I have started Dr. Hs plan outlined in his book. It is tough, no doubt but I am hoping for a real payoff. I like the biggest loser process, it seems to lead to real losses that can be sustained in the real world after folks leave the show. It especially suits the frustrated athlete in me, the one who is buried in a mountain of fat dying to get out and surf, ski , run, bike and of course zipline!

This week has been breaking down barriers of the mental kind. The first thing is he expects everyone to run first thing in the morning, four miles. No kidding, I started with the default of "NO WAY, my joints cannot take it".

But I thought about it and decided to do what I could to try to reach that. What was stopping me? My knee, no question about it, but I saw an orthopedist about it and he said I was not causing problems, it was just painful. I talked to my trainer about it and I said I supinate and it causes me knee pain -- it hit me , any other runner would go to the runner's shoe store and say "I supinate and it causes me pain", I need an insert. Well I did and $200 later I had new shoes and inserts that did not cause me to supinate. I walked in them for a day, no pain, the next day I ran/walked two miles in them, NO PAIN.

I have run, lifted weights, made protein shakes, shopped for new foods (ricotta for the protein shakes) read much of the book, boinked for lack of carbs... It has been a full week... on top of my regular week. I have made necessary adjustments, hopefully no more boinking... I have been online less and watched tv less, the time had to come from something, and I did not miss the time online or the tv (much).

Today I had moments of giddiness thinking of all the things I could do at a normal weight. Take my daughter to Italy, get on a plane without dread. This program is hard, but so many have succeeded, I have no reason to think I cannot.

This week I will try to get more meals made ahead so is is easy to have a filling low cal meal ready, that no more boinking thing. My best day was a day when I had a navy bean soup for lunch, filling but low cal. There is a pot soaking right now, soup will be ready for the week to come.

I am sure there are going to be lots of little setbacks but I am ready to meet them, and tackle them one at a time. the shoes were a life lesson, never stop looking for an improvement. There may be something that can help.

Tue I will get my bodpod measurement to get my body fat percentage which will help with the food plan.