This is the story of Chester's struggle with weight from youth to adulthood. Learn about his weight loss success & how you can follow in his footsteps towards a healthier you!  To read Chester's complete story, refer to the article index below.

Chester's Diet Decision - Weight Loss Plan of Attack

The decision of a lifetime - Chester's lifetime that is. This is the first day of the rest of Chester's Diet Life!  

In life, we must all make decisions.  Some are good decisions, some are bad decisions. When Chester decided to return to a healthier way of life, he knew that to do nothing would lead nowhere. He had everything to lose and nothing to gain.....  

Because Chester wanted to pursue a healthier diet, a healthier way of life, the rewards were great. For one, his odds of living longer have just increased.

Who says that losing is always a bad thing?

On that note let's take a look at Chester's pre-diet life and how he went from bad diet to good diet.

LITTLE CHESTER'S DIET - CHILDHOOD DIET NEEDS

Fifty-two years ago, Chester, bouncing baby boy weighed in at a whopping 10 pounds. Although his parents attributed their son's 'big baby size' to 'running in the family' they would learn later in life that Chester's father was diabetic, and Chester's 'bigger than average size' may have been a very early indicator that he, too, would fall victim to diabetes.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves! Chester has only just arrived in our wonderful, fantasy-filled world - so let's enjoy as he begins to take Baby Diet Steps....

Let's begin with one of the most important areas of Chester's life - his diet. Like all living things, diet affects appearance, health, well-being and performance. Chester's mother weaned him when he was about six months old, then graduated him to soft baby foods. Chester enjoyed a cautious, well-planned, timed daily diet filled with foods listed on the now-famous Food Pyramid.

He enjoyed mashed peas, mashed carrots, mashed beets, mashed meats - and he particularly enjoyed chicken. For dessert, he enjoyed tasty applesauce, mashed bananas and mashed plums. For his first few holidays, his diet did not change. While his parents feasted on goose, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, Chester stayed with his carefully planned daily diet - but that suited him just fine. He was more absorbed in the lights than what went into his mouth....at least until he turned two....

CHESTER'S YOUNG ADULTHOOD DIET YEARS

Diet Migration - Child Dieting Years  to Young Adult Dieting Years

Happy Birthday, Chester! Twenty-one years old with a bright future in the distance. Chester entered college right after high school graduation, and majored in business. Although he held a strong desire to enter the sport's world, he was unfortunately cut last season and felt that it was time to realize that dreams were dreams and reality was reality.

There are many things in life that Chester has grown curious about, including girls, alcohol, smoking and politics. Drugs wasn't much of a lure to him because he'd witnessed what LSD had done to a high school friend, and Chester didn't want the same to happen to him. So drugs were out.

His daily diet was a combination of good diet and evil. He tended to grab on the go, and did a lot of Fast Food dining. Cereal packed on a good twenty-five pounds as it was cheap and convenient. And working part-time at the local burger joint didn't help matters, but at least he got to wear skates to make speedy deliveries to the customers which helped in working off the 'cereal pounds'. He was Burger X's fastest skater.

Whereas Chester's childhood days set the pattern for eating a diet that stemmed from 'food needs' rather than 'food wants', these early years of Chester's adult life will set the pattern for his future dieting wants and desires because he is now aware of what he eats and is aware of setting an eating pattern. 'Food Needs' will have minimal impact on his eating habits or patterns at this point in his life.

CHESTER'S DIET WARDROBE

After Chester's graduated college he began working at a business associated with sport's equipment. His weight was at an all time high and he was quickly approaching mid-life, the time when many diseases - such as heart disease, begin rearing their ugly heads.

The lager Chester got, the tighter his clothes fit. Wearing ties, starched shirts and pressed pants were like being housed in an all day Clothing Prison so Chester recommended that his company switch to a casual attire. His suggestion was applauded by all.

Chester stuck to a standard cotton t-shirt and jeans for work purposes, and when at home he wore sweats in the winter and shorts in the summer with no top.

