Two years ago, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had surgery. Since then, i've been not very active and gained thirty pounds. I was not that slim when I started either. Recently, I read that obese men (I am 220 pounds and have a BMI of 30) have a far higher chance of cancer recurrance. 

Obese men (who have a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or higher) are three times more likely to have their cancer progress to a more advanced stage than men of normal weight, the study said. They are also three times more likely than non-obese men to have the cancer spread to their bones, and five times more likely to have the cancer spread to other parts of the body.

That made me rethink my diet and my lifestyle. As a baby boomer, I was raised on Wonder Bread, skim milk and frozen TV dinners. With minor excursions during my hippie years, my diet has not varied much from that mold.

But that's over. I am embarking on a lifestyle change. And not a simple one, either. i am going to eat the diet outlined in Rip Esselstyn's book Engine 2 Diet starting today. It is an inspiring book. In addition to a dietary change, I am going to train to do a marathon in June.

You might think that Jeff Nelson's brother would be a confirmed vegetarian but you are wrong. I've dabbled as I indicated earlier but never committed myself fully to good health. With the realization of how I have been jeopardizing my future and my health, I am going to emulate the lifestyle he and Sabrina have dedicated their lives to promoting.

"Real men eat plants," it says on Rip's website. It's time this man got real.