I Lost 20 Pounds and Six Inches in Four Months with W.I.N.

Four months ago, I began a battle to conquer my bulge. I weigh 290 pounds. My waist size was 54. I am 6'0" tall. Those numbers gave me an outlanding Body Mass Index. I did very little exercise because I just didn't feel like it, or I convinced myself that I was too busy. Then I began some research on why Americans have become the world's fattest people, and why such a high percentage of African Americans are overweight and clinically obese. I still do not know the answers to those questions, but the research revealed other, even more useful knowledge. First, I had seen the enemy--me--and there was simply too much! Secondly, no one had done anything to me; I had made myself obese, and conversely no one could help me, but me.

Therefore, I decided to W.I.N. I committed that I Will not eat any calorie dense/nutrient deficient foods. I committed that I would Ingest the Chain of Life daily. The chain of life is a companion list of nutrients that include vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, enzymes, and lipid sterols in optimal daily amounts. I committed to Never eat something just because know or believe it tastes good.

In four months I shed 20 pounds and six inches of waist size. I celebrated recently by buying my first smaller sized belt in almost a decade. But what really happened? First, I am not on a diet! I am changing my relationship with food. So I had to learn to cooperate with my entire body, not just my taste buds. Fundamentally, we are trillions of cells that must have a certain amount of nutrients (often referred to as as optimal daily amounts) in certain complementary combinations to function effectively. In other words, when our cells function effectively, we are healthty.

On the other side of the ledger, I, like most of you, have been programmed to think about food in very one dimensional, even dangerous ways. For example, does it look good? Will it taste good? Will I be satisfied after eating this? We seldom ask: Is this food! Is this food that I need? How much of it do I need, and what else do I need for this food to provide optimal benefits, particularly at the cellular levels?

So what is food? Food is a natural substance that provides some combination of nutrients that help our cells to function at optimal levels. When we consider the stresses of our so-called modern society, we often need something to supplement our foods because so much of it is grown in nutrient deficient soils, and has been damaged further in the marketing process. For me, a quality food supplement must have only natural ingridients, and must provide combinations of nutrients that empower me to better ward off the dangers of our modern society.

Free radicals, in my body, constitute one of the most subtle, debilitating dangers of our modern society. Simply stated, free radicals are damaged cells that do not have paired neutrons. These cells do not function effectively. In fact, mostly they simply reproduce themselves, sometimes rapidly, and become what we call cancer. Antioxidants help defend my system from free radicals because they search them out and give these damaged cells a neutron that turns them healthy again. Therefore, I particularly fond of antioxidant-rich food supplements. I use and enjoy other types of supplements as well, but that the topic of another article.

Following my commitment to W.I.N., I had to work hard to sustain this commitment. This is where cooperation enters the picture. I know what my body needs to function optimally. To cooperate with my cells, I must do for them what they cannot do for themselves, however difficult that might be. I must find foods and supplements rich in vitamins, protein, carbohydrates, minerals, enzymes and lipid sterols. This daily search creates significant discomfort, because sometimes I must stay hungry longer than I would normally until I can get to food rich in nutrients and a proper balance of calories.

Communication in this process means simply to go public with my commitment, and challenge friends and colleagues to hold me accountable to this significant change, and to not be offended when I turn down an invitation to lunch or dinner because they want to eat where I cannot W.I.N.

Contribution focuses on the additional costs I incur in this W.I.N. strategy. I am, for example, assembling a team of gardners, and offering to help them with their expenses next Spring in exchange for their overflow of fresh vegetables and fruits. I incur some of that additional expense because I insist on naturally grown foods from soil that are as healthy as we can find. More on this in a later article.

Yes! This is hard! Anyone trying this confront arduous challenges! But I tell you, when I buckled that 48" belt the other day, it was all worth it.

Now, I am working to improve my walking regimen so I can improve my cardiovascular capacity. I will keep you posted.