It's diet time again...

This morning when I got up I looked in the bathroom mirror and standing behind me to one side was the Devil with a silly grin on his ugly face and on the other side was my beautiful Guardian Angel shaking her head and with a sad face she began to sing...

Oh, it's diet time again, you're gonna grieve me
I can see that faraway look in your eyes
I can tell by the way your pants fit darling,
That it won't be long before it's diet time time.

Now they say that weight loss makes the heart work better
And that ugly fat is stressful to behold
Without exercise you won't be 'round much longer,
Don't you want to be one hundred years old?

Oh, it's diet time again, you're gonna grieve me
I can see that faraway look in your eyes
I can tell by the way your pants fit darling,
That it won't be long before it's diet time.

Now you say you've found a diet you like better
That's the way it's happened every time before
But if you don't stick right with it this time
It will be crying time when they roll you out the door.

Oh, it's diet time again, you're gonna grieve me
I can see that faraway look in your eyes
I can tell by the way your pants fit darling,
That it won't be long before it's diet time.

(My apologies to Buck Owens who wrote the original song "Crying Time" in 1966.)

Well, my Guardian Angel is right...I better do something. The other day I was watching a program about health and one of the participants was a doctor named Dean Ornish who is president and founder of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, as well as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. He talked about a diet plan that is very simple and yet has proven the greatest results in lowering cholesterol and body fat and he said that it can change your life in just three months if you stick to it. Surprisingly, I found that there are a lot of respected doctors who back his claim and that is probably because it is nothing more than a common sense diet. He divides foods into five basic food groups:

1.) Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, soy products, nonfat dairy, and egg whites in their natural forms, as well as some good fats that contain omega 3 fatty acids.

2.) Avocados, seeds, nuts.

3.) Low fat dairy products, margarines free of trans fatty acids, sweeteners containing high fructose corn syrup, and higher sodium.

4.) Poultry, fish, milk/dairy products, margarine, mayonnaise, doughnuts, fried rice, pastries, cakes, cookies, and pies.

5.) Red meat in its various forms, egg yolks, fried poultry, fried fish, hot dogs, organ meats, butter, cream, and tropical oils.

The above is just a general outline. You can find out a lot more about his program on his website: http://www.pmri.org/index.html

The way it works is that if you want to live a long and healthy life, lose weight, and lower cholesterol you need to stick as close to group number foods one as you can. The good thing about group number one is that you can eat as much of it as you like as long as you promise to walk for one half hour per day and no cheating.

Well, what have I got to lose except a lot of pounds? I am going to try it. I will report my progress from time to time and if it works I will show you before and after pictures. If it doesn't work...well...let's just hope that it works.