1 person dead from Swine Flu in the US ...Meanwhile another 5,769 people have died from obesity in the past week.

Maybe it's time to lay off the chalupas, folks.

C'mon, Fellow Fatties - We don't have to be statistics.

According to: Wrong Diagnosis

Deaths from Obesity: 300,000 premature deaths associated with obesity annually (CDC)

Death rate extrapolations for USA for Obesity: 300,000 per year, 25,000 per month, 5,769 per week, 821 per day, 34 per hour. Note: this automatic extrapolation calculation uses the deaths statistic: 300,000 premature deaths associated with obesity annually (CDC)

Most studies show an increase in mortality rate associated with obesity (BMI 30). Obese individuals have a 50-100 percent increased risk of death from all causes, compared with normal-weight individuals (BMI 20-25). Most of the increased risk is due to cardiovascular causes.

April 30 - 6.6 Down this Month

And so ends another month. I lost 6.6 lbs, bringing me ever closer to that 180 lb goal. The top chart is total weight loss on SnapItFatty. The bottom chart is April's progress.

It just struck me - for years, no YEARS, I've dreamed about being 180 lbs again. At best, I would drop 5 - 8 lbs. I never thought that I'd get to this place again.

Here's the Breakdown:

• April 30 - 187.2 lbs
• April 29 - 187.8 lbs
• April 26 - 186.8 lbs
• April 27 - 189.2 lbs
• April 24 - 187.8 lbs
• April 23 - 188.2 lbs
• April 22 - 186.2 lbs
• April 21 - 184.6 lbs
• April 20 - 186.8 lbs
• April 19 - 187.0 lbs
• April 18 - 188.4 lbs
• April 17 - 188.6 lbs
• April 16 - 188.2 lbs
• April 15 - 189.4 lbs
• April 14 - 188.6. lbs
• April 13 - 189.6 lbs
• April 12 - 189.2 lbs
• April 11 - 188.8 lbs
• April 10 - 186.0 lbs
• April 9 - 188.8 lbs
• April 8 - 190.8 lbs
• April 7 - 191.2 lbs
• April 6 - 189.4 lbs
• April 5 - 190.8 lbs
• Aprl 4 - 191.0 lbs
• April 3 - 192.2 lbs
• April 2 - 192.0 lbs
• April 1 - 193.8 lbs

April 29 - Already?!

Has another month slipped by?! Holy cow! Considering I've been losing 10lbs a month on average, I'm way behind the curve for April. That's OK. As of this morn, I'm holding at 6lbs down. With fewer than 10 lbs to go, I'm not sweating it.

Breakfast - Coffee. Flax Oil Gel Tab.

Lunch - Leftover meatloaf. Made in the Convection oven so that the potatoes and meatloaf got that wonderful "crusty" layer..yum.

Dinner - Spinach Salad.

Dessert - Jeff. No, not really. That's Jefferson handing me one of the most delicious Russian Tea Cakes I've had. I'm not sure why he felt compelled to bow before me like that. I guess I have that effect on people.

Taste - The chocolate cake a friend had me try. (I liked my Russian Tea Cake better).

April 28 - Must. Stop. Spending.

Just like the over-indulgence with food this past weekend, I've been the same with spending. Chicago gave me an opportunity to buy a rolling camera bag at a great price. Did I really need one? No. I also bought a rolling garment bag. Again - did I really need it? No. Both pieces will make next week's excursion to NY so much easier.

I've also picked up new Avon (got to keep the skin looking good), memory cards for the camera, sync cables for the iPhone, and a host of other little bitty things.

Now that I'm back to cutting calories, maybe it's time to close the wallet as well.

Breakfast - Coffee. Flax Oil. Whatever.

NOM - Coconut Hershey's Kiss. Stupid Delicious. Keep the bag from me. (I only at 1)

Lunch - BLEH! Sweet and Sour Chicken Nugget Hell from "The Chinese Restaurant That Shall Not Be Named".

Dinner - about 1/4 of this delicious meatloaf from The Little Polish Diner in Parma, OH. Fab. 1 dinner roll.

April 28 - This is What I'm Talkin' About, Willis

Saturday and Sunday I walked until I thought I was going to drop. I marched my carcass up and down the streets of Chicago until my shins begged for mercy, and then I walked some more. This morning, I still feel the lingering pains of shin splints for the walking, walking, walking over the last 48 hours.

And yet, when I jumped on the scale this morning, I'm up a couple of pounds. Why? Because, as in the past, I lulled myself into thinking that by "doing all of this extra exercise" I was going to magically burn off that second Auntie Anne's pretzel. That strolling through Nordstrom Rack was going to burn off that huge fritata from breakfast. That power walking Michigan Avenue would make that cookie disappear.

I used to make that mistake when I was teaching fitness classes -- after jumping up and down for an hour, I'd go out to eat a decent sized dinner, chips and a piece of cheesecake.

I have to be honest and say that restricting the number of calories I consume is my best defense. Fewer calories in equals a thinner me. You'll note that at no point have I starved myself - just chose to eat less.

It's back to beans and salads for the week, kids!

