One more bite, one more drink, one more snack. 10,000 little sins, year after year. Then tragedy strikes. You get fat.

I have a theory about weight loss efforts. It was a lifestyle change that gets people to the point of being overweight. It will take a lifestyle change to reduce weight and improve health.

See what a college education can do to one's thinking processes? See the obvious, state the obvious.

In general, Americans are overweight. How did we get that way? What can we do to reduce weight and improve health?

Here's another one of my theories: we got that way because of 10,000 little sins. Think about it. Over the years of adulthood we work hard, play hard, indulge ourselves, treat ourselves.

Day after day, morning to night, it's the same thing. One more bite, yet another drink, just one more snack. Repeat. Rinse. 10,000 little sins.

I'm probably not accurate with 10,000, but it's a nice, round number that's easier to remember. If getting fat means three extra bites per meal per day, three snacks per day, and two extra drinks of anything that's not good for us, the number climbs over the years.

Those little sins add up. That's eight little sins a day, 365 days per year, or nearly 3,000 a year. Make it a 10 year journey to Fat City and you're looking at 30,000 little sins. The extra pounds add up, one bite at a time.

How does one reduce weight and improve health? Reverse the process. It'll take 10,000 (or 30,000-- your mileage may vary) good steps to get yourself where you want, maybe more to get where you once were.

It's not a diet so much as it is a lifestyle change. Fewer bites, fewer indulgences, fewer extra drinks. Add to those steps more walking, more exercising, more sweat. Wax on, wax off.

I have an corollary to the Little Sins theory. If it took 10,000 little sins to get where you are today, it will take 20,000 little steps to get where you once were.

Do the math. If it took 30,000 little sins to get where you are today...