And we have a winner!

Someone (without any foreknowledge) finally mentioned my weight loss. I was beginning to think it wasn't going to ever happen.

My theories:
- Weight is a taboo subject.
- The change is subtle and gradual.
- Guys don't talk about weight.

The winner hadn't seen me in a while, so perhaps that helps.

Please, Take My Money!

Free Trial. Hurry, Limited Trial Offers Left. As seen on CNN. Only for people who are serious about losing weight and achieving incredible results!


These scams are everywhere. I even found a website that warns about scams, and then promotes the top three scams. Each product has a different name, but the claims, prices, and terms of conditions are almost identical. And, if you try to navigate away from their pages, each will throw up another last-chance offer. Two of them have the same embedded CBS news report on "Conquering Colon Cancer" that promotes nothing other than getting a colonoscopy.

What will really happen? If you forget about your free trial, the terms which are not listed on any of the website's front pages kick in. You will be charged the full amount for what was sent (~$80, you already paid for shipping), and then sent another bottle at full price. With any luck, you will get both charges before you realize what is happening, putting you out north of $160. And when you try and call their customer service number? Well, imagine how many other suckers are on the phone trying to do the same thing? I spent more than an hour on hold without getting through. You have to call at the very earliest of their "hours of operation".

I immediately called my credit card company to dispute the charges. I filed a complaint with the Oregon Department of Justice, claiming "deceptive advertising practices". I then manged to get through to the company and "cancel" my account draining agreement with them. I did get my money back, more than a month latter, less the $4.95 shipping and handling fee. That is about what it would have cost me to buy some laxative. A small price for a good lesson.

I Got Robbed!

I did. I feel like someone just stole more than $180 dollars from me! I know exactly when it happened. I know exactly who did it. And apparently, what they did was completely legal!

Taking Pennysquezer as an example, I am going to try a cathartic blog about an embarrassing situation. It is also a confession to my bookkeeper before she sees the charges and asks "what the &@#%?"

I saw a product called "Colon Cleanse" from a company named Pure Nutrients on the website I track my weight on. A targeted ad! It will help you loose weight naturally! Fee trial. Just pay $5.95 shipping. I filled out the form, and a week latter, the product arrived. It is all natural, but it is still a laxative and gave me cramps. Not very cleansing. I quit taking them and put it out of my mind.

Imagine my surprise when another bottle showed up a month latter. I had that chilling sinking feeling that I had been had. Looking up my credit card account, I had indeed been billed $5.95. I had also been billed $88 two weeks later, the apparent end of the "free trial", and then $93.95 two weeks after that for the next months supply!

I tried calling the company to stop the robbery, but after twenty minutes on hold, I gave up. I called my credit card company to dispute the charges, but after taking a look at the fine print, and reading some other experience on the web, I don't hold much hope. What they did was legal. I feel angry and violated.

After a total of more than 60 minutes on hold, I got through to the company and canceled my "subscription". I had to call early in the morning to get through. I could hear a call center runing full speed in the background. I guess I'm not the only one. I submitted a complaint to the Oregon Department of Justice. I sent a email to the website that had the ad. I don't know what else to do, except to warn as many people out there as possible. There are robbers out there!

I'm not sure blogging about is going to help me feel better, but at least you've been warned. The only thing that really got cleansed was my wallet!

Doing a 180

It is hard to believe that I am excited to see 180's on the weight scale again. Harder still to believe that I had to loose 10% of my body weight to get there, and that at 185, I would still be considered "overweight"!


I think the "Natural Man" must be quite oblivious to the small changes which lead to being far off course. I'm also working on a "entropy" theory of weight gain, in that a system (fitness/weight) tend to go from order (fit/trim) to disorder (unfit/overweight) unless energy (eating well/exercising) is expended to maintain it. It still needs some work.

I subscribe to the "physics" diet. That is, if you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. You can eat less. You can burn more. I'm trying to do both. Eating so you are not hungry or feel deprived is the real trick. I've been going to Weight Watchers meetings, an admission I would rank up there with being on antidepressants. It provides a convenient way to monitor calories, as well as a support group and positive reinforcement (you can get a round of applause for just showing up). Great Grandma posted a great summary of how it works. The male/female ratio is about 1:20, which would raise some interesting dynamics if I weren't attending with my significant other.

My biggest motivation has been charting my daily weight online (as shown above). It provides rapid feedback as to whether I'm on track or not. I am also enjoying not being so out of breath at the top of the stairs (I work on the third floor now), and feel I have more energy now (even though I work at a desk all day now).

Now, if I could just do a 170!