Summers were not kind and Chester longed for those winter months of cooler weather. Soon, there would be some big changes in Chester's life...

FLOWER POWER - CHESTER'S REFLECTION OF DIET & FITNESS, THE TURNING POINT

Chester stared at the throng of flowers seated in the ribboned containers that were arranged around his Dad's coffin. Mom's unexpected passing last month had taken its toll on Chester's Dad and it hadn't taken long for him to follow her in death.

The doctors told Chester that his Mom's passing had been due to bad genes, and that his Dad's was due to a bad diet and diabetes. His Dad's diabetic factor was uncontrollable to a great extent; his Mom's was not. Whereas his mom had been thin and had carefully monitored her daily diet, she had still succumbed to heart disease.

At this point, Chester realized that he had a double-dose of health woes in his future if he didn't make some savvy Diet Decisions and Diet Changes ASAP.

His parents had only been in their mid 50's - far too young to die.  At this point Chester weighed more than his father had ever weighed. At his last physical, the doctor had detected signs of diabetes and had recommended placing Chester on high blood pressure medication - which Chester had completely ignored. He felt just fine; just a bit overworked. He didn't need any type of medicine at thirty-five for gosh sakes! He was still a very young man. Young people don't get diseases, he thought.

But things would soon change for Chester....

Chester didn't have time to focus on the Diet Promises that he had made to himself after the death of his parents. Rather than watching his diet, he went off the edge with thoughts of Scarlet and Tara, "I'll worry about my diet and my weight tomorrow."

Chester put on so much weight that people in the office became concerned. He looked far too heavy, far too overworked, far too focused on food which was evident at office parties and celebrations. During conferencing events, he was the first and the last to hit the pastry tray. He joked about the amount of food that he ate so that he wouldn't be embarrassed over the fact.

At this point, Chester had put on so much weight that he felt it was useless to even try to lose down to his recommended weight. It appeared that the situation was hopeless.

Gas was an ongoing problem, as was the feeling of being super bloated. He also hated sweating all of the time, even in the chill of winter. But although Chester had aspiration of thinness, he had no idea of where to start.

ADULT CHESTER'S HIGH CALORIE DIET

Chester enjoyed potato chips and hot buttered popcorn when settling into the television in the evenings. Even though he would eat a hefty meal at dinnertime, and even though he wasn't hungry, it was just plain fun to munch while watching television. If the movie was a horror or adventure flick, he generally had to pop two batches. Popcorn can go like a flash when a body gets so involved in the movie that they don't even realize they're eating.

Lunch time generally consisted of Fast Foods on those busy days of Chester's young adult life. He feasted on cheeseburgers and fries most days, and supreme pizza on other days. Dinner time consisted of a gourmet meal prepared by his wife Bertha at home, or he would accompany her to a fine restaurant for her job as restaurant food critic.

One day as Chester topped off a giant soda, he took a gander at the label, then widened his eyes. Although he wasn't schooled in the area of calories, it was common knowledge that a 2,000 calorie diet was considered the 'norm' for the 'average' person. The large bottle of soda contained a whopping 400 calories - and he usually had three to four of these per day! Chester made it a point to get more savvy where food labels were concerned.

Chester had heard that grilling was a good way to cook meat and helped in reducing calories. He went wrong by beginning with the unhealthier cuts of meat such as fatty hamburger, brisket and ribs. By the time that Chester added his homemade bar-b-que sauce to his grilled beef ribs, one slab contained enough calories to sink a minnow bucket.

Chester also grilled vegetables, such as corn on the cob. The unhealthy problem with his grilling rooted from all the butter that he added at the table to the grilled vegetables. What's corn on the cob without a stick of butter wrapped around it, right?.

Sweet tea also spiked up Chester's daily calorie intake to dangerous levels. On any given day, Chester was taking in 4,000 calories more or less and the result impacted his weight scales 'in a big weigh'.

