But I do like to take on unusual physical challenges. I once completed a 92-mile, 4-mountain gran fondo after just four months of training. (I also rode the same event the next year, five months after having a heart attack.) Then I got tired of being “cycling skinny,” decided to see if I could do one of those “actor transforms himself for an action hero role” things, and gained 22 pounds while decreasing my body fat by a couple of percentage points. (While far from an action hero, I did put on a fair bit of muscle.)

Again, I’m not a physician, so try this at your own risk. But it does work.

How do I know?

I shared the following with that audience and then decided to prove to myself it works. In a month I went from 172 to 161 pounds. So if I can lose the weight, you probably can, too … if you want to lose the weight, because it isn’t easy. (But is anything worthwhile ever easy?)

Now let’s get started. Here are two overriding premises: