This blog is my confession booth, soapbox and publisher. This is a record past, present and future of my personal journey in becoming a more healthy and spiritually developed individual.

My Story

In 2005, my weight had peaked at 350 pounds. I was overweight, out of shape and running out of time. My blood pressure was 146 and rising. I was constantly afflicted with all manner of illnesses, and my mood was miles below “happy and satisfied”.

Former Fattie
Me – Before (on right)

In tandem to my painful journey of re-education and self-acceptance, I began an anime blog to rant and rail about the subject. The blog, simply titled “The Anime Blog” was and is a direct reflection of my personal growth as a writer and healthy human being.

I’ve accomplished in two and half years the total weight loss of 180 pounds. How did I do it? Surgery? Miracle diet? Gimmicks? Pills? Religion? Nope: anime. Not anime directly, but the roots and influences of the medium.

Am I some sort of anime otaku who miraculously sat on my ass watching TV and had the pounds melt away? Nay, Japanese cuisine, culture, and martial arts have enabled me to develop my own personal, healthy lifestyle which will be around for the rest of my days. Do I really believe anime was responsible for my transformation? Hell no, but it sure helped when all the rest of the world seemed to have given up on me.

Through anime, I was introduced to a few snippets of cuisine and culture. I wanted to know more and dug around the internet for further info. I soon became obsessed with traditional Japanese cuisine, which emphasizes veggies, tofu and fish, and only rarely focuses on beef, pork or chicken. I learned much about the culture in learning about the food.

I learned of goshiki (five colors) one of the principles of Japanese cooking which states to eat red, black, green, yellow and white foods with each meal. I learned “hara hachi bu“: eating until you are 80% full. I learned Japanese versions of Western foods are lower in sugar and fat, but taste light years better. I learned so much I decide I’d apply my knowledge to writing about the subject on my site and for magazines.

This site will chronicle the rest of my travails of losing those last pesky pounds, getting the little details of surgery to take care of the side effects of being 180 pounds overweight for ten years and will be an outlet for posting about a book I plan on writing about how I did what I did.

A Book? Really?

Twice as Tiny
Me – After (on right)

I was pestered about how I lost all the weight by numerous folk. I’d tell em’ not to listen to me since that’s the last thing you should do when you plan on losing weight; follow to the letter what a completely different person did. I loathe all diet books and feel they’re a charlatan’s cheap way of milking desperate people out of their cash.

I was also told by friends and family who were there every step of the way, the book needed to be written for posterity’s sake. I didn’t understand why and kept putting them off. We were all there, we all suffered, we all grew, so why write a book? Humans aren’t equipped to remember pain. And I didn’t want to remember, ever. I was informed I should write all this down to chronicle my achievement, since we were all there, we did all suffer, and did all grow.

So why not just post those past experiences on the site and nuts to the book? No past detailed past doings will be posted here since I feel they need separate and undivided attention to do them justice. I have plenty on my plate and wouldn’t give the past two and half years the care they deserve by blithely tossing them up on the site. I need to remember and re-experience all the crap I’ve had to deal with. Unpleasant that, and totally against the upbeat feel I want to approach the site with. The now is what I’ll be writing about on the site; that’s more than plenty, believe me.

Losing weight is an utterly personal and nigh sacred journey one must make on their own with the outward support of friends and family. I can’t offer anything to anybody which could be interpreted as gospel truth. Sorry, but the only gospel here is that of: “Eat Less, Exercise More.” Yet, if this path was as simple as those four words, we’d all be tiny, vibrant little things. Anything I write in book form would be a much more in depth look at what worked for me. Those principles may or may not work for you. I’m telling you this now: I can’t help you lose weight. But YOU can. I know you can.