I didn’t want to post in the success area until I reached my goal, but today officially marks my 3 year anniversary of my new lifestyle, and my daughter said it will help inspire others. This time 3 years ago I was leaving the hospital with the determination to get healthy and be a bigger part of my daughters’ lives. For too long my health made me an empty seat. It has been a long, hard, and lonely road, but I can honestly say, I never looked back and never faltered. I wanted to get healthier more than anything, because that meant being there for my family as much as possible. I read and researched as much as I could about eating healthy. In my case, diet was the only way I could loose weight and get healthy, because working out was not an option due to a serious issue with one of my legs. To everyone reading this, know that a clean diet is the key to being healthy. Every pound I lost was from diet alone. I’m not saying this is an easy lifestyle, I’m saying it’s the best lifestyle IMO. There are plenty of people that say, they can eat this and that everyday and still loose weight, but yet are they getting healthier? Just because you loose weight doesn’t make you healthy. I understand stopping the crappy food isn’t easy, we are going against a lifetime of eating a certain way. In many cases, food is our addiction. With our addiction, we can’t just quit it, we have to smell it, touch it, taste it, and consume it everyday, just to survive. I’m not saying give everything you want up. I have cravings bad, but I get over them by having a few bites. Like when my daughters get French Fries, I’ll steal 5 or so from them, or I’ll grab a few Pringles, just enough to take the edge off. If I don’t, I find myself fixated on my latest craving. I’ll stare at it, and loose myself in the though of eating it, much like a dog begging. I also allow myself to splurge on holidays, one meal of calorie and carb overload won’t make you fat, just like one salad won’t help you get healthy. Just remember this is to get healthy not a punishment. Moderation really is the key. When I left that hospital 3 years ago, I had a handful of prescriptions that I had to take 3 times a day. It took 2 1/2 years, but I am off all my meds, and I owe it to a clean diet. I eat lean proteins, healthy fats, lots of raw veggies, half my body weigh in ounces of water almost everyday, and I keep my carbs low. Not Atkins low, but lower. Carbs are great for long distant runners, but not my big ol butt. It takes longer for carbs to break down, so it takes longer for our body to go into Ketosis. Trust me, it is so worth every sacrifice you make to get healthy. It may be 80% diet, and 20% exercise, but it’s 100% mental. I would wish you all good luck in your journey, but luck has nothing to do with it. You need strength, and with that, stay strong and never give up.