Richard Ha writes:

I’m trying to avoid gaining too much weight over the holiday period. But there is just too much good food to avoid it all, and I’m not going to fight it.

Last week I mentioned that Leslie has been very successful with her eating plan. She eats a normal breakfast and lunch, and a pre-planned snack at 10 and 3. Then after a reasonable dinner she does not eat any more—“not even a grape.”

I’m going to follow her plan. To determine how many calories I need to maintain my weight I used an online calorie calculator. For me, approximately 2000 calories is how much I need to eat each day to maintain my present weight.

To lose weight, I need to either eat less or exercise more. My plan is to enjoy 2000 calories per day and then lose weight by exercising.

My son Brian just came back from a year in Iraq. On Tuesday, Chris Seymour, who owns the Hilo Bike Hub, is taking Brian, Rodrigo Romo and myself on a ride on the Kulani mountain bike trails. We’re all looking forward to this ride. And it fits right into my new weight loss plan.

And now I’m going to open a couple gifts and get ready to eat my reasonable Christmas dinner. A very happy holidays to you all.