilson. As most of you know, Carnie, like Oprah, Rikki Lake and most of us lost a bunch of weight and then gained it all back. I think she has since had a kid and lost it but Oprah is now over 200...even with a nutritionist and personal trainer. Just goes to show you, money don't buy skinny...

The detailed info on my delivery email says my food won't get here till Thursday. I find it hard to believe that a 30 pound box mailed in Va. takes 3 plus days to reach its destination but it appears to be on tour stopping in every town in Virginia before landing in Knoxville, TN at 3pm today. That better be one very insulated box this food comes in or it is frozen solid like a rock before its shipped...details and maybe more pictures to come.

I have UPS anxiety!

I'd be willing to bet that others have this condition too. Usually I get UPS anxiety when I've ordered some motorcycle parts or accessories and am waiting for them to get here but today I received my tracking information from my very first box of food from Diet to Go. Admittedly, it's not a new jacket or performance part for my scoot but it is just as exciting for me and a bit scary. Why scary? Well it means another lifestyle change and some handle it better than others do. It's a disruption of ones routine really. No more downing a couple of sugar filled breakfast bars at work for breakfast. No more Ramen noodles or fried catfish for lunch. I'll finally know exactly what I'll be having when I get home for dinner. In a way, it's a relief. I could use the structure because MY way obviously wasn't working. I'm putting a lot of faith in this diet;fortunately it has a track record of success. I'm hoping I have what it takes to handle the new routine.

I'm getting closer to the big reveal.

With my order in the pipeline at Diet To Go I'm thinking hard on how best to document my transition from chubby hubby to slim Jim...except my name is Bo. Any way, I promise to spare you all the bare belly shots. Frankly, I scare myself with my shirt off so I don't feel the need to subject anyone else to it but I do want to find a way to show my bulk in the beginning and any progress as I shed those excess pounds. I took the family to the big car show in the Superdome today and asked my wife to shoot a few full length shots of me using the show cars as a backdrop. When I got home and looked them over a few things became clear; my wife is still an awful photographer and I still hate to see myself in photographs. Ask any fat person and they will tell you the same thing. There may be a handful of pictures that they actually think are good but for the most part we avoid them like the plague.

I've decided to set up a static shot in the same area of my home so I can get repeatable succes when shooting a picture of myself. I plan on using a tripod and autotimer to shoot some before, during and after shots to show my progress. This way I won't bother anyone to help me and I can be assured that I get the same photograph each and every time. I think once a week should suffice to see any changes. I think getting a full set of measurements plus my starting weight and updating them once every couple of weeks should be just fine as well. (I'll take any suggestions, too) I'm just figuring out these blog functions; uploading photos, hyperlinks and the like but I'll post what I can when I have it and am really anxious for my first box to arrive...and yes, that is the Mach 5 behind me!

Maybe there is a better way!

Google displayed the usual suspects when it comes to prepared diet foods. As I scrolled a bit further down the list I noticed several comments being made about Nutri System...after all, it was the plan I was going to choose so it caught my eye. I began reading some of the really negative posts on this site that seemed dedicated to reaming NS. As I read post after post of people droning on about the food and the horrible customer service I started to rethink this option. Remember, both times I was on NS I was treated like royalty because I was the face or "voice" as it were that was telling others how great it was. If I signed up online and gave them my credit card for "auto ship" and got mailed a box of food I didn't like, would I then be just like these others trying to straighten things out via their 800 number? I started to get a really bad feeling and figured there must be something else out there with a better reputation and certainly better food.

I wish I could remember what site I stumbled upon (maybe I'll list it if I find it again) but it was a very honest ranking of the diet plans currently available. I read through most of them until the reviews started to reach below what I felt my standard was after ruling out NS. It was funny, because Diet To Go kept showing up in the multitude of criteria they had disseminated. I mean everything from customer service to meal plans to food taste and overall value. It was difficult to escape Diet To Go...so I went.

I figured it would be like most sites where they want to get all the demographic information they can from you for free before divulging anything about their plan. Most sites wanted you to "sign up or log in" and then they would have someone contact you...buh-bye! I was very surprised that I was able to find out the cost of a basic meal plan within a couple of clicks. I liked the fact that they had several meal plans and several options for quantity, too. You weren't forced to order all three meals for all seven days. Hmmmm, I'm liking this. I also liked the fact that the food was REAL! The way I saw it, for what I would be shelling out for Nutri System's "add water or microwave dog food" I could be eating REAL FOOD for a few dollars more. I dug deeper.

I looked at the nutritional information and the calorie plan options. This all began making sense to me but I wanted to know how the whole thing really worked. There must be a catch, right? They'll pull the old switcheroo because I'm mail order. Oh, did I mention that if you live in DC, Philly or San Fransisco you can pick up the fresh made food? But I bet when they mail it to you they sneak the nuke-n-puke stuff in there and I'm trapped again. I'll bet I'll spend hours on line with a customer service rep that will deny I even placed an order. This will be like trying to ship back the unused nasty tasting powered mix...I'll end up just throwing it away. I know, I'll test their customer service by emailing them. If I don't hear from them in a couple of days I'll have my answer.

Right away I got a response from them. Sure, it was your standard "we received your request and will get back to you within 24 hours" or if I couldn't wait that long there was an 800 number I could call. No way, I'm sticking to my guns. I want to see if someone really is going to get back with me. Before noon the next day I had another lady in my life; a sweet gal named Kai, the sales manager at DTG. In her email she states she tried to call but was unable to reach me at the number I provided...cuz I'm stupid and screwed it up as I would later find out. Anyway, Kai and I (hah, rhymes) had a pleasant talk and explained that there was no "switcheroo" with mail order. The REAL food is frozen (just like you would if you cooked something and put it immediately into the freezer) and shipped within a day in a insulated carton directly to my door. She suggested taking a few meals out to thaw in the fridge and putting the rest in your freezer. I'm in!

