The twelve chapters
This is the story of losing almost 300 pounds, written in 1998 while it was still fresh, in twelve short chapters. Each chapter ends with a link to the next, so the simplest way through is to start at the beginning and keep clicking. This page is the map.
- Chapter 1 · 561 words
Where it starts
Weight Watchers in grade five at 175 pounds, a sunflower-seed habit, and hockey.
- Chapter 2 · 446 words
High school
320 pounds by the time school ended.
- Chapter 3 · 339 words
Driving cab in Edmonton
Nights behind the wheel, and the eating that came with them.
- Chapter 4 · 298 words
Shopping hell
Nothing fit. What it was like to shop for clothes at this size.
- Chapter 5 · 492 words
Same clothes for months
When the clothes that fit are the only clothes you wear.
- Chapter 6 · 137 words
The event, the decision
475 pounds, 21 years old, and a heart that freaked out two nights running. The moment the choice was made.
- Chapter 7 · 502 words
The New Year's resolution
How it all began: the resolution that actually stuck.
- Chapter 8 · 620 words
Food combining
Fit for Life, natural hygiene, and the first change in how the food went in.
- Chapter 9 · 445 words
The houseboating trip, 1990
A week on the water, and what it showed.
- Chapter 10 · 522 words
The mind-body connection
Silva Mind Control and the part of this that happened between the ears.
- Chapter 11 · 370 words
The world of juice
Juicing, and what it did.
- Chapter 12 · 378 words
Vibrant health
Colon health, and where the story arrives.
The 1998 originals
Before the story was split into chapters it was one long page. That page, and two early pieces that were folded into the chapters, are kept at their original addresses because they are among the oldest URLs on this site:
- The whole story on one page — the original single-page version
- New Year's resolution — the early version of chapter 7
- Food combining — the early version of chapter 8