But soon, things would change....

CHESTER'S LOW CALORIE DIET PLAN

Chester knew that because of his diabetes he would need to carefully monitor not only the amount of food that he ate, but the types of food as well. In order to keep his diabetes under control, he would also need to keep his weight within the recommended levels.

Now that Chester had reached his ideal weight, he was seeking ways to keep trim and healthy. He looked into the low carb diet plans, but due to his diabetes, this wasn't a healthy option - nor was counting fat grams. Finally, he decided upon counting calories as a means of maintaining his new weight.

By counting calories, he would still enjoy all of the foods listed on the Food Pyramid, and he could switch-out the lower calorie foods within the same food groups as needed. Sweet.

DIET - BEATING THE HEAT

Right after Chester begin picking up weight several years ago, he also found that he felt much hotter with the additional weight. Almost-always, even in the cold months, he would be covered with sweat after minimal activity. Now that he was losing weight, he noticed that he endured the hotter weather much easier.

It was also easier to breathe, easier to walk, easier to make love - speaking of which, Valentine's Day was just around the corner. How will Chester manage the big chocolate day while dieting? And will Bertha, his wife, stay true to her diet plan? Yes! Call it....Flower Power....

CHESTER'S WEIGHT LOSS SUCCESS

Chester was aware that losing weight was going to take a bit of time. He knew that it had taken time to gain so much weight, and now he was paying the Diet Fiddler.

But he also knew that dieting and weight loss didn't have to be a torturous event. Even without the ability to eat as much as he wanted, of anything that he wanted, Chester was MUCH HAPPIER NOW than he had been when he was so overweight.

He was happier with his looks, his spirits, and of the way that he felt. He realized that he needed to remain focused, and that it would take some time to train himself into thinking about dieting much differently than he had in the past.

GOOD CHESTER'S WEIGHT SCALES:

Chester was at what his doctor considered the perfect weight for his body frame, his age, and his height. Chester's hard work was finally paying off in rich health benefits.

His diabetes was now under control; he no longer needed medication. His blood pressure and cholesterol were also at healthy levels, although the doctor continued with the cholesterol medication for now.

One thing that really helped Chester on his diet plan was keeping a daily diet journal. It helped him to know which foods filled him up more than others; his diet journal was a great tool in helping him both lose and maintain his new weight.

CHESTER'S GOOD TIME DIET

Chester Jr. was so proud of what his dad had accomplished. Because his dad was able to enjoy a more active lifestyle, he was able to take a bigger part in the life of Chester Jr. Because he was losing weight, his spirits were high, his mood cheerful. Chester Jr. decided that when he grew up, he wanted to be just like his healthy dad.

Because Chester was now able to comfortably fit into the car, the family was able to take longer trips. Going to the movies was no longer a problem as Chester was fitting comfortably in the movie seats these days.

The best part? By taking control of his diet and activity level, Chester spared his family much grief.

If you're having difficulty losing weight and find that you just can't do it for yourself, then do it for your family. Spare them the horror of seeing you die due to an illness triggered or caused by excessive weight. It's an image they will carry with them to their own grave. I know because I carry many images that were caused by overweight and obesity. When I saw how my own dad's health was failing, it was enough to make me lose over 100 pounds many, many years ago.

My dad never could beat the sickness of weight gain. It took him almost a month in the hospital on life support before he succumbed to death. It's something that I'll never get over. It just didn't have to be that way.

You may have guessed that the story of Chester is based upon my own dad's struggle with weight gain and diabetes; he also had heart issues as well as kidney issues due to diabetes. And he went blind and almost lost one of his legs due to diabetes. In the end, they only had to remove a toe, but even that didn't scare him enough to push away from the table.

I can't stress the importance of losing those extra pounds. While it's fun to eat and just let loose, at one point poor health will catch up. And once it does, it's generally too late to reverse the damage.

Because I grew up in the 1950's and 60's, the story of Chester is based on that era.

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