I think it’s important to let you know my history, so you can identify with the sixty years worth of struggles. As I did when reading diet books, I compared the author’s journey with my own. I can’t say how often they were similar. Maybe you will be nodding your head too. As I did with the barrage of statistics, I’ll make this quick.

As a child, I was overweight. Everyone called me chubby. I wore husky sized clothing (that doesn’t even exist anymore). I’m not sure at what age I made the connection between ‘husky’ clothing and the fact that they’re worn by fat people, but I did. I wasn’t obese, mind you, just always heavy. I hung out with a small group of friends on the streets of Revere, Massachusetts, four miles outside of Boston.

I didn’t sit around watching television. I was very active: baseball, football, basketball and I was a junior bowler. You get the idea. I’m sure the reasons for being overweight were my food choices. Of course, how much choice does a child really have, especially when growing up in an Italian household?

I was never fat enough for the other kids to make fun of me—maybe because I was bigger and could kick their butts!—so, fortunately the weight issue never affected me emotionally.

Note from Cindy: I’m not sure teasing from the other kids would’ve made a difference. Rick’s basic personality is one of positivity and self-confidence. When he sets his mind to something, it does not derail him. But I think that’s the key to success in anything—setting your mind to it. Making things work.

Note from Rick: Thank you baby. That is part of the support and encouragement that helps to keep me focused.

My mother was a waitress and in her younger years was considered petite. My father was a big man, not sure if I would have thought of him as fat, but he was 6’1” about 250. My brother was 13 years older than me, so I only heard stories about his high school years and his friends calling him fat, his nickname was PIG.

As I grew older and went to middle school, I was still overweight, but not as bad. Of course, even at that age, girls didn’t show much interest in overweight kids. The thinner boys had t...