I’ve gotten a few comments on my efforts so far, both on the Internet and in person. These are very heartwarming and I thank everyone for sharing those sentiments with me.
However, I figured maybe we could try to compliment each other in this thread, and perhaps tell those that have effected us most, how we feel about them.
I’ll begin first by thanking everyone who has spoken up to participate in this diet. The mere fact that I now know that I am not alone in this struggle makes it much easier to deal with – so to all of you, thank you.
Secondly, Eliza, my wife, is my true inspiration. As most of you know, she is ahead of most of us on this dieting effort having started sometime back in March. Her continued dedication to her diet, her ability to supress cravings, etc – really has helped me look at this entire thing differently. She is living proof, right in front of me each and every day, that you can stick to it. And by doing so, you will be successful. She remains dedicated, and looks great as a result. I am simply following her extraordinairy lead.
James Mathias, who has been writing up each of his experiences on daily basis, has shown me that this effort is not simply mathematical or one-dimensional – but should rather scale through your entire life. He says it is "life changing" for him, and I couldn’t agree more. As a result of this diet, I have not only started to eat less, but I’m eating healthy. I’m also exercising almost every other day, and am taking in the proper amount of water each day. I have a fairly regular sleeping and eating schedule as well. All of these things are significant changes in my life, and James has inspired much of it.
Chris Fehnel, who nicknamed me "Fat man" several years ago now, has helped by making himself available to play basketball as well as show me that regardless of circumstance you can do well on this diet. Chris is a sickly individual, which I will allow him to elaborate on should he choose to do so, but suffice to say that even when he is sick – he does fairly well on his dieting goals. This has helped me to learn that even though I am sitting at home, in front of my computer, for the majority of the day – this does not mean that I need to be completely sedimentary. More on this in about a month.
There are others that have inspired me as well, and I don’t have time to mention everyone, but I wanted to point out that no matter if you are getting comments on your site, or if people are complimenting you in person, or not – know that by sharing your experiences of success and failure you are adding to a collective thought – we can all succeed at this diet. We simply need to learn from each other, and be inspired by one another.