Time was when Mark Keegan was a very physically active and thin guy. He remembers being able to eat whatever he wanted and never gaining a pound. But like most mortals, life and work and family intervened.

 

By Robin Jovanovich

 

Time was when Mark Keegan was a very physically active and thin guy. He remembers being able to eat whatever he wanted and never gaining a pound. But like most mortals, life and work and family intervened. “My exercise was commuting,” said the 47-year-old father of four. “I stopped going to the gym, but my overeating continued unabated. However, I’m a stubborn guy. I had built-in excuses to justify the fact that my clothes no longer fit!”

 

A little over a year ago, Keegan had his moment. He looked at himself in the mirror and didn’t like what he saw. “That night I told my wife Lisa that I was going on a diet. I don’t know how seriously she took my announcement, but I was ready to take up the challenge.”

 

Keegan started weighing himself, something he hadn’t done since college, and eliminating certain foods. “There was no sense in drinking soda, so I switched to Pellegrino. Once I realized I couldn’t eat a lot, I started paying attention to food quality. Now, when we go out to dinner, I’m a new person, focused on selecting and really tasting what I’m eating,” he said.

 

He got more serious about his diet after he read “Salt, Sugar, Fat.” He cut out salt entirely. Likewise the M&M’s. “I now eat watermelon like I used to eat M&M’s, and carrots the way I used to eat chips.”

 

Within a few months, Keegan said all the ailments he had been suffering from or worried about went away on their own. “I’ve seen a tremendous benefit in the way I feel.”

 

His wife Lisa is a vegetarian and has always made healthy meals for the family, but Mark says he’s seeing a positive trickle-down effect of his new diet on the kids.

 

“Losing weight isn’t easy,” said Keegan, who has already lost 40 pounds. “You need the support of family and friends, and luckily I’ve had both. People come up to me and tell me how much better I look and I really appreciate hearing it.” He added, “But the drive has to come from within.”

 

Once Keegan started thinking of himself as a competitor on a field facing a stronger team and ready to take on all challengers, he was on his way to diet victory.

 

Wanting to share his new wisdom with “other stubborn guys who are still operating under the illusion that they can eat what they want,” Keegan wrote a book, “Diet Digest for Dudes.” Available on Amazon, it’s a short, but persuasive guide, and the only diet book anyone ever needs to read.

 

As for Keegan, the Dude Abides Again.