by John Tyler

Created on: January 30, 2011

The Facts About Obesity In American Adults 

I was an obese senior citizen with high blood pressure and a triglyceride count that would kill me at some point.  So, I decided to get into a diet that would cause me to lose weight, lose the “gut” that I was used to carrying around for years,  and try regaining some self-confidence that I once remembered having!

At the tender young age of 67, I still have a few goals left in the “bucket list”.  I got to combine three of them in one move back in July of 2010 - dieting, writing about it, and overcoming one of my lifetime fears.

Little did I realize the tremendous benefits of dieting –until I actually did it.  The end results of my 120-day adventure ended up providing me with benefits that likely will save me from living an unhealthy, unproductive life as a fat man…and possibly dying from type 2 diabetes, a stroke or a heart attack.

I am told that America is experiencing a phenomenon of obesity.  52 percent of all of us are obese.  How we know we are obese comes in two  forms: I got one of them by looking in the mirror and seeing this big, fat 225-pound man in his sixties.  The other way that I knew I was obese was looking up my body mass index (“BMI”) using the calculators for that found on the AARP website.  My height and weight collided on the BMI calculator at a BMI of 30.98.  Thirty is the line that confirmed what the mirror showed me.

“OBESE” – say it to yourself - if you are fat and know it!  I have no problem admitting I was fat…or obese, and I don’t shudder at saying those words.  It’s reality, so I deal with reality in “healthy” ways. 

I began writing a diary that I would keep from start to finish because I wanted to know what other dieters must have to go through to reach their destination.  Most of them (including me) try a diet for a few weeks - and then, for some reason - we quit!

The diet goal date would be December 13th, 2010 when I was scheduled to visit my primary care physician for a physical exam.  I had the desire to lose weight because my triglyceride counts were “off the charts” at 237.  Triglycerides, to me, were indicators of a lifetime ahead of me of health deterioration.  Triglycerides are those nasty, deadly cholesterol indicators that cause fat to stick to the arterial walls….slowly

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