I'm almost 26 years old. Less than a week to go. Normally I'd do the "some point in the future" game. But not this time. The "some point in the future" game is where I assign a date at which I will kick off the whole healthy thing. It might be "as soon as I get a job" or "as soon as I graduate" or "the new year," and of course the perrenial "On my birthday." But this time I've actually started a little early.

I've been preparing for weeks, eating less and less at restaurants, being more picky and health conscious, and avoiding sweets at all costs. But a few days ago I actually launched into a healthy eating plan. The plan is simple, I call it Chicken, Fish, or Vegetable. If the food is a chicken, fish, or vegetable, I can eat it. If it's not one of those three, no way. I don't think this is much of a sacrifice really as I've always enjoyed chicken more than beef. Even at a steakhouse I'd order the cheese and bacon smothered chicken before the prime rib. other than that, I'm starting an exercise plan, and I'm pretty much eliminating as much food from the day as I can. The first few days I only had lunch. Then my stomach readjusted itself so it was no longer use to taking massive quantities of sludge (I use to be able to down a whole pizza if I was in the mood), now one bowl of soup is filling enough for me.

The only tricky part I have yet to encounter is the first desperate hump. The desperate hump is that time in any persons diet, when the Id takes over and demands you cram all sorts of junkies into your body. It's the part of the soul that can't stand restraint, and food restraint for a fat person is very hard to bear. Usually I hit the desperate hump at about a week. I'll go to a mall to see a movie, sit down in the food court afterword and decide to have one good meal. The one good meal turns into one huge meal, followed by several desserts, and several huge meals after that. And then I'm back to square one. I haven't hit the end of week 1 yet, but at least I know it's coming, so this time I'm preparing for it. If I get hungry enough, instead of eating, I'm just going to drive out to Vegas and gamble my food money away. And I really don't want to drive out to Vegas right now, so I think this will keep me motivated to keep myself under control.

Anyway, while I've got you here, I might as well unveil a couple of health websites for the masses. The first is called omega 3 capsules and deals with fish oils. The other one is a vitamin website that sells the Master Formula, or the damage control master formula, more precisely.

In college I weighed 180 pounds. I actually sweated all the way down to 172 at one point, but I don't think I'll ever be that thin again.

Today I weigh 280 pounds. Exactly 100 pounds more than my 'normal' weight. It started in grad school. For the first semester I didn't lose or gain any weight. I was eating fast food and generally unhealthy crap, but I was working 13 hour days lifting and carrying machinery and heavy equipment all day, running to and from places, always on my feet.

Then for the next five semesters (2 years) I sat in a chair and wrote. Or I sat on a couch and watched 144 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or I sat in a chair and played video games. By the time I earned my Master's in writing, I weighed about 240 pounds.

Then I moved out to L.A. and things were looking good. I got a hot internship and exercised during my free time. I worked my way back down to 220, which isn't thin by a long shot, but I could still ask a girl out confidently, not worrying that I'd crush her in bed.

The internship ended, and I went back to my sit/writ/sit/movies/sit/videogames routine. I quickly shot back up to 240 and then beyond to 250. Finally I got a job. It was just a desk job, but I thought it would help the weight problem, I was even working at a nutritional company. But the desk job just added to the sitting, and I didn't change my eating habits, nor make enough time for exercise.

Over the next 8 months I gained the final 30 pounds to put me up at 280 pounds.

And now I'm turning that around. I've made a clear goal to eliminate sugar and carbs from my diet, as well as keeping below 1500 calories per day. I've also committed time to exercising every day. Right now I can't do much, only a few weight lifting machines and 20 minutes on an elyptical treadmill, but at least I'm forming the daily habit.

I know it will be months before I even feel thinner, but I already feel better knowing that I'm finally turning my life around. I'm 25; I don't want to be a fat man when I'm 27, and I don't think I will be.