200 pounds!!!!!

I was going to head line this is a gripe but why, life is pretty good and so much better than the other choice.  I'm back having survived the Sunol Grade which was jammed with slow moving cars at 7:30 tonight, Tahoe bound?  Late to leave work?  Not sure but it was slow.

I had a 4 pm appointment in east San Jose, not a fancy part of town at all but filled with houses being improved.  My little house was a flat top, much like the one we lived in Tracy thanks to Dr. Glover.  The owner was a Vietnamese young man who spent 7 years in a refugee camp somewhere near Vietnam before making it to this country.  He now works for the state, EDD  department and he with his wife have transformed the little place, so cute now.  I was very impressed with them both.  That is the fun of my work, getting to meet really interesting people, hear their stories.  What a life, what a country we have the privilege in living in.

This morning brought me a reward that was huge.  I jumped up at 7 and took the 3.2 mile walk around the lake, the school and the park.  Then I came home, put the oatmeal in to cook and showered.  I could hardly wait to get on the scales and I can't see the readout until I kneel down and look closely since there is steam in the room and my glasses fog up. Today it read 34 and then 200, that right folks, 200 pounds.  Lowest in many years.  I think Nan would have been very proud of this moment.  On the 9th of January I was in the hospital.  That evening I started the new plan when Jason made dinner and I decided I would not eat later in the evening.  I've not had one bite of anything in the evening since that day and now I'm down 26.5 pounds.  I could see the concern about my health in Nikki's eyes that morning and in Jason's eyes later in the day.  It was time to either chose life or just do a slow suicide by doing nothing.  I chose life and now I am following a new plan every day.

1) drink lots of water, more than 8 glasses a day  2) walk three miles every day, no matter what walk
3) eat very small meals, throw away the buns, the wasted carbs, the stuff I only do for taste, eat salads until you love them 4) don't eat anything at night after dinner

Pretty simple plan and for me it has worked, in about 40 days I have dropped 26.5 pounds, my clothes fit now, I need a new belt, I have lots of energy, instead of avoiding projects I look for them, I love movement now, my blood sugar is better, my Coumadin dosage has been reduced, my cough is gone for the first time in years, I'm sleeping great and I hardly feel the cold of this house anymore.

This is not bragging, there is nothing about this that is bragging, this is a huge relief from finally getting back in control of my life having let it go for so long.  Interesting enough I now feel in much better control of daily decisions, I drive better, more carefully, I work much better, things I used to put off are now completed on time.  God finally got His way with some of these bad habits, sure there are more to deal with.  Plus He granted me the chance to meet someone who challenged me in a way I've not been pushed in years and that has been a huge help.  I did not do this alone but it makes being alone much better as I'm no longer depressed or feeling like there is no hope.

Right now I'm searching for a way to reduce my tummy, its still way to big, smaller than it was by several inches but still too big.  Need to work on that and may revive the club membership just so I can work on that.

Thank you Lord for getting my attention through several people and a short stay in the hospital.

Tim