Hey folks,

I’m back with an update for you all. I know this is a marathon and not a sprint, so I’ve been trying to make little changes instead of trying to make big ones that are doomed to fail. The first thing I did was sit down with my youngest son, who was a Nutrition/Culinary Major and discuss my diet and simple alternatives I could make that would help make the changes I wanted to see. We did that and now we look at lower carb alternatives to common things I eat. I’ve been avoiding a lot of bread when possible and even eating more veggies in place of potatoes, rice or pasta. Little things that have a big effect.

I’m also watching not just what I eat, but what I drink. You don’t really realize how many calories/sugars you take in by drinking until you start paying attention to the labels. I cut soda out of my diet a while back, so I don’t even miss that. But things I thought were “better for me” were nearly as bad. Sports drinks, like Gatorade or Powerade, are loaded with sugars. Now, on a good hot day, it’s tough to beat an ice cold Gatorade, but I’m coming to love the simple taste of clean water. Not bottled water or tap water. We bought a Brita Filter for our sink and I’m so glad we did. I grew up in the country, so I lived on well water. City water always tasted like chlorine to me. I never liked city tap water. Now with the filter, I’m drinking a lot of it and find it quenches my thirst far better than sweet drinks ever did.

I’m starting to experiment with low carb pastas. We love pasta in our house and I can’t imagine cutting it out of my diet completely. I also make a killer homemade pasta sauce. My family loves it. I’m finding that I prefer the flavor of things made from scratch instead of coming from a can. I’m working on limiting/reducing the processed foods that we eat. This will not only affect my health, but the health of my entire family. So, bonus points there. We could all stand to lose some weight, eat healthier, and to exercise more.

An other update I wanted to mention was many of you already know I have a severe back problem. I recently had a procedure called a Spinal Ablation that is supposed to help with the pain. As in, reduce or eliminate it for as much as two years. Well, it’s working. My back pain is down to tolerable levels and I haven’t taken a pain pill in almost 72 hours. To me, that’s incredible. I’m feeling better and with that, comes a desire to get back out onto the trails, to fish, to hunt, to do a lot more outdoors that has been denied to me for a few years now. This couldn’t have come at a better time with my push to lose weight.

Speaking of that, I wanted to share the update. When I started this Journey, I weighed 279.6 pounds. As of a few minutes ago, I weighed 273 pounds. That’s almost 7 pounds in just over a week. It’s not a huge change, but it is progress. That puts me 7 pounds closer to my goal. It feels great to know I’m making a dent in it. I don’t expect it to happen overnight, but I’m happy that I’m noticing the progress. I also feel better. That might be entirely mental, but it’s something. I feel better. I know that the closer I get to the goal of 220 pounds, the better I’ll feel.

Thank you all for the encouragement and support along this journey. Together, we’ll reach that goal.

-DA