Tom Gleason and I were buddies in high school. We both were on the wrestling team and graduated together. I kept on-and-off contact with Tom over the years, but was really floored when I recently heard that not only had he read The Fast Food Diet, but that it actually helped him make some major changes in his life.

 

May 2006: Tom Gleason at 230 pounds before starting the Fast Food Diet	12 weeks later: Tom at 205 pounds, with healthy blood pressure

Tom started on the diet weighing 230 pounds with his blood pressure at 148/104. Neither of these are very healthy numbers for a 61-year-old man. He wrote to tell me that my diet was the first one he had ever tried and that he was impressed with his success.

After just eight weeks of following the book's advice, he lost 16 pounds and dropped his blood pressure down to 120/78, which is perfect. He is still going strong. I just heard from him again and his weight is now down to 205.

That's a 25-pound loss in less than four months. And he isn't stopping there. Tom says his original goal was to get down to 200 pounds, but he's so encouraged by his success he's now shooting for 190.

Tom and his wife Margaret never gave up eating fast food or at restaurants, but they did alter what and how they ate. As Tom writes:

"My lifestyle has not changed by using The Fast Food Diet. My goals are within easy reach without killing myself."

He sent me a couple of photos to show his progress. In his "Before" shot, Tom tells me he's wearing a pair of shorts with a 40-inch waist. In the "After" photo, he says he's close to a 36-inch waist. What impresses me more than his weight loss is how healthy he looks in the more recent picture.

Now he has Margaret on the diet, as well as every friend he can influence. They all ask what he's doing differently — and he doesn't hesitate to explain how The Fast Food Diet helped him make the changes.

At the end of his most recent note to me, he closed by saying:

"I want to thank you for showing how a common sense diet and exercise program can be implemented and adhered to without boredom, great expense and complexity. You will hear from me again at a 'lighter' time."

Letters like this from Tom and other people on my diet really touch my heart. I wrote the book especially for people who were put off by the complex calculations and restrictions of most diets. More than 80 million Americans eat fast food every day because it is so convenient and affordable — and there is no way they're going to stop just because some diet guru condemns fast food as "evil."

I want to show people that they can take advantage of the convenience and economy that fast food offers and still be healthy and slim. Regardless of what anyone says to the contrary, it IS possible — and people like Tom Gleason prove it.

If you haven't yet seen a copy of The Fast Food Diet, click here and you can read my Introduction and Chapter One for free. If you like the book enough to want to buy a copy, click here and you can get it from Amazon.com for 32% off the regular bookstore price.

And if The Fast Food Diet helps you make any improvements in your weight and health, I'd like to hear about it. Just e-mail me your story at drsinatra@thefastfooddiet.com and I'll let everyone else know about your success.