Fat and goal to go

Welcome to this week’s Reno News & Review.

Let’s talk real quick about my weight. I know it’s the most pressing thing on your mind these days.

I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since last July. I started out a blimpy 250.8 pounds, and now I’m a svelte 210 pounds. You readers who’ve been around for a while have seen me do this before, though. The first diet story I wrote was called “Big,” and it ran in April 2001. It actually had before/after pictures of me with my shirt off. Horrible. Embarrassing. It ended with me being crushed under a bunch of weights. But I lost 30 pounds in 12 weeks.

The next story was called “The Fat and the Furious,” and I wrote it in December 2003. It told my story of trying to lose weight on Atkins. On that one, I lost about 22 pounds, 10 of which came back almost immediately upon quitting.

So anyway, after 10 months, I’m down 40 pounds, and, according to a test my friend Bruce Jenks did over at Sports West Athletic Club, my body fat is 11.9 percent. It was measured at 20 percent in January and 16.6 in February. That fat percentage is far more important to me than my overall tonnage—it means as opposed to being slim or fat, I’m healthier.

This all comes up because last Monday, I hit my “lifetime” goal. That means, I hit the weight that my doctor and I decided was healthy for me, and I kept it off for six weeks. Since I was in Uruguay for a month, I’ve actually kept it off 10 weeks, but, according to Weight Watcher rules, to be official, I had to weigh in once a week.

So there ya go. I no longer have to pay for meetings (unless I gain two pounds), and now instead of officially weighing in once a week, I’ll only weigh in once a month. I go to the noon meetings on Mondays at the Nevada Museum of Art. It’s a good program, and if you make an effort to follow the rules, you’ll probably end up a healthier person.

Hey, I’m not bragging. I’ve failed at this too many times to be arrogant. I’m just saying there are worse habits than working out and eating well.