Breakfast - Coffee. Flax Oil Gel Tab

Lunch - Spinach Salad.

Dinner - Black Beans w/some cheese.

April 26 - Sunday in the City

I adore Chicago. Got to find a way to get there more often.

Breakfast - At Nookie's with Tony. A Gruyere, mushroom and bacon fritata, wheat toast. Ate 2/3 of the fritata.

Late Dinner - Yogurt. Cheese plate from the airport.

Snack - I'm weak. I got Aunt Anne's pretzels. 2 of them. (But only ate 1.5 of them.)

April 25 - In the Windy City

It's 8am and the sun is trying to peek out. There's rain forecasted, but I have a day of shopping in front of me. No scale in the bathroom, so I'll have to trust my intuition with food. Just because I'm out of town for the weekend doesn't give me permission to lose control.

Hotel coffee isn't the best. I'm going to hit the shower and then hit the streets.

Breakfast - Starbucks coffee (not a fave). Bagel. I don't know why Starbucks can't buy a GD $15 toaster and toast their bagels. They can make coffees that require a PhD, but when it comes to slicing a bagel and shoving it in a toaster, it stymies them.

Lunch - Slow roasted brisket sandwich. A few of the homemade chips. Ate a place called "Encore" next to the theater where Mary Poppins was playing. The cookie came with the check.

Dinner - who could eat after all of that? I had a banana.

April 24 - Good News Weekend

GOOD NEWS: I found my sync cable for my iPhone. And I found the spare. After, of course, I bought two new ones online.

GOOD NEWS: I'm leaving for Chicago this weekend to see a friend in a show, enjoy some shopping and enjoy the Spring weather.

GOOD NEWS: Despite some off-track eating the last couple of days, I'm back down to the 187's.

GOOD NEWS: My passport came yesterday. I can officially go on my trip in July.

GOOD NEWS: The "look book" that I've been working on for Russell Trusso's induction into Bergdorf Goodman is back from the printer and its stunning.

I leave for Chicago after work today. I doubt there will be a scale in my hotel room.

Breafast: Coffee. Gel Tab. Fiber One Kibble. Rice Cakes

Lunch: 1/2 of the Spinach Salad shown. Delicious. (Warm Bacon Dressing)

Snack: Pretzels on the flight to Chicago

Dinner: Got to Chicago late. By 11:15pm, there wasn't much of anything open, so I hit a 7-11 and got some tuna/crackers and some pineapple. It was a better choice than the muffin I was going to get. The label said it was 630 calories!

April 23 - A Day Short

Not sure why I didn't post this morning.

Breakfast - Caramel corn rice cakes and salted almonds. Breakfast of Champions.

Lunch - 2/3 of the chicken/veggies from Damons.

Snack - Mary Janes. Then some more Mary Janes.

Dinner - Late night spinach salad.

April 22 - Ooh. Mah Belleh.

I'm not sure if it's from yesterday's Novocaine or from something else, but my belly is not happy this morning. Started yesterday afternoon and has been just "sour", "icky", and "upset".

I've misplaced my iPhone sync cable and can't get pics off of my phone. I'll update soon.

It was a day of big eating. Epic. Colossal.

Breakfast - Bagel with cream cheese. Real cream cheese

Lunch - 1/2 of this salad. Aside from the chicken and pita it was sorta "bleh."

Snack - 10 MaryJanes. I'll be happy when these things are gone.

Dinner - 3 shredded pork pierogies from Pier W. Spectacular. (I did not eat any of the tempura shrimp that Russ is trying to get me to eat.)

Snack - Coconut cake from Truffles.

April 21 - Do Not Attempt This at Home

Yesterday I didn't eat nearly enough. It was a day of bland eating, so i just didn't want to eat. Now that I'm within a pound of reaching my 50 lb weight loss mark, I'm thinking of also eating lightly today -- just to reach that goal. Call me dumb or an overachiever. At that 50 lb weight loss mark, I will no longer be considered "overweight" by the weight charts and my BMI will be at the high-end of normal. Yes, even after a 50lb weight loss, I'll only be barely "healthy".



Breakfast: Coffee. Gel Tab combo

Lunch: Black beans and cheese.

Dinner: WildFire Salad and 2 dinner rolls with honey from Bob Evans.

April 20 - Rainy Days and Mondays

Well, at least the weekend was sunny.

Breakfast - Coffee. Flax Oil Gel Tab. Rice cakes (yes, rice cakes.)

Lunch - A fairly tasteless salad wrap from a work cafeteria.

Dinner - 2 crab ragoons leftover from Bob's dinner. Left sort of a "bleh" taste in my mouth and didn't really feel the need to eat after that.

April 19 - Woot! No Church!

Mom called this morn. Her belly is a little grumbly, so we're skipping church. That means Bob and I have the day to ourselves. We're heading to Lyndhurst in a bit to go see Eggshelland. We caught the documentary last night, and now we want to go check it out for ourselves.

Breakfast - Cheese/Onion/Pepper Omelet. Toast. Forkful of homefries.

Dinner - Leftover tofu roll.