Six months ago, I wrote a post about my frustration with weight – the extra 20 pounds I was carrying and the hopelessness I felt trying to figure out how to DO something about it. Today, I am miraculously 18 pounds lighter (maybe a few more if I’m honest about my true starting weight which was 194). Let me tell you about my journey…

Evidence that I was officially the fattest of the four VAN BROEKHUIZEN brothers

After having had some blood work done as part of my regular checkup, I received a call from my doctor’s nurse with my results. She proceeded to inform me, as if we were chatting about the weather, that my results showed I was way too high in several areas I shouldn’t be (including A1C and blood pressure). I had NEVER had a problem with high blood pressure nor that other dreaded number that was a diabetes indicator… Without fanfare the nurse read off my numbers and said the doctor recommended I go on a diabetic diet and see what happens… WHAAAAATTTT????? I felt like my world had just caved in. When such news is delivered shouldn’t there have been someone there to catch me if I fainted, or standing by with a glass of water in case I was feeling woozy, or at the very least, shouldn’t it have been the doctor on the phone sharing this emotional, dramatic and traumatic news? As a true foodie (that’s a person who really LOVES food in all its splendor and glory, not just the hyped up, faddish, need to be sophisticated about food trendsetter), this was a devastating blow. I truly felt a bit betrayed and reacted (as you might expect) as if I had just been given a death sentence. I was determined to prove the doctor, the nurse and medical science wrong – I would get my counts back to the levels of a healthy 25 year old… well at least back to something that does not totally derail my sense of self.

With my mind made up, I decided to cut out all refined sugar products (I pictured all my favorite desserts floating away on a long and endless river), all simple carbohydrates (goodbye white rice, goodbye beautiful artisanal breads, goodbye life…) and red meat (and even though I am not a huge meat eater, I felt an utter sense of loss – no more BBQ ribs, bacon, pork chops). I started reading labels and though I was not counting calories, I monitored my food intake very closely, keeping a daily diary of my morning weight, a summary of what I ate during the day, and whether I went to the gym or not. I would also comment in the title of my entry how I felt about my progress. This all started on October 20, 2017. Here are a few of my comments to myself: “Going in the right direction!” ” “Oops” “Super encouraging results” “Praise God”  “Yay” “It’s working!”  “Too much eating yesterday.”

I’m wearing skinny khakis…

I have to admit, seeing immediate results is an amazing morale booster. After the first two days of this new food plan, I had already lost 3.1 pounds. I would experience steady losses every day for the next several weeks, weighing in each morning after brushing my teeth. I started an exercise routine at the gym – it began with just a day or two a week but noticing that my weigh ins after a gym day would always be better than non-gym days, I stepped that up as well. Now it is not uncommon for me to go to the gym 3-4 times in a week. And I’m enjoying it! I feel so encouraged – the hopelessness that I was feeling when I wrote the “My so-called 600 lb life” post seems to have vanished. I am now, six weeks later, at or below my target weight and am doing my best to firm up and gain some muscle mass back from my years of derelict and unabashed eating and lethargy. I have gotten a really good sense of what I can eat and how it will affect my weight and overall well-being. I feel like I’m so much more in tune with myself and my body. So as I wrote in the title, THERE IS HOPE!

NOTE: I started this program a month before Thanksgiving and two months before Christmas. I figure if I can make it work during these challenging months, I can make it work FOREVER!