Our [Unexpected] Weight Loss Story

My genes were not fished from the most elect of gene pools. My dad and moms' sides both have higher than average amounts of diabetes and obesity. Throw in heart disease, kidney disease, and cancer and you have a wonderful concoction of premature death.

My mom was--and still is--very conscious of our genetic risks and decided to feed us healthy. She tried to feed us healthy foods and not a lot of processed garbage.

But, believe it or not, I was a rebel.

I liked Wonderbread and Velveeta cheese. I loved eating sugar; just plain sugar. One time I locked my mom out of the house so I could have some alone time with a spoon and a bag of brown sugar.

And then I got to high school and realized that I had gained 20 lbs in a matter of 3 months. Suddenly my beloved sugar had betrayed me, and my genetics were on the sideline cheering it on.

Aaron has pancreatitis, a condition that resulted when his pancreas produced too many digestive enzymes which resulted in his pancreas trying to digesting itself. Gross. Part of his pancreas got damaged, the part that creates digestive enzymes. He now has to take pills at every meal, just to digest food. He also has a high chance of developing pancreatic cancer and diabetes.

So, here we are. The awesome couple. Doomed to be obese, diabetic, and/or growing cancerous cells before we're even grandparents.

We decided that although we cannot determine our genetics, we still have control over how we treat our bodies. We made some rules about our health and have stuck with them these past 9 months:

1. No processed flour or sugar. We replace this with whole wheat flour and whole sweeteners, like honey, maple syrup, and molasses. ABSOLUTELY NO WHITE FLOUR OR GRANULATED SUGAR.
2. No unhealthy oils: margarine, vegetable oil (soybean, corn, etc), or partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats).  We only use extra virgin olive oil and coconut oil. On rare occasions we will use butter, but this is rare.
3. We only make healthy treats twice a week. But when we do eat these healthy treats we enjoy them.
4. No boxed cake mixes, brownie mixes, muffin, etc. Nothing pre-made. 
5. Absolutely no soda. Not even diet. Aspartame is the second cousin of arsenic, and high fructose is a close friend.
6. Snacks in between meals are fruits or veggies.
7. No prepackaged lunch meat (the additives have been found to contribute to pancreatic cancer. No bacon either, to Aaron's dismay)
8. No eating after 9:00 pm (Aaron still does).
9. 80% of what we eat must be healthy, or have some nutritional value.
10. We eat however much we want :) no starving ourselves.

When we were married we were both in pretty good shape. Neither of us were overweight, but we still lost a lot of weight just by changing what we ate. 

I first started noticing my pants were really loose. Like, super loose. I went shopping for new pants and was pleasantly surprised to find I fit in a sizes 2, and even 0. The last time I weighed myself was in spring 2011 when I donated plasma. Since I don't have a scale I haven't really worried about it.

Today, when I went to donate for the first time since last year, the phlebotamist commented that I had lost some weight since my last visit. I asked how much and she said about 15 lbs. Another pleasant surprise.

I'm not the only one who has lost some extra baggage; Aaron has lost 20 lbs since being home from his mission. 

I guess we're just living proof that if you eat the right things at the right time you will be successful.

Have a wonderful [healthy] weekend!

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