The Pursuit of Skinniness

A lot of you know that my wife and i have recently been undergoing a lot of changes in our life. Physical changes. Jen has been struggling with her weight her entire life and recently decided to undergo gastric surgery. You can follow her journey on her own blog SuperMom: Loosing It. i hit my highest weight in 2008 and topped the scales at around 235. That may not seem like a lot but on my skinny bony 5' 10" frame it looked like this:

These pics were taken on August 18th 2008. At this point in our lives we decided that enough was enough and we each worked on our diets. Jen and i have always enjoyed whole grains and healthy foods and she is a wonderful cook so we tried to eat healthier and each did our own separate diets. i hate exercise and try to avoid it at all costs but we did try to walk in the evenings for a little while, until it was hot or more important things were happening so we stopped shortly after we started. My attempt at dieting was to eat as little as possible while i was at work, basically starving myself and then try to eat a sensible meal for dinner. i started walking every day during my lunch break as well. i did loose a little weight that way and over a couple of years i got all the way down to around 185. Quite a chore for me but when i started to plateau i got frustrated and so i slowly started cheating until i had gained 10 pounds back.

That brings us up to June 27th 2012 when Jen was about to start her 2 week pre-opp liquid fast. i wanted her to succeed and not have any kind of temptations and also saw her new way of life a great way for me to change permanently as well. A few months before we had watched a documentary together called "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" and i thought it was a great idea for me to do a liquid juice fast similar to the one that Joe Cross did in the movie. He consumed nothing but the juice of raw fruits and veggies for 60 days and completely changed his life. i wanted to support Jen during her fast and not eat things around her that would be tempting for her that she couldn't eat. We already had a juicer and so all i needed was some recipes and fresh veggies. i planned to eat a Nature Valley granola bar for breakfast and lunch (they come two to a package) and then drink my dinner for the two weeks before her surgery and then move on to whole salads and things. Starting at a weight of 195 i juiced every day and lost over 10 pounds during the two weeks.

During those two weeks I had an epiphany. We were all raised in a society that allows the food industry, mainly fast food, to dictate what a healthy serving size is. Even in our "kids meals" that we start eating when we are old enough to chew solid food is way too much food and certainly too many calories. We get used to the standard of what we are served in a plate of food or a "value meal" and even often opt for the super size because it's such a "deal" right? We never question what they are doing to us, how they are creating a nation of food addicts that need their next fix and are powerless to stop ourselves. We don't stop to think that maybe we don't need three huge meals a day and that maybe God didn't design us to require that much food and calories in a day. i and so many others have proven that most people can cut the amount of food they eat each day down by two thirds and still get all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that we need to live very healthy productive lives. The problem is that we have to COMPLETELY change the way we look at what we eat. Not an easy task at all. As a mater of fact it is the hardest thing i've ever had to do in my entire life. Eating healthy every day for the rest of your life is like being an alcoholic working in a brewery or a fish being allergic to water. Temptation is EVERYWHERE!! Every commercial, every movie, every billboard, down every single isle at every stinking store is temptation. You have to change the way you think, erase everything you know about what you need to eat and rewrite it. Not an easy task.

After the two weeks things were a lot easier. i could control my cravings for the first time in forever and i was satisfied with the salad or stir fry i had for diner. i continue to walk at lunch and try to get a few elliptical workouts in a week. Today i am down to 163 and as you can see from the pics below i still have a little work to do and i need to start doing more exercise to tone up that flabby middle and get some muscles on my arms but i am lighter than i was when i graduated high school.

                            

If you are struggling with weight loss and want help feel free to talk to Jen or me about it. We are MORE than willing to help and answer any questions you have for us. Thanks for reading and God bless!

Qeelin