"I used to be a potato chip fiend. I couldn't get enough of them. I wanted to be buried in a casket filled with my favorite brand. But something quite unexpected happened to me on my way to an early grave."

B&M: Why did you write this book?
RM: People who hadn't seen me in a while would ask, "What happened to you?" I realized they weren't just making conversation; they really wanted to know how I lost so much weight. I couldn't condense two years of experience into a five-minute conversation so it was a natural progression from talking about what happened to writing about it.

Another more potent reason for writing the book was the reaction I observed in people when I told my story. It made me realize that this was a message that had meaning for many people. I was actually surprised by that.

B&M: In brief, what is the book about?
RM: It's a story about how a guy who was once very athletic--I ran 4 - 12 miles a day in college--could balloon up to over 400 pounds. And how I found my way back by adopting a new attitude toward food. The book talks about what I did, what I ate and the methods I used &. I also delve into some of the wider social, political and economic reasons behind why ordinary people are so extraordinarily unhealthy these days.

B&M: The first chapter is & quite frankly, painful to read, but I couldn't put it down. What was it like writing about yourself that way?
RM: You know that dream--the one where it's the last day of college finals and you forgot to study for the tests? Now multiply that by 10! Yeah, that first chapter was rough, but I needed to accomplish two things with it. First, so many books about losing weight and gaining health are written by people who lack first-hand knowledge of what it's like to be morbidly obese. I wanted to make it clear that I've been there and that I can relate to someone who's in a similar situation. There's a lot that even the best experts don't know, simply because they've never been there. I also wanted to convey to people who've never been overweight, what it's really like.

There's a lot of bias against fat people in this country. Most of it is unintentional I believe--people have been taught, incorrectly, that fat people choose to be fat. Obesity becomes a sin of choice in the minds of many. My hope is that after reading chapter 1, no one will ever again think of obesity as a choice. I mean, who in their right mind would choose the life I've described? Once you remove the element of blame, it's easier to not only help someone else improve their health, but to help yourself because sometimes we're our own worst enemy when it comes to playing the blame game.

B&M: Are you saying we aren't responsible for our health? Who is then?
RM: No, that's not what I'm saying. We are all ultimately responsible--more than anyone else, but explain to me how a child is responsible for his health when that child has no say in what foods are available in his household? To a lesser degree, how can you or I be responsible if we don't have access to the truth about the food we eat or the truth about exercise and weight loss? For years we were encouraged to eat foods loaded with harmful trans fats. The existence of these fats has been known for years, but up until recently, this information has essentially been hidden from us. In this type of predatory marketplace, responsibility has to be shared by producers and consumers alike.

Once we realize that the methods we're using to stay healthy simply aren't working, it's our responsibility to ask questions and look for better solutions. When we continue to try the same things--like eating unsatisfying low-fat foods, popping diet pills or exercising ourselves to death in the gym--when we continue to do this, we make a conscious choice to remain ignorant--in effect, ignoring our personal responsibility to be a positive force in our own lives.

Before I changed, my biggest problem was not my weight or my declining health. My biggest problem was the blind trust I had in a healthcare system that was failing me and an unwillingness to do anything about it other than to blame myself for not sticking to the latest diet.

B&M: Speaking of diets, chapter four is very funny. Tell us about it?
RM: Chapter four is called Dieting in the Dark. It's about all the different diets Mary and I tried. The one common element among them is that they all failed. Notice I said that the diets failed. Dieters are some of the hardest working people I know. The consistent failure that most dieters endure comes, not from a lack of effort to improve their condition, but from a fundamental truth regarding the concept of dieting which is that short-term changes in behavior and what you eat, rarely yield long-term results. In other words: diets don't work.

B&M: What about some of the low-carb diets?
RM: Losing weight is actually pretty easy--just stop eating. OK, that's an oversimplification, but generally speaking, any diet that restricts calories will almost certainly result in weight loss. The problem isn't in losing weight, but in not gaining weight. Most people gain back the weight they've lost because diets don't work. This doesn't mean that all diets are all bad. Whether it's low-carb, low-fat, high-protein, whatever, there's probably some useful bit of advice associated with that diet that you can incorporate into a long-term, life-long personalized approach to behavior and eating.

Another serious problem with diets is that they tend to focus on quantity (the number of calories you consume) to the exclusion of quality (the nutritive value of the food you consume). Where your food comes from and how satisfying and nutritious that food is will be critical to your success.

