Sometimes you just plain surarise yourself.

• Author: Atkins, Michael
• Position: PRESIDENT'S NOTE - Column

If you know me, what follows would be the equivalent of me becoming a born again Christian. This is unlikely as I am a once born Unitarian, which is to say, I do not go to the church, but listen to Pete Seeger records occasionally and leaven with classical choral music which often one finds in church. The contradiction, I think, is explained by having a reverence for life, if not necessarily for God, and listening to a choir anywhere is a tribute to the human spirit.

The born again part is this: since I can remember I have eaten meat every day of my life. When I was broke, it was hamburger, and when I was not, it was steak. Yes, there are days of chicken, but they do not compare to my dedication to rare meat. With the love of meat comes the enjoyment of various hard liquors and, of course, a glass of red wine to make sense of it all. Over the years I have loved French bread as something to enjoy with my butter, and for dessert, well, a Costco-sized bowl of ice cream with peanuts would be just fine. Recently an old friend, Peter Goring, introduced me to Greg's Ice Cream in Toronto, which to the best of my knowledge, is the only outlet with the ice cream flavour of burnt marshmallow. It would not surprise you I love burnt marshmallows when they are the real thing which, I think, comes from a custom my mother had which was to make burnt toast. We had no toaster in the early years and so toast on the weekend was burnt over an open burner as if it were a camp fire. I thought this was normal. Happily, there were no fire alarms to annoy but their installation has held me back since.

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It will not surprise you then that after three score and a few years I have some well-earned digestive, problems. Here is the more surprising part.

A few weeks ago I stopped eating sugar. Actually I stopped eating meat as well. Not content, I stopped drinking and also nixed the bread if you are asking. I haven't seen a container of Greg's Ice Cream and peanuts in a month. Last night, I had a dream about a rare New York steak dressed as a Greek Goddess with a side of sauteed mushrooms. I have lost about 25 pounds. This makes people nervous. The other day I put on an old pair of pants I haven't been...