On May 16th, 2003 I quit using the smokeless tobacco
I'd been addicted to for the past twenty years. I
had three days of absolute hell and then it was somewhat
more tolerable. But there were other difficulties.
In the weeks following my decision to quit tobacco I
started putting on weight. Every time I wanted to
dip into a tin of Copenhagen I would jam a handful of
Oreos into my mouth instead. By July 4th my weight
was 215 pounds, up from 195 pounds less than eight weeks
earlier. Even at 195 I'd felt way too heavy, so at
215 I felt like Marlon Brando being rolled out the door
of Red Lobster after closing the place down on
all-you-can-eat shrimp night. With my future
wife's help, I went on the
Atkins diet.
I lost nine pounds in the first seven days without
feeling hungry. By the end of September I'd lost
thirty pounds without any difficulties and without
feeling like I was starving myself. By November
1st I was weighing in at 175 pounds or less every single
day. I have continued to follow the Atkins
Nutritional Approach and as I write this page on April
22, 2005 I am happy to report that my weight this
morning was 171 pounds. I can honestly say that I
really haven't had any serious problems keeping my
weight in check since I first changed the way I eat.
In January 2004 I was promoted to Sergeant at the
Brookfield Police Department:
One of the benefits of being promoted was that I am
now in charge of the Accident Investigation Team, which
I don't mind at all. If there was such a thing as
a full-time accident investigator in our department I'd
be doing all I could to get the job.
In April 2004 I got engaged to a wonderful, funny,
intelligent, beautiful woman. On October 16th,
2004 we got married on the beach at the Sandals Resort
in the Bahamas.
I told her I would update this page so that everyone
would know I was off the market. I really don't
think anyone was on the verge of asking me out, but just
in case someone was, now you know.
