Does Anyone Have a Match? (Trading Compulsions)

Years ago, Bob Newhart did a great comedy routine concerning Sir Walter Raleigh telephoning from the new world and reporting on tobacco to the Queen of England.

He cleverly told of how the Indians grew the stuff, harvested it, dried it, chopped it up, wrapped it in paper, set fire to it and then went on to inhale the smoke.

I became a self imposed victim of the process at 16 or so and thought that I was "so cool." and yet I came to realize that I was not cool, just stupid. When I was about 28 I smoked my last cigarette, as I realized that my 3-4 pack a day addiction would kill me as it had killed my Mother and Father.

I would like to say that once I removed cigarettes from my life all became just wonderful, but it did not. As a 175 pound smoker, I was transformed into a 230 pound non smoking overeater. My weight has swung up and down from a variety of programs that essentially involved my favorite activities, "force of will and exercise." My "will" was limited, and exercise happened in spurts.

Shortly after starting a nearly 46 year hiatus from smoking (you only stop for sure when you die) I started to gain weight so I began walking and running, and after a couple of years, did at least 6 miles a day. That did for the most part handle my weight problem, but it also killed my knees, and I had to stop running a bit over 20 years ago. In order to contain my weight, I have tried every known weight loss program, and as they say in Alcoholics Anonymous something like "if you work it, it works," and I was unwilling or unable to work it.

The problem with most if not all overweight people is that when the pain of not overeating exceeds the discipline of not eating, YOU are DOOMED unless you change SOMETHING!

I am leaving for New York in a week, and find myself wondering if I can get into any of my "NY clothes" or fit into an economy airline seat.

Suddenly, as though by some divine force (that I don't believe in), an email arrived from a young man that I met years ago named Ken Seiff. His email outlined DietTelevision.com. "A new way to lose weight."

In that I have little to lose other then the 50 pounds that like cigarettes are going to kill me, I will look into the new "program" that Ken and his associates have constructed, and as Nike and others have said and "JUST DO IT."

I have excerpted a good deal of what Ken sent to me along with a link to the program, and I will start it myself today.

"New York, NY - June 25, 2007 - DietTelevision.com (www.DietTelevision.com) today announced the launch of its online weight loss website, which harnesses the wisdom of the crowd and pioneers a new way for people to lose weight and get healthier. The online community is designed for anyone, on any diet or exercise plan, who is trying to lose weight. By aggregating the knowledge and insights of its members, DietTelevision.com can better help individual members reach their goals. This free, new and improved approach is integrated with live support, innovative tracking tools and insights from experts that make losing weight easier...

"DietTelevision.com turns the traditional MySpace and Facebook model of communities about self-promotion on its head, and instead encourages dieters to create profiles that share successes, tips and encouragement in order to help other members lose weight," said Ken Seiff, CEO of DietTelevision.com. "We want DietTelevison.com to become the world's largest and most productive virtual water cooler for people who want to lose weight..."

Teaming Technology Up With Member Insights
DietTelevision.com debuts cutting-edge technology and tools that rely on the wisdom of its community, including the new mobile food tracker that uses voice recognition and lets dieters-on-the-go phone in or text in what they eat for automatic recording in their online food journal. As community members use this technology, the tool will get smarter and more effective."

I am dedicated to giving it a shot, but before starting, I will go the market and buy a double box of Mallomars, along with a quart of low fat milk, and consume it all.

And I wonder why I am overweight.

I often have pondered what would have happened to my weight if I kept smoking, or if Bush had not been elected in 2000. If all else fails, I can always blame my ex wife. Anything other then taking responsibility for what I have done to myself.

I will keep you posted!

Norman Horowitz
Incipient Smoker