In February 2012, my doctor told me that I had to do something about my weight and smoking. He told me to choose one and stay committed. I was pre-diabetic, and my lifestyle had to change.I didn't know where to start so I picked up some health books and started reading! Everything said to start slowly and make small changes and that would lead to bigger changes and challenges. During the first week I walked twice for 15 minutes. Every week after, I added 5 minutes. I also took away one bad thing in my diet every week and replaced it with one good thing. Every Saturday was my ‘Reward Day’ and I ate anything that I wanted. In my first week I lost 5 pounds. After a month I lost 17 pounds! And after 3 months I had lost 52 pounds!
Glenn had to get a new FAST card since he didn’t resemble his pre-weight loss picture.After 3 months I visited my doctor and he informed me I was no longer pre-diabetic. Within 1 year I lost 115 pounds!
I remember two quotes from Men’s Health magazine that stuck with me. The first quote was, “make the time for exercise or lose that time later with a shorter life”. I believe that was a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Joints in motion stay in motion” was the second quote that was very influential to me since I suffered from arthritis.
2012 was a real turning point because I completed the goals I set for myself. 2013 was also a great year for me as you can see from my list of goals and accomplishments below:
With the New Year upon us many will be thinking about making healthy lifestyle changes. I strongly encourage you to follow through with your goals as it was truly life changing for me. I hope sharing my journey encourages you to start your own journey towards wellness.
RAGBRAI bike ride across IowaWatch for my future posts as I share the next stage in my journey.
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