Month: February 2016

On the left is me in July 2014 at 305 lbs and on the right this morning at 217 lbs.

When I took the photo on the left, I actually thought I looked good and, “Not so big.” Wow.

I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I made it this far. Seeing that I have 43 lbs to go is really on the down-hill slide for me in terms of reaching my goal. It feels great to be here.

If I’d have kept on eating the way I did five months ago, I’d still be the guy on the left. Sure, he could eat bread and pasta and drink sodas, but he’d be dying soon. His blood sugar was high, he was suffering from fatty liver, and his eye sight was failing. He was beginning to experience nerve damage in his feet, and he had to hold his breath to tie his shoes because his stomach was so big.

Now? All those things are in the past. Literally every one of them. I marveled this morning how I could tie my shoes as I bent over and could breathe the whole time. My blood test results are great, and I feel more energetic and youthful. At 48, I feel like I did in my late 20’s, and that’s no exaggeration.

I’ve been there before; seeing someone else make progress in a short period of time and wondering if I could have been there, too, had I only started. That is the hard part; starting.

The best advice I can give about this is just dive in and do it. Don’t look back. Don’t consider the bad foods in your refrigerator or pantry; just get rid of them. Just start. It’s the best thing my wife and I ever did, and I can’t ever see going back to being the guy on the left. Never again.

I hear that often from many people with whom I discuss my weight loss. It seems that self-control, motivation, and desire to be healthy and/or to lose weight loses out to short-term gratification. I talk to so many people who are miserable at their weight or unhappy with their declining health, yet they are unwilling to make choices that would preclude certain items from their diet.

Look, I never said it was easy. Heck, I think I’ve said more than a few times in previous posts that it’s hard work. However, I think that it really has to do with your mindset and what  you are willing to do.

Let’s take delicious foods that I can no longer eat. Spaghetti. Ravioli. Lasagna. You see where I’m going with this. All of those are super bad for me, and well, everyone else, too. Pasta is the “Debil!” I had to change how I looked at pasta: it’s a no-go. Ever. It wasn’t something I could “cheat” or eat every now and then. It’s not even something I will eat once I’m at my target healthy weight. It’s off-limits forever. Will I miss it? Absolutely. However, here’s the little trick I learned and it’s been working well for me: for every food I can no longer eat or have, there are hundreds or even thousands that are just as good or better for me, and in some cases, there are alternatives that while not wholly healthy, are healthier.

Paleo chocolate cake. Seriously. It’s amazing.

There are so many great foods out there that have healthy ingredients with no added sugar that I no longer miss the “bad” foods. Heck, Sherry even found a bread that we can have that is made with cashew butter instead of wheat. It is really good!

I will never find a 1:1 replacement for pasta. I don’t think it’s really possible, so for that reason alone, I’ve given it up. Forever. It’s drastic, but it works for me. In place of pasta, I eat many other foods that are super-delicious and healthy for me. Eating meals that taste great goes a long way toward making the tough decisions easier and it makes it easier to stick with a healthy eating plan. Eating the same salad or baked chicken breast day after day would kill me, and I’d have been back to eating horribly months ago.

Current weight: 219.1: 70.8 lbs lost. It’s a little slower in the past week than I’d like, but I lost another inch or two off my waist, so I’m not complaining. It’s not all about weight; I have to remind myself of that sometimes.

No. No, no, no, no, NO!

I know people who tell me they couldn’t do what I’m doing because they don’t like to eat salads and baked chicken all the time. Well, I don’t like that either, and honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had salad and grilled chicken (three or four weeks ago, maybe?).

Eating right doesn’t mean eating salad all the time. Eating right doesn’t limit your meat options to just baked chicken.

I eat bacon, steak, eggs, ribs, brisket, sausage, shrimp, fish, crabs, lobster, pork, and chicken for meat. My veggies include (but are not limited to) asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, and more. I eat salad typically when we go to a restaurant and they offer some. That’s about it.

You don’t have to deny yourself good food or variety to eat right. That’s ludicrous. Just stay away from carbs and sugar and you’ll be well on your way to being healthier and losing weight (if that’s what you’re in for).