I'm reluctant to tell you that I've lost 31 pounds since Jan. 1, 2006, for a variety of reasons. I'm worried I can't keep it off. I don't want you to think I'm bragging. I don't want to become another journalist who obsesses in print about his/her diet and exercise plan. Also, I don't have a clue re: how much more weight I want to lose. I'm caught in an in-between phase in which my nice old clothes (which my wife piled in front of our bedroom closet) don't fit. And I don't want to commit to another size for fear those clothes will be outdated soon, too. I don't want to be a bore. But I want to suggest a way to lose weight and trim up that's gradual and as good as any fast fix out there. I began by walking. I wanted to see if a mid-50something could lose weight without dieting after gradually ballooning to 250 pounds. No matter what the scale said or what the weather was like outside, I set a goal to walk 730 miles last year – or an average of two miles per day. I walked 750 miles. Usually, I walk three miles five times a week. The weight came off slo-o-o-wly. But it came off. Sixteen pounds in 15 months. A pound a month doesn't seem like much. But it is, given enough months. The discipline of walking also prepared me to change my diet after a doctor visit this spring. And – voila – 15 more pounds came off. Now, at 219 and dropping, I weigh less than I have in at least 15 years. I'm telling you this simply to encourage you to take that first step.

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