So, we've lost a lot of weight. Here's what we have done so far.

My hot wife, showing off her hard work!

Over the last year and a half we have been doing one little change at a time until we have achieved a total life re-vamp. Doing it all at once wasn't practical for us. Overwhelming leads to quitting. ;)

On an average day 2 years ago I drank an entire 12 pack of Pepsi a day. I never ate breakfast. For lunch, a frozen meal or something from a can heated up in the microwave. The only large meal of the day was dinner. In between, a little candy or chips for snacks. Often after dinner my wife and I would devour half a box of cookies. We lived like this for years. Progressively increasing portion sizes and soda amounts seemingly without noticing until we reached this point.

After the fire, we had no routine. We had no possessions. We had no stability. For some reason, this inspired us to make these more drastic changes to our lives. We needed something positive to come from that turmoil. We took a good hard look at what mattered. We want to live long, full & fun lives. We just couldn't do that morbidly obese. We wanted to be healthy, not just lose weight.

I still can't believe that is me...

Some of our changes so far have included:
- Swapping vegetable oil for coconut oil.
- Removing soda completely from our lives. I feel that this is the most important change we made for our overall health.
- Drinking the proper amount of water (half your weight in ounces).
- Baking instead of frying, just about everything. If it's fried, it is done so in coconut oil.
- Cutting down on breads. I do not need 2 rolls with dinner!! lol
- Cutting back on and removing beef and pork. More chicken and turkey.
- Juicing (fresh fruits and veggies) for breakfast a couple days a week.
- Family walks, at least 30 mins, at least 4 times a week.
- Nightly body weight workout at home. We do this together. If you have a support partner, it helps!

If you are looking for advice on your journey or tips, here are mine:

Reason #125 to lose the weight:
Our arms go around each other now!

1. There are not miracle products. I know that they work for some people, but not most people and it's rare. More rare than they want you to believe. So, be real with yourself and don't be taken in by those companies. It's a money pit and a self esteem pit.

2. Say something nice to yourself EVERY day. Do it. Losing weight is not a cure all for self esteem issues if you have them. They will travel your journey with you if you let them. Accept yourself now. Appreciate yourself as you change.

3. Drink water. Seriously, it's cheap. It's calorie free. It's good for your body. It helps you lose weight. There really is no logical reason not to. Just drink water.

4. If you are going from an extremely poor food choice lifestyle, like we did, don't try to cram it all in at once. There is no deadline. Don't make it "by this day". Make it about your health, one step at a time. Those fad diets don't work because they aren't a lifelong sustainable change. Lifelong change is how you change for good. You can do it. Just don't give up! When you have a bad day, wake up the next morning, dust yourself off and get back on it. One day, one step, one week at a time.

We have been so excited about all the changes we see in ourselves and each other. We hope that you all have a wonderful and blessed day! Thanks for stopping by.