Through Kai, I was able to speak with a couple of other really nice ladies at DTG to make sure I was getting the right meal plan for my specific condition(s). Yes, being a fatty-in-your-forty's can cause some very predictable health problems. Come on, say them with me; hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol and triglyceride issues. Granted, it's not all my fault but I've always said "you can't pick your parents" right? I spoke with my doctor about DTG and she was thrilled. She even logged onto the website during my visit to check it out nutritionally. Of course I still left with a new prescription but she was happy that I was ready to deal with my weight and convinced (as am I) that most of these problems can be defeated by diet and yes, the dreaded E-word: EXERCISE. More on that later. I'm happy to announce I've placed my order and expect to see a big box of healing show up at my door next week. I'll keep ya posted every step of the way.

Once again with feeling...better yet, with taste!

"Hello, my name is Bo and I'm a compulsive dieter." Hello Bo! OK, it's not that I enjoy dieting per se but that I find myself gaining and losing the same 50 pounds for the last 30 years. I began watching my mother diet as a child. Remember Ayds? The little cubes of chocolate-tasting candy that somehow was supposed to help you lose weight? I recall there always being a box in the fridge and me pilfering them when she wasn't looking. It's not hard to see why they are no longer around with that name.

As a child of 11 or 12 I began to put on weight; PB&J's 2 at a time! I figured sports would help me control my weight but I soon found out that weight control was part of playing sports. I wrestled in 9th grade and can remember wanting to get down to 185lbs so I didn't have to wrestle the "hulks" in the unlimited group. The veterans taught me all the tricks, too. Laxatives, sweating in garbage bags, saunas and the ever popular "spitting off weight." Disgusting but effective. By High school I stayed pretty fit for football but after an injury sidelined me the weight came right back. I started college a bit chubby but quickly learned that attracting females is a job best left to the skinny...so I joined a band instead! Playing music has always been enjoyable to me and it certainly did get the attention of a few females; one who broke my heart by running off to Miami with a fellow DJ after we'd been together for 6 years. This time instead of using food to comfort me, I used it correctly and lost weight on my own through good nutrition and portion control.

I managed to attract a new job, a new girl (who eventually became my wife) and that same 40 pounds or so that I'd lost. By now, my radio career was taking off and I was approached by Nutri System to do radio endorsements for them; I did and lost a good bit of weight... and then the job. It wasn't long before the 40 pounds I'd worked so hard to get off, got back on. New station, new opportunity to lose weight; again with Nutri System( #2.) By now I was so familiar with the diet I'd learned how to cheat it and still show results on weigh-in day. I lost the weight again but looked and felt really bad because of the way I was doing it. Another station change and again I was approached to lose the weight I put on from losing it badly and eating anything I wanted...blah blah blah, excuses, whatever. That's when I met a new girl; her name was Jenny.

Jenny Craig was the most beautiful and sexy thing I'd ever seen. New and clean weight loss centers with dietitians that dressed in white lab coats armed with cassettes to listen to while you walked for exercise! Man, this had to be the best way to lose weight, right? Oh, it worked but soon I plateaued, Jenny and I broke up...the romance was gone. You'd think I was done using weight loss programs and would simply apply all the nutritional information I'd gathered over the years and begin to eat sensibly...oh no, I wasn't done yet. I tried a powdered drink mix with some sort of revolutionary ingredient guaranteed to make me lose weight or my money back. Tasted awful and would have cost me more to send it back than just throw it away. How about the west coast; that's where all the beautiful people are, right? Well, when LA Weight Loss came to town I tried them too. Unfortunately I still lived in La. and the food in New Orleans is just too good. I worked with a tried and true weight loss master for a while. This guy has gotten professional athletes into shape he can certainly help me, right? He did. Heck, I was even a chapter in one of his books. I was provided a personal trainer, nutritionist, supplements, medical specialists who did stress and V02Max tests along with blood work. Heck, I trained for and completed a half marathon in Alaska! Man, I wish those people gave a crap about me know...the book was a best seller though.

Little did I know there would be another woman in my life. Her name was Katrina and it devastated the lives of many Gulf Coast residents. Throw another job change, an Emmy nomination and becoming the morning drive host on the new FM Talk Station and here comes that 40 or so pounds... again. When 2008 began I was let go from the morning show but was called back to take on the task of production director. It means I handle the production of commercials on the seven radio stations and seven streams that we have. I figured the seperation anxiety would be worse than it has been but come to find out the stress of a daily broadcast was slowly killing me too. I'm enjoying my work more but getting less activity as a desk jockey instead of a disc jockey. Over the last year I have managed to eat my way back to the highest I've ever been; 263 pounds! At 5' 10" my BMI is closing in on 40. I knew I had to do something.

As the holidays rolled around our family decided to do Kris Kringle. You know, you draw names and are supposed to only buy for that one individual. there were a few rules that went along with it like a certain dollar amount and only so many items, etc. My sister decided to make up a one-sheet that we could fill in things we wanted as to help your KK buy for you. I only put one thing on mine and that was a "starter supply" of Nutri System. I figured I've done it before I can do it again. Christmas came and my KK gave me cash and told me to buy my own damn Nutri System. I took my family to Memphis for New Year and traveled by train for the first time. we had a ball but I didn't order the meal plan just yet. I figured I'd do it right when I got home...no rush as I'll drop this weight in no time just like before A couple of weeks passed and I finally decided I was going to do it so I got online but just before I went to the NS website I decided to Google "diets with prepared meals." Oh man, was I sure happy I did that!