My sister told me, probably 15 years ago, about this diet she was trying that seemed to be working. It involved cutting out carbohydrates, and she even gave me a book about it.

She did lose weight on it, and the last time I saw her, she was keeping it off.

But I didn't have time for it, and was skeptical about it, as well as many other fad diets.

Besides, I believed the official line, that diet and exercise were the key to better health.

Meanwhile, the doughnuts kept calling, and the pounds kept creeping on.

Finally, with the help of my wife, I cut out a lot of the bread, pasta and sugar, eating more vegetables, and began taking regular trips to the YMCA or a walking route around the fairgrounds.

And sure enough, the scale began showing lower numbers, and I began wishing I hadn't cleared the closet of some of the old clothes I had "outgrown."

Jack Rogers, my predecessor as editor of the Gazette, said a doctor told him you should never weigh more than you did when you were 19 years old. Another 20 pounds, and I'll be there, but only if I don't slack off the effort.

Low carb? Diet and exercise? Turns out, they're both right.

It all comes down to changing your lifestyle, which takes a definite commitment, but will pay off in the long run.

My daughter's teacher, Darcy Johnson, recently found out just how rewarding a change in lifestyle can be.

Her father, Terry Johnson of Ogallala, recently took Darcy and four other members of their immediate family to Europe. Only after they arrived did he explain the rest of the story. When he quit smoking eight years ago, he began to save the money he didn't spend on tobacco, and that's what financed the trip. Since he is a CPA, I'll bet he included the interest on the savings as well. That doesn't count the value of staying healthy enough to enjoy a trip to Europe with his family.

If only his daughter wouldn't have given some of that delicious Swiss chocolate to one of her friends with a dieting husband.

Even the cat seems to be getting into the act. When he hears me rattle the chain on a laser pointer, he's ready for his morning workout, chasing the light around the bedroom. The mistress of the house, however, doesn't seem to appreciate a wakeup pounce, prompted by a carefully directed beam of light.

This exercise thing can only go so far.