People keep telling me that I am just a shadow of my former self. Well, maybe that is true. It is sad that it has taken me getting an incurable disease, at least by today�s standards, to make me loose weight. I have lost a lot of weight, about 70 pounds the last time that I counted. I can tell a big difference, but it has generated a host of new problems.

First, other health considerations. I was once told by a physician that if I lost a lot of weight that I wouldn�t need to take blood pressure pills anymore. Well, here I am, 70 pounds down, and now my blood pressure and pulse are so low that we are worried about my pulse being at 45. Something ain�t right here. One thing to see a doc about.

Next, my voice is changing. What with Peter Jennings having and then dieing of lung cancer, now my wife is worried that I also have lung cancer or something terrible like that, so she wants me to see the doctor. Do you see a trend developing?

My clothes don�t fit. While I have looked forward to this event for years, to have it actually happen has turned into a big headache. Nothing looks good on me, and moreover, a female who is close to me actually described it well when she said I look like I am wearing clown clothes. Things are so big now that I am noticeably in bad taste. The trouble is I don�t want to spend the money to get something newer and smaller.

I have to admit though, in many ways I feel better and look better than I have in a long time. I just would like to loose the rest of it in the right places, rather than keep a lot of my belly, like I seem to be doing right now. I don�t know how much longer I can keep up starving myself. It seems that is what I have to do to loose weight. I have cut my calories way down, and that just seems to be making me stay hungry, not loose a lot of weight. When I try to maintain my weight, I am going to have to eat nothing still.