Have you ever been told you would die shortly if you lived the way you did?

I have.

In February of 2008 I went to the doctor for a checkup. I hated going to the doctor. It was never good news for me. I was not feeling very good at the time. I did not tell my wife this, but I was coughing up blood for no reason. That made me very nervous.

I walked in and the nurse called me from the waiting room. She walked me to the scale where I told her it was not necessary for me to go on it. It went up to 350 pounds. I did not know my exact weight, but I knew I was over 400 pounds at the time. As always, she wrote down “350+” as my weight.

The nurse took my blood pressure which was 160/100. She freaked out a little.

That was normal for me. It is crazy to think that was normal for me as I consider it now. It was high because I was not taking the blood pressure medication they prescribed to me. Nor was I taking the medicine for my cholesterol which was over 300.

The doctor came in and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was coughing up blood and feeling dizzy a lot. He was writing some things down and then asked a couple of questions….

“Are you eating any better than before?”

“No.”

“Are you taking your medication?”

“No.”

That is all he had to ask. After that he told me what I knew, but did not want to hear.

“If you do not change the way you live, you will die shortly. Your blood pressure is high, you are coughing up blood and it just seems like you do not care. You have to make some drastic changes. You need to not only lose weight, but change your life.”

I have heard of people who have heart attacks and still live life like they did before. Only to have another heart attack or die. I did not want to be that person.

I was scared. I asked what the best bet was and he told me to change how I ate. I had to do it fast.

I joined Weight Watchers and started to lose weight. During that time I decided to not only lose weight but change the way I ate. I really limited my processed foods and started to focus more on real ingredients. You know…..fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grains.

That is how I am living my life now. I am not perfect, but I do not have to take the medications I once ignored. I live an active life now and I can go on any scale and know my exact weight.

I also still focus on real foods now. That is why I love Attune and Uncle Sam cereal, which is made of a few simple ingredients. I think that is the key for me. That is how I am going to stay under 400 pounds for the rest of my life.

Be well!

Tony

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