[Ronin]

Hi Bigpete!

Welcome to the club you never wanted to join. You are lucky to have caught the condition during the warning phase. Your personal description says that you already know you have difficulties and that the process of regaining your health is going to take time.

Weight loss is quite difficult and it is also quite simple. Reduce caloric intake so that your body has to use up the stored calories. Right now you are 70 pounds heavier than I was at my max weight (and we're the same height). I dropped 70 pounds you probably need to double my accomplishment. It took a long time and a lot of effort.

The only way to lose weight is a combination of eating modification and exercise. I realize that exercise at 305 pounds can be dangerous if not done with some caution. However, something as simple as a daily walk will use calories and if you manage your eating your body will demand some of the stored calories.

There is one caution -- don't even attempt to starve yourself. The starvation response is bad for you in that your body will try to protect the stored calories if it feels it is about to starve. You need to provide just short of the required calories to meet your targeted weight and then add that daily walk. Simply moving that 305 pounds around takes a lot of energy so the caloric demand will be high.

I used a modified Atkins type of eating to lose weight. I rode a bicycle (actually a tandem) as the exercise part. I also do three BowFlex sessions weekly to develop upper body strength.

Your Blood Glucose (BG) levels should fall as you lose weight and it might be possible to overcome the insulin resistance you are showing.

Daily testing of your BG levels is helpful and well worth the investment in a meter and strips.

The bottom line is that you have to make a decison for the rest of your life. The reward for the effort is a great life, not a big meal. Celebratory food is no longer a reward -- that is backsliding. A nice long walk or other form of activity (once you have strengthened your cardovascular system) will be the reward as well as the cure.

We're here to help as long as you need our assistance. Many of us have changed our lives for the better. It isn't easy but the rewards are great.