100 pounds up, down, up and down again
I’ve lost a hundred pounds. About 5 years ago I was the heaviest, I have ever been weighing in at 306 lbs. I was massively obese and my body was very very unhappy with me. I had sleep apnea, I stayed up way to late and generally felt awful.
I felt bad about how I looked and after loosing 100 pounds I felt mad that people used to call me “big guy”. At the time I didn’t think anything of it because I’m also 6'3. After I lost a bunch of weight, I noticed that people were no longer calling me big guy. I was just me. Thats when it occurred to me that my weight was the link. It wasn’t just a reference to my height but more so to the size of my belly. That annoyed me.
After I lost the 100 pounds I felt amazing. I was in this weird state of happiness and over confidence. I felt I could literally do anything. If I had the will power and discipline to lose that much weight, well then surely I had enough of it to achieve anything I wanted in my life. I started searching for business ideas I could execute on. I kept my eyes and my mind open to anything that had potential. I took every chance I got to look for problems that needed solving.
The neighborhood where we lived had an issues with dog poop and owners not cleaning it up. They had got doggy doodoo stations but then realized who is going to take care emptying them and replacing the bags. I was pumped this was it! I was starting a doggy clean up service. (that never happened) Months later, I had my next idea. We should start a consignment shop! And less then 30 days later we were in business.
That was 5 years ago, now I’m back on another journey to lose nearly a 100 pounds. Back around Christmas I was hovering around 295 and none of my clothes fit and then the ones that did were getting tighter. Since then I have lost 14 pounds and I’m feeling good about my progress. This time the journey is different, I’m not just eating better to reach a goal. I’m eating better to change my life. I’ve written previously about my views on how we eat. To clarify, I’m convinced that when we eat a typical American diet, WE LOSE. We consume insane amounts of sugar and gluten. Food that has no business having sugar in it contains sugar. Bread and flour and gluten are consumed at every meal. We are weakening our bodies and causing the illness to ourselves. Cancer is rampant and while it may have nothing to do with what we eat in some cases. Many of us could reduce the chance of getting cancer or prevent it altogether simply by choosing to eat better.
If I can encourage you, take a hard look at what you are eating. Think about how you feel everyday. Do some research and find out for yourself about the link between diet and cancer. Look at the link between diet and disease. What we eat is killing us. That is why I’m taking a long view on my diet, making changes that I will continue for life. I encourage you to do the same.
