36 year old male...

[Aksala]

Although I've never really had high cholesterol or blood pressure...

I've ALWAYS been afraid of dying of heart disease or cancer because everyone in my family is dead by 70 of one of those two...

When I was in highschool I was an athlete...played basketball and baseball in school and basketball year round outside school...When I graduated HS I was probably about 180lbs...maybe 185....

When I was 25 years old I maxed out at 295lbs.....

I didn't understand how my weight just kept going up and up....

What I failed to realize is that I no longer played basketball 20+ hours a week...but still ate all the crap that I did when I was a kid..if not more...

So...at the age of 26 I decided to go on the atkins diet...

It was awesome at first....lost 50lbs the first 3 months and after a little over a year I was down to 213.....but then it stopped...

And then the cravings started......I couldn't control them....

I would buy two ben and jerry's pint sized ice creams and eat them one after another.......every day for like 3 months...it was insane..

Well....eventually my weight "stabilized" and has been about 240-250 for the last 7-8 years.....

For the rest of my life I figured I'd be the fat guy...

Two months ago I saw a link online called "heart attack proof yourself" which was talking about the prevent and reverse heart disease book by Dr. Esselstyn.....

So I hit up amazon and spent the best 10 dollars of my life....

I read the book and called my wife and said....I'm changing the way I eat...she was 100% behind me cause I explained the book to her and she has been worried about me dying when I'm young because everyone of her grandparents lived to be 90+....she didn't wanna be alone at the end of her life...

After reading the book I started searching online for "before and afters" of a low fat vegan diet (keep in mind I never thought about weight loss until I read the book...my whole thing was health..) and alot of "dr. Mcdougall" stuff kept popping up...

So did a little research and found out that the diets that Esselstyn and Mcdougall teach are essentially the same...and this online community is a very helpful place.

So...Anyhow...today makes 25 days since the lifestyle change...

My weight has gone from 247 to 227....so 20 pounds in less than a month...



My energy is off the charts...my stress about my health is 100% gone...I used to be 100% certain that I would never get to enjoy retirement age (I know..sounds like a terrible way to think) and now I imagine us living into our 90s being very active well into our 80s...

Not to mention how regular I am now...I wake up....5 minutes later I have a bowel movement...its awesome...no more straining..

Not to mention my wife decided she was gonna do it also after seeing how it made me feel...and it only took her 2 days to see it.

She is 5'2" to 5'3" depending on what side of the bed she woke up on...and when we started she was 119lbs....

Didn't really expect her to lost much weight but in 2 weeks she was down to 112 and her stomach and butt firmed up..she's 30 years old and still gets pimples sometimes...well not anymore....she's sold...lol...

The craziest thing about it...she could quite possibly get down to 100lbs and be the epitome of health.....

This has been the most important thing that we've ever done for our health...and I gotta tell ya...the prospect of living well past retirement age is a good one..

Bottom line...do it for the health...not for the weight loss...

The weight loss is just a side effect....feeling amazing is the goal.

[nicoles]

How wonderful for you both! Too true, there are so many benefits to this WOE, weight loss is almost secondary

[kirstykay]

Congratulations!! I'm glad you found us! Here's to continued success! Thanks for sharing.

[carollynne]

Congrats to you and the wife. You 2 are on the right path to great health, that is for sure! So cool that she joined you too in this vegan low fat life style. That will really ensure your success.

[Faith in DC]

What a wonderful gift of love you both have shared with eachother. Wanting to live longer, healthier and more active is beautiful. Way to go.

[MixedGrains]

Heh, isn't it nice to finally lose that sick 100% certainty that you'll never live to see a social security check?

[Aksala]

Its crazy how many people reject the notion that this way of life is actually possible...

Its always the same...I don't have the time to eat that way...I couldn't give up meat...I have to have cheese ect...

What they don't understand is that once you get the hang of everything....you save a TON of money...you have a non stop stream of compostable items..and the food actually has more flavor than the S.A.D.

When you eat a salad with dinner every night that is loaded with berries and pineapple and pears ect....then you understand what really fresh and healthy flavor is all about...

Me the wife and our 10 year old son went on a bike ride last saturday and picked blackberries...

We got a full tub of them and that night they were the main ingredients for our weekend smoothies...

And the kid looked up a way to make what he calls fruitsicles by just freezing the smoothies in a popsicle mold..

He was so proud of himself and they were pretty damn good...

He's on board when at home..but its so hard in public schools to make sure he eats healthy...

[HealthyMe2010]

Great story. I wish you the best of health.

[sweetfruitlover]

Yes, I loved reading about how great you feel and that your wife and son are joining in too. You're getting healthy and being such a good influence on them too - it's the best of both worlds. I hope you are continuing to thrive!

[carollynne]

Love reading about your family successes and the bike trip. You have a great son!

[ETeSelle]

Congrats on your quick success and welcome to this great forum! Keep up the good work!

[ETeSelle]

BTW, you say you didn't have cholesterol problems b/f you started--keep in mind, though, that most doctors think that anything under 200 is "OK." It's not, and more than likely you will see your cholesterol drop, so I hope you know your starting numbers! Get retested in 6 mos or so and report back to us!

[StarchBeet]

Don't forget to check your library and good-will type shops if you're low on cash for books.

I love hearing stories about people like you. It does feel so good to have information, acting on the information and discovering such results!!

I'm even happier to hear you because you have the entire family on board and influencing the life of your children just has to feel great.