How to get motivated

My post today is about getting motivated to do my diet since I am starting today I need to write about how it all started. For years each time we go see our doctor, he have been telling us to lose weight but we have not been consistent. In December Daniel went back to get an ultrasound to check on his liver and the results came to be a fatty liver. It was confirmed that he needs to lose at least 10 to 20 pounds if not more. Daniel and I both need to lose the weight to be healthy and this time is not an option. We thought we would go on a diet as soon as all the birthday celebrations are out of the way.

I was putting a plan together surfing the internet when I cam across a Facebook post from a dear friend: Kent Rappleye and this is what he wrote:

"Happy New Year Everyone! My first post of 2018 is a long one. There have been some who have called or otherwise communicated with me out of concern with pictures they have seen recently and wonder if I have cancer or some other illness. Thank you for your concern. I did have cancer in 2015 (melanoma) but surgery was successful, and so far, all is well. The weight loss in 2017 is a different story. It is the story of my journey over the past 230 days of recovery from sugar addiction. That's right, sugar ADDICTION. I am a sugar addict. 

For decades I have joked about being a chocoholic and sugar addict. However, in August 2016, I hit my all-time high weight of 255 pounds. For my height (5’9”) that has a Body Mass Index (BMI) number of 37.6 which is considered Obesity Level 2, just a few points shy of being morbidly obese! I had high blood pressure, my joints ached, I was recovering from skin cancer, I couldn't hardly bend over to tie my shoes, and a host of other problems. So, Nancy and I tried a cleansing diet we had done three times before and I lost 30 pounds in a few months, only to regain twenty of it back by the end of the year. One year ago today, 1 January 2017, Nancy and I went on a Paleo diet and I lost 20 pounds, but I soon gained it all back. I felt like I was in a no-win situation. I had been trying to lose weight and keep it off for a couple of decades and could lose, but then promptly gained it all back. I was all but resigned to accept my fate of being obese. 

Fast forward to April 2017. One night I had a phone conversation with one of my dear friends and former seminary students (Leon Stevens) from over 30 years ago. He told me of a program his wife Becki had found called Bright Line Eating. It was developed by a cognitive brain scientist out of Rochester University in upstate New York. Leon is a rocket scientist (literally) and when his wife kept talking about the science involved in her program, he decided he should take a look at the science behind it. He told me the science checked out, and so, on his recommendation, I bought the book, Bright Line Eating, which had just been published in March 2017, and began to read.

Nancy and I had a trip to Europe with our youngest son Jacob the first part of May, and I read the book and told Nancy that I thought it was something I should do when we returned home. Nancy was very supportive and said that if we were going to do it, we would start on the way home. I just didn't realize that Nancy took it literally, and we actually started 17 May 2017 when we flew from Utah back home to New York. From that day to this, I am 230 days clean. I have lost over 90 pounds in that time period. I am at my high school weight and am learning to adjust to the new me. 

Let me just pause here and say that I owe all my success in what I have accomplished to my wife Nancy. She is NOT addicted to sugar. She can take it or leave it. She chose to eat this way with me to support me. She continued eating this way even when she was visiting her parents in Seattle and didn't have to follow this program. Of course, she has also benefited by losing 45 pounds so far but an even greater benefit for her has been that she has not had one drop of acid reflux since starting this program, which she has suffered with since she got pregnant with our first son Joseph, who was born in 1981 - 36 years ago. There is no way I could have made it without Nancy. She literally has given me my life back! I love you, Nancy! Thank you!

People often ask if I will eat like this for the rest of my life, and I answer that an addict cannot think that far into the future. An addict can only look at one day at a time. My mantra is, “My food is enough, and for today, this is what I am going to eat.” It is a day by day experience.

Here is what is involved in Bright Line Eating. A Bright Line is a line that you don’t cross, no matter what. There are four of them. They are:

1. No sugar. Period. Of any kind. Not only is there no sugar, but no sweetener of any kind, natural OR artificial. That means no honey, agave, maple syrup, aspartame, saccharine, truvia, stevia, etc. (There is one exception: if the sugar or sweetener is NOT in the first three ingredients, it may be okay. You must determine whether or not it is triggering for you.)

2. No flour. Period. Of any kind. This doesn’t apply just to wheat flour. No rice flour, sweet potato flour, cornstarch, corn flour, coconut flour, etc. (The same exception applies to flour, that it may be okay for you to eat as long as it is NOT listed in the first three ingredients.)
3. Three meals a day. Period. NO SNACKING. No BLTs either, meaning no Bites, no Licks, no Tastes. Meals should be eaten four to six hours apart.

4. Measured quantities. You measure everything. When it says 6 ounces of vegetables, it means 6.0 ounces. Not 6.1 or some other decimal. This is to help your integrity with yourself. If you say, “oh, 6.1 is close enough,” then tomorrow 6.2 will be close enough, then 6.7, etc. until you no longer keep the quantities in line, and you "fall off the wagon."

I am so grateful to have made it this far. Thank you Nancy for making it possible to complete. Thank you Leon and Becki for telling me about this program and helping me to get started. Thank you to all of you who have been concerned and those who have been supportive. 

I know a lot of people start the New Year wanting to lose weight. This is NOT a diet and weight loss program. It is a program to rewire your brain to control addiction to sugar. It will NOT work unless you are ready to make a change. It is NOT about will power. It is about changing the way you think about food. I am happy to help anyone who is interested. Just let me know.

If you are interested in more information, you can find it at brightlineeating.com. For fun, you ought to go to the website and take the susceptibility test and see how addicted to sugar you are. For comparison's sake, I am a 9+ almost a 10 and Nancy is a 5."

Sounds familiar. this is us and this is exactly what we need. I am buying the book and will tell my sisters about it too. This came right when we needed it and for this I am so thankful!

Con amor,

Vero