Nothing simple and yet . . .

When I tell people I have lost 80 pounds they want to know how.

I'm always torn between wondering how much they really want to know and the long and short answers.

The shortest answer is perseverance! Just don't give up no matter how badly you do, or how many times you fail, just keep trying.

The longest answer is intermittent fasting, only eat within an eight hour period every day, and keep the carbs and sugar down to a minimum, which helps type two diabetes and melts belly fat. Plus try to eat lots of vegetables.

The truth is: you have to find what works for you. What foods you love enough to give up the ones with extra carbs and sugar. The times of day you are the hungriest and the times when you really aren't hungry. And the triggers that set off the monster inside that gobbles up everything it can think of.

I'd say a healthy dose of fear too, but honestly that only goes so far. I don't want to lose toes and legs, or be trapped in a chair the rest of my life, so I try to walk between two and four miles a day at a comfortable pace which for me is between 19.5 and 23 minutes per mile. (I started out walking to the trash can and built up to this over a long period of time.)

But I can't say it enough: the main thing is not to quit no matter how bad you did yesterday, or last night, or this morning. Just keep on starting over.