Over the last couple of years, my weight started to creep up and up. Each year I had to buy new pants and belts as my waistline expanded. With my mid-century birthday approaching I thought I better get back to a more normal weight if I wanted to feel as good as I always had. Plus I love food and eating. For the record I'm six feet tall and now weigh one-hundred-ninety pounds.

I topped out at two-hundred-thirty-five pounds in January 2006. Hoping to take off some weight but not having a defined goal, as well as not wanting it to be overly painful, I laid out some parameters for loosing weight and modified and experimented along the way. I have to say, it has not been difficult, I enjoy feeling better and am not hungry all the time. Here are some tips to take off some weight.

-Don't add salt to anything on your plate. I used to love salt on everything, the more I salted the more I ate. You can use salt in recipes, but look carefully at nutrition labels on foods. I stay away from anything over twenty-percent sodium per serving. Switch to unsalted nuts and chips, you eat less, plus no salt. Almonds are good nuts for your body.

-Forget microwave popcorn. I used to look forward to my nightly bag of microwave popcorn and cola. The popcorn was loaded with salt and the popcorn did a good job of adding the inches. I gave up the ritual. Soda is loaded with sodium.

-Portion size matters. This is no new diet news, but it really does work. Americans eat huge portions of everything. I gradually decreased portion sizes until smaller ones were enough to fill me up.

-Limit fat. I can't take credit for this either, but I did give up cheese, fatty meats (lunch and dinner), and two-percent milk. Now at lunch my sandwich consists of lite mayonnaise on high-fiber bread,1 slice of fat-free lunch meat and sliced cucumbers and mushrooms. Be creative and use vegetables to substitute for fat, they fill you up and are much healthier.

-Be calorie aware. I don't count calories, but I check out caloric content at the store of everything I buy. You'll be amazed once you tune into nutritional labels how you can get up to recommended daily calorie limits by choosing the wrong foods, especially prepared ones.

-I buy reduced sugar and calorie orange juice and eat a sensible breakfast. Whole grain cereal fills you up and is a good source of fiber. You can put fruit on it to sweeten, but stay away from the sugar bowl.

-Find fruits and vegetables you like, and experiment with new ones. I eat half a banana at lunch with my half-veggie sandwich and vegetables with dinner. The rule is five a day for fruits and vegetables. You can work your way up to this.

-At night to replace my microwave popcorn, I make sugar-free jello with low sugar canned fruit cocktail. It fills me up and it's low calorie, plus a quasi portion of fruit. I'm creative mixing flavors that wow my taste buds. If I'm still looking for something to eat, I also keep some fig cookies on hand that provide a fruit/sugar fix.

-Walk. I walk twenty minutes every morning and evening, it is the best thing I've done in my diet jump-start. I feel better mentally, meet some neighbors and exercise in a low-impact way. You have to find some regular form of exercise, and do it a minimum three days a week with no more than three days off between workouts.

-Splurge on week ends. Some days I dream of pizza, and I think that once the weekend comes I can have some (but not a whole pizza). You can't deny yourself things you have a taste for, but make them a goal to achieve once you've made it through five days with your new way of mind-set food and exercise wise.