RUMOR HAS IT

Rumors remind me of sorry old broken records that scratch, skip and repeat themselves hoping someone will listen to their disharmony and think they're the latest jive from the hip crowd. "Rumor has it..." starts more wars, precedes more broken relationships and causes the stock market to behave irrationally. Rumors change the course of history day after day. Rumor has it I'm writing another book. Where does that come from?

Thing is, dear friends, once a rumor starts there is little one can do to stop it. Sure, I alluded to writing a span of words to compel chubby folks to lose a few pounds, but a book is for, well, author-types who can read, research, locate the local library, spell and knock off the alphabet on the first try. "Brother Iron, Sister Steel" was an accident the same as my curling dumbbells for five years and building eighteen or nineteen-inch biceps. It just happened.

Here's the deal: Laree, my dear wife of thirteen years who's beginning to show promise, has suggested that the book thing is not a bad idea. The title, "Straight Talk For The Overweight," gets to the disturbing point and I've got ten thousand rambling words ready to go. (Gibberish in a glomp, I respectfully call it.) What I need now is some facts, figures, human truths and powerful input from generous folks who are the subject and beneficiaries of this crazy book for changing lives. Let's face it, the trick is not in the gazillion diets out there invented and improvised by look-a-like docs, the cheesy before and after pictures of the ubiquitous Polaroid teams, the glamour infomercials whose focus is on inflated bottoms... er... inflated bottom lines, that is. Ain't it funny how cynical an iron and steel, high protein and low-carb guy can get when you hit him with a mallet?

I need your help, Bombers, lurkers, ground crew, victims and success stories of any and all proportions. We have a vast and generous source of information, examination, exploration, and investigation in the hands of IronOnline newsletter recipients his or her friends. The research at hand is physical but more than that it is psychological, emotional and alive. I want to know what you know and what you are willing to let me know that will help us to help ourselves and others who are mildly affected or appallingly affected by the overweight condition. We constitute a living, breathing, pulsating and inspired collection of warm bodies filled with understanding ready to unbottle itself for everyone's good.

Here's what I've put together, an interview off the top of my head that needs revision, canny elaboration yet limitation so as not to disquiet the timid and less conversational or candid outer space dwellers. Let's go.

[Feel free to complete the questions for your own benefit, however the book, Your Body Revival: Weight Loss Straight Talk, is now complete and available HERE.]

Shortest possible Personal Data:

Male or female? Age. Approximate height/weight/frame.

Sixteen Root Questions:

Approximately how many pounds overweight are you or were you? How long have (had) you been overweight? Pre-teens, teens, post-high school, 20s, 30s...

Was the weight increase slow and sure or abrupt?

What do you consider the causes of or the contributing factors to your overweightedness: Pregnancy, illness, injury or life's busy paths, overwork, psychological predisposition, abuse. Explain if helpful and agreeable.

When did you realize it was a problem, distraction or distress? How long before you actively addressed the issue, and did the problem exacerbate as a result of delayed action? How long have you been dieting, or been guilt-ridden for not dieting?

What steps have you taken-consistently or inconsistently— to overcome the situation? Explain any inconsistency if able.

Diets... History specifics; high protein/low carb, vegetarian, low fat/high carb, starvation diet. Atkins, Body for Life, Pritikin, Cabbage, or other? Were they significant efforts for considerable time? Hit and miss? Yoyo? Did any one work well or appear to have promise?

Exercise... History specifics; walk, jog, weight train, sports, aerobic, dance... How long and what level of input?

Have you sought a doctor's care? Heart health, blood pressure, hyper- or hypo- glycemia, diabetes, thyroid or hormonal dysfunction? Were there medications prescribed? Is (was) your particular overweight condition a complex medical problem involving systemic or chemistry disorder? Treatable?

Other professional care (personal trainer, dietitian, alternative medicine, hypnosis, voodoo...)

Has motivation been an underlying problem in correcting your body composition? Do you care enough to try hard enough to bring balance to your system?

Are lack of discipline and commitment holding you back from proceeding on an intelligent plan to resolve your problem? (Do thoughts of exercise and diet make you nervous and irritable?)

Are you confused by the abundance of mixed information about health and weight loss?

If you were absolutely convinced there was a right plan for you, would you follow it with diligence and confidence to realize its merits? (Hardly, totally, partially, probably not?)

What holds you back? Lack of fortitude... it's not really worth it, no support, who cares? Maybe you think you're not tough enough, it's too late or it's such a common problem that you feel quite normal and almost comfortable. What's the big deal?

There are medical conditions that are chronic or of a severe nature that apparently deny remedy. Don't give up hope. Magnificent things are being done by those who have heart, trusting there is a better life as they with personally grounded devotion press on. God's speed.

Send in your comments that relate to the rumored project even if they stray from the norm thus giving them spin, stall and acceleration. A fond tip of the wings in display of my gratitude.

Dave Draper