A New Year

First run of the new year..good signs all around!

   

    So, I have tried blogs before...I have also failed horribly before.  But, In this moment, in the early hours of the new year of 2016, I find myself feeling more inclined to get my words out...especially if it reaches 10's of readers!
    Alright, who am I?  Well, i am your average woman that as struggled with her weight for the majority of her life.  A few years ago, when I stepped on a scale that said 311 lbs. I decided that I needed to do something different.  I couldn't go down the path of so many others in my life.  I couldn't have heart attacks and I refused to go through bariatric surgery!  I just like to eat far too much to have it so limited, and I saw the horrible side effects with both my Mother and Sister.
    Mom had her lap band surgery when she was about 60.  I watched my mother struggle with her weight for a long time.  She did everything: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Sweatin' To The Oldies and Deal a Meal, and the list goes on.  She would walk with my Godmother every morning and evening, 4 miles each go.  The weight never came off. Her blood pressure kept going up and up and shortly after her biological sister passed away at about 650 lbs, she decided something had to change.  Well, in my opinion, my mother went from a nice woman that could've started eating plant based to save her life to a crotchety, weight obsessed woman that is more concerned with losing weight than being healthy.  For 16 years now, my mother, due to the surgery, throws up almost everything she eats and has suffered 2 major hernias.  She can no longer walk on her own and has a very low quality of life.
    My sister Mollee had her bariatric surgery about 4 years ago.  I begged my sister to not have it.  I got her a gym membership.  I took her there and gave her workouts that were helping me.  As a chef, I was diving into healthy recipes and wrote her easy recipes that she could make.  She didn't follow any of these things.  She may disagree, but, i think she just wanted to be skinny without having to work that hard.  She was 5'7" and weighed in at about 275 when she had the surgery.  She had a friend that had the surgery with great success.  This friend ate how he was supposed to and worked out.  Well, Mollee didn't.  She dropped about 80 lbs quickly.  She started partying and drinking and she has yet to ever hit a gym.  Well, that's when problems started.  Throwing food up was just the start.  I can't even go into all the gory details of the problems she has had.  Now, at 39 years old, she has been given less than a year to live.  She no longer has a stomach, has scar tissue all throughout her bowels, and has to be on a feeding tube to live.  Now, there is no going back for Mollee.  She has no chance to reverse the problems she is facing.  I am going to lose my sister and it breaks my heart every day.
    I also have 8 brothers.  3 of them are morbidly obese.  One had a quadruple bypass at 45.  Another has had 4-5 heart attacks and is not even 50. Only 2 of my brothers live a somewhat healthy life.
    So, that is a quick and dirty background about me!  I started juicing to lose weight in 2012 (Thanks Joe Cross) and I had some good success.  I lost 33 lbs in 45 days and I was off!!!  I met this beautiful woman, Laura, in August of 2012 and I was smitten immediately.  She said to me after a while that She might like to do a 5k with me some day.  Laura was fit and beautiful and I didn't want this chance to pass me by.  I downloaded Couch to 5k and I was immediately hooked!  I lost another 65 lbs during the C25K program.  I ran my first race in May 2013 and have since run multiple 5k's and 3 half marathons.  Laura and I decided to go on a raw Lenten fast in February of 2015.  We ate raw vegan and drank home made juice for 44 days.  I lost over 30 more lbs.  I got faster and stronger during this time, so I decided that I was never going back to animal products.  I felt to good to live any other way.  and in November 2015, I ran my first FULL MARATHON!!!  Well, I ran 19 miles of it, then I tore my calf.  So I hobbled the last 7.2, but I finished damn it!
    On that day, Laura (Now my beautiful wife...YAY!) and I had both of our families together for a celebration of my accomplishment.  We also surprised everyone with the news that we are expecting a baby!  Laura was just about 12 weeks pregnant and we couldn't wait another moment to spread the news.  Unfortunately, we had a few scares very early in the pregnancy, so Laura hasn't been able to run at all since she got pregnant.  But,we felt like we were in the clear to tell everyone!

    Since that day in November, we have bought a house that we will close on in 2 weeks.  We are moving to of the neighborhood that I have lived in for almost 10 years.  This makes me sad, but, I am excited for this new chapter in our lives...and a bigger house!  So, this morning I went on one of the last few runs that I will have in the 'hood that I love so very much.  It was a 5 mile brisk run down city streets and past mansions.  I decided to slow down and take in everything that I love about my neighborhood.  The trees, the homes, the parallel streets that I know the distance of... Along the way I saw 3 different signs that said, "Joy" "Love" and "Peace."  These are the big 3 for my life right now.  These were the signs that I needed to realize that I am going in to an amazing part of my life.  I am so excited to see where this new year will take me and me family. In the immortal words of my idol, Rich Roll...Peace, Plants!