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Today is Tuesday February 7 2006, the third day of my weight loss program. Today I am nominating dairy products as the food item that I will not touch. This means that I give up dairy products for today only and will leave a space on my plate where dairy products would go. You may recall that yesterday I decided not to eat any bread.

Overnight the first problem was detected and it concerned my arthritic left ankle becoming extremely painful. So painful that even after taking a fairly strong pain killer I slept for only two to three hours. While I lay awake my mind went over the previous day and I think the problem was self-inflicted. Because I have zero sideways movement on that ankle I have been advised not to walk on uneven surfaces. Where I live, in the Blue Mountains National Park west of Sydney, there are few sidewalks and the ground is very uneven. I think I created the problem by walking on uneven surfaces. But that is no reason to give up, the exercise program requires amending to suit conditions.

- Today started with a much slower walk to pick up my daily paper. I added around and extra quarter mile by walking only where there are sidewalks.

- Breakfast is a glass of orange juice, a toasted bacon sandwich using whole grain bread. Yes, you read correctly, I had a bacon sandwich followed by a banana and a cup of lemon green tea. The great thing about this diet is that you only give up the food that you love one day at a time.

- I didn't feel hungry during the morning and managed to get through to lunch, at 1pm, without thought of food.

- For lunch I had a sandwich of chili chicken, fresh beet (beetroot) and lettuce. Beside it I had about six cherry tomatoes halved and sprinkled with olive oil and chopped basil. A glass of water with a Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar followed because I could feel indigestion starting.

- 3.30pm A cup of lemon green tea and a piece of cake.

- 5pm I started my amended exercise program as follows: First check pulse rate before starting. 2 minutes of stretching exercises until I can comfortably touch the floor with my fingertips without straining hamstrings. 2 minutes of sit-ups. 20 push ups done in groups of five with stretching between. Jogging on the spot on the flat surface of my patio until my pulse increased by 50% from normal.

- 6pm. Dinner is pasta (Penne) in a tomato and vegetable sauce with chunky cut bell peppers (capsicum), zucchini (courgettes), mushrooms and broccoli, with a glass of red wine and a glass of water. Followed by grapes and peach (fresh) for dessert.

- 7pm. About 4 ounces (110 grams) of peanuts because I*m greedy.

- 8.30pm another walk. It has cooled down now and I take a steady ten-minute walk.

Today has been a very easy day, but for those that are doing this with me be aware of serving sizes. Serving too much is the biggest enemy of any weight loss or control program.

This article is copyright * David McCarthy 2006.