Mind over fatter

I've been thinking of strategies on how to lose weight, when I have failed so many times before. After some soul searching, I've found some answers. Why did I fail to lose weight in the past?

• The belief that exercise alone could compensate for terrible eating habits.
• The belief that shoot-from-the-hip zeal could compensate for lack of a structure or plan.

With this in mind, I've decided to implement some structure in the weeks ahead. In fact, there have been a lot of health initiatives that I've been putting on the back-burner until now. My weight loss strategy is a 3-pronged plan of attack.

Exercise: A few months ago, I started doing P90x for a few weeks. It provided awesome results, but I fell off the wagon during week 6. Despite this, it was the most structured and intense workout that I've ever done. I'm re-starting the program for Thinspiration XXL. I'm also encouraging Royal Pinguo to participate with me. We all live busy lives, but exercise will improve your energy levels and quality of life. I'm also going to make the time to get my exercise in.

Eating: This has always been my Achilles heel. It's no secret that I love to eat. Over the past week, I've asked people who have succeeded in weight loss. The advice that really hit home was this: "It's a lot easier to say no to that slice of cake than to go jogging for an hour." I've been fooling myself into believing that exercise could actually counter eating. It's not true. With this in mind, I'm starting to count my calories on this website: caloriecount.about.com Let's be clear, the results are not good, but it will help guide me to better eating in the weeks ahead. I encourage my other competitors to use this service as well. It even keeps track of calories burned during exercise.

Pooing: Royal Pinguo has been encouraging me to use detox supplement pills. We bought them on sale a few weeks ago, but I've been reluctant to use them. Well, I've started using them. It's called FirstCleanse, and it's designed for first-timers like me. I might add fiber pills into the mix too. I started on Monday, and I have to say that my poo is a force of nature now. Thank you FirstCleanse.

That's my strategy for Thinspiration XXL. It's no secret that I am the heaviest competitor. I plan on closing the gap in the coming weeks.