My Simple Start

About 10 or so years ago, I sat in a doctor's office in Silver Spring, MD.  The doctor looked at my numbers and said, "Guess what one thing I am most concerned about?"  I said, "My weight."  I was right.

Instead of chastising or lecturing me, he asked me a simple question, "Why do you think the grandparents of our grandparents rarely had to worry about cholesterol, heart disease and all these other problems we have to worry about today."  I thought about it for a moment.  "Well, I suppose they only ate fresh, whole foods that they cooked at home."

"Why do you think we have to worry about all these problems now?"  He asked

"Processed junk."  I replied.


I gave up fast food after that meeting.  I used to eat out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner regularly; not every day, but way too often.  The important part is that the only change in my lifestyle that I changed was the fast food.  I ate breakfast at home, I brought lunch to work, and ate most dinners at home.  I still went out, but more like once, maybe twice a week.  One month later, I went back to the doctor with a sinus infection.

Minus 16 pounds.  One month prior I was 286 pounds, now 270.  The ONLY thing I did differently was gave up fast food.  16 pounds in one month.


I struggled with weight for years after that, even attempted and failed at two marathons- I had even been down in the 215 pound range before ballooning back to 276 pounds.  Then my son was born in 2007.

My wife, wanting to shed the baby weight asked if we could do Hip Hop Abs together after seeing the infomercial on TV the night prior.  I reluctantly agreed, saying that I would never admit to doing the program unless it really worked.  We made it our Lenten discipline and started in February 2008.  We stuck to the suggested foods and with the exercise program.  The weight just melted off.  We went to level 2, then level 3 and I was back down to the 215 pound range by May 2008.

That's when I started running again.  I told myself that if I could run nonstop for 20 minutes, then I would be happy.  30 minutes later, I was still running and ecstatic.  Even when I attempted the prior two marathons, I was run/walking... I had never run longer than 20 minutes without walking up to that point.

My weight continued to drop until finally, I broke 200 pounds.  I hadn't been below 200 pounds since high school, and now I was running regularly.  I decided to try a marathon again, so I signed up for the Harrisburg marathon in November 2009; I also signed up for the Harrisburg Half marathon in September 2009 as a tune up.  I finished the half in 2h 4m and the full marathon in 5h 8m.  At mile 22, I decided I never wanted to attempt another marathon.

Never make decisions about future races after mile 20.

Now with the marathon monkey off my back, I looked forward to my new life, new wardrobe, etc... then that dadburn marathon bug hit again...  the 10th anniversary of the Baltimore marathon was approaching... that was my first failed marathon (the inaugural Baltimore marathon).

I finished the Harrisburg Half in 2010 in 1h 46m and Baltimore 2010 in 4h 6m.

I then finished the Bird in Hand Half Marathon in 2011 in 1h 52m and the Columbus, OH marathon in 2011 in 4h 1m and am now in training for the Shamrock Marathon in March, 2012 in VA Beach.

I have kept the weight off for 3 years; I cook practically every meal with whole foods, lean proteins, and mostly organic/all natural ingredients.  I love chocolate and have a bit of a sweet tooth.  I have real butter in the house, make my own bread with only 4 ingredients, and eat out about once or twice a week.    The only fast food I eat is Chipotle, Subway, and on rare occasions Chic-fil-a.  The one big thing that I've been able to practically cut completely is corn in the form of corn syrup, and by products that most people don't realize are corn derivatives.

I am not better than any person on this planet.  I used to walk the mile in gym class and couldn't cook TV dinners.  I have overheard in the last two weeks a number of people say that this lifestyle is hard and that cutting these foods out is almost impossible.

That is just not true... it takes just a little work learning what to look for and learning some very basic cooking techniques, then everything just falls into place.  I don't live anywhere near some boutique grocery store packed with all natural/organic ingredients, and I don't have an unlimited supply of money, but I know that with a little extra searching and some sacrifice, it's no where near as hard as some believe it is.

I decided to write this blog, because I thought it would help those who want help living better.  You don't have to be a runner to appreciate this, you just need to have a desire to live a healthier life.  I hope this helps!