End of the diet means tacos for Tony

Two Guys Lose Weight: So long and thanks for all the sushi

By Tony Pierce

Feb. 23, 2011 6:52 AM PT

Los Angeles Times

NOTE: This is a blog about two guys attempting to lose weight over a six-week period. They kicked off their weight-loss “strategies” on Jan. 10.

What began as my boss overhearing me say I wanted to lose 15 pounds by the end of the year saw me losing 13.5 pounds in six weeks. For that I am truly grateful.

I am also thankful to all the people who say I look thinner, to all of those who have said they enjoyed these blog posts, and those who were so outraged at the beginning of all of this -- all of you have motivated me.

I learned a lot.

I learned I ate like a garbage disposal.

I learned my fruit drinks and pop and fried goods were probably going to kill me in a delicious way.

And even though so many people called it a fad diet, the Cookie Diet sure did seem to work.

Now people are saying, to my face, that they don’t think I can keep it off.

Me, Tony Pierce?

King of the world?

What this little experiment allowed me to see was that I really did have control over how my body worked. Even on dates, even at basketball games, even in Las Vegas.

Some people say I wasn’t fully honest about what I ate or didn’t eat. Silly rabbits. Yes, during the first week of the Cookie Diet, I mostly ate cookies, as instructed. And yes I gradually weaned myself from them.

And I still lost weight!

No specially prepared TV dinners found their way into my fridge. There’s no muscle-bound man at some gym somewhere who calls me his client.

For the most part, without a “plan,” Chuckles here tried a variety of paths and ended up in the right place with great results. And the journey continues.

The good news is, yes, I will still be eating better than I did before. And I will also be exercising. But the better news is we have completed our six-week blog posts and will now write just once a month with updates of our weight and health.

To celebrate at work I downed an actual cold beer (instead of a diet soda) and helped send off my boss, Sean Gallagher, as he moves away to London. And then to further celebrate, I downed several cold beers and a margarita at Malo with a half dozen very good friends.

When I started this six weeks ago, I was at 170.5. Today I am at 157. In a month I want to be at 150.

And if I am there, I will allow the stomach that I interviewed last month, to make a reappearance and let you know how I did it.

Until then, bon appetit!