B&M: In the book, you talk about the Total Food Index. What is it?
RM: Much of the advice on healthy eating and especially weight loss includes lists of food, meal plans and recipes. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, but how many times have you adopted an eating plan that included foods that you didn't like, or gave you indigestion or something? When it comes to food, no plan can accurately pin down a list of foods or recipes that is exactly right for you. The T.F.I. is a simple method I devised which helped me to make more accurate decisions about which foods I should eat, which foods I should cut back on and which foods I should cut out of my life for good.

One of the best kept secrets of good nutrition is that you cannot depend on someone else to tell you what to eat. Yes, you can and should consider the advice of your nutritionist or healthy foods guru, but ultimately it is your responsibility to make the final call because you're the one who's going to have to live with this decision for the rest of your life.

B&M: You talked about eliminating some foods for good. This is not something we hear very often. This position is different from the prevailing nutritional advice, which says that any food can be part of a balanced diet. Why do you take such a different approach?
RM: I'm convinced that the word "balanced" in that bit of advice has less to do with nutrition and more to do with balancing the books of the companies that sell us junk food. This message is designed to discourage people from making the kinds of critical decisions they need to make about what they eat. By saying that no food, no matter how unhealthy, is off limits is little more than an institutional advertisement for the food industry.

Soda is a perfect example. If you go to a mall or sporting event, you'll see overweight kids with two-quart sized cups of soda. Soda is a high-calorie, high-sugar beverage that offers no nutritional benefit. The human body has no known physiological requirement for soda, so you'd think it would be safe to say that at the very least, some people should eliminate soda from their diet. But we don't hear this advice. What we hear is that it is OK to continue to drink soda in "moderation." There are even industry-funded studies that "prove" that soda consumption has little connection to weight gain. The same is true for breakfast cereals that are little more than candy.

In this crazy world we live in, you're never going to hear the message of nutritional abstinence. That's why I believe one-third of Americans are classified as obese.

B&M: Asking people to give up their favorite foods is a tall order. Do you really think this message will resonate with readers?
RM: Who said anything about giving up your favorite foods? I used to be a potato chip fiend. I couldn't get enough of them. I wanted to be buried in a casket filled with my favorite brand. But something quite unexpected happened to me on my way to an early grave. I started eating better quality foods and the cravings I once had went away. I believe some of our favorite foods are really just dependencies on salt, sugar and excess glucose in disguise. Once you start meeting your body's nutritional needs with a healthier junk-free diet, those dependencies diminish. In the process, I discovered there were other foods that I loved that came with the added benefit of good nutrition.

I still eat "snack" foods, but these foods are flavorful, healthful and all home-made. I know exactly what's in them.

B&M: We've talked a lot about weight loss, but isn't there more to this book?
RM: Yes. The weight issue comes up quite a bit because it's right there on the surface and it's easy for people to see the difference between where I was and where I am now. I have to say, though, that the weight is really a small part of the transformation I went through. I suffered from sleep apnea--a life threatening disorder, hypertension, and a number of other ills, which I list in the book. They're all gone now. My outlook has changed too. I'm actually happier. I have less fear in my life and I'm willing to take on the kinds of challenges that breed success.

Losing weight is great, but I can't attribute the person I am today to just that. It was the food and the other nine steps for success that I talk about in the book.

B&M: You talk some about your wife and children too, don't you?
RM: Yes. Poor nutrition and health are often a family affair. I say more in the book about Mary because she has her own amazing story to tell. She gained quite a bit of weight after we were married. After changing her diet, she lost more than 50 pounds and saw her blood pressure normalize and no longer needs any medications. She's no longer the woman I married 19 years ago--she's ten times better!

I do mention my children just to make the point that these problems are generational and that you can experience health improvement at any age.

B&M: What do you hope to accomplish with this book?
RM: I hope people will come away from this book with some real questions. You've got to know the questions before you can find the answers. It's that natural curiosity that we're all born with that enables progress. I know there are people out there who have given up on themselves. I want them to know that they do have a future.

B&M: Where can someone buy the book?
RM: You can order online from BreadandMoney.com via a secure transaction or print out an order form and purchase via standard mail order. You can also visit your favorite bookstore and give them the title, author and/or ISBN number and they'll place an order for you.