Watching What I Eat

I came across this photo on Facebook and it inspired today's post about how changing to a vegetarian and vegan lifestyle totally turned my health around.  I went from a 230+ pound diabetic, high blood pressure situation to a 170-180 pound super charged athlete that has a second chance at life.

A little over two years ago I was on expensive meds that made me feel worse than the condition they were supposed to be treating.  My doctor said I could drop dead of a heart attack at any moment.  My body was always hurting due to trying to maintain an active lifestyle carrying around 75 pounds more than God intended me to have.

I would still like to shed a few more pounds, but in two years and 60 + pounds I have gone from buying XXL clothing to a lowly 'L' and sometimes I even fit into a 'M'.   I feel great and am playing the best tennis of my life in my late forties.   Praise God.

I will chronicle more of this journey in the next few weeks and months.  But for now, let me just say that by maintaining a healthy plant based nutrition plan combined with an active life style, I completely reversed my diabetes and high blood pressure.  

Being married to a loving dedicated spouse like my precious Monica sure hasn't hurt my chances of success and survival, either! (She is an amazing cook, too!)

To God be the Glory!   ~Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights...  James 1:17

Tennis, Anyone...?

Here is a picture of my brother and I this past June at 'Coach Sam's Alumni Tournament' for current and former students as well as anyone who played high school tennis in Brazoria, Wharton, or Matagorda counties over the years.

John and I made it to the finals of the men's doubles division but had to retire in the deciding match because I was cramping up in the heat. I weighed about 236 pounds in that photo. I was actually playing fairly well but carrying that much extra weight is too great a liability, especially in the heat of a Texas summer.

Fast forward to October 27, 2010. My wife and I radically changed our diets nearly two months ago after she did some research and discovered that many people have had amazing results curing their diabetes and high blood pressure with a vegan diet.

We gave it a try and have been simply astonished with the results. In just two weeks my blood sugar levels and heart rate had significantly lowered. After 3 weeks I had lost 12 pounds and had virtually no signs of diabetes whatsoever. I am now closing in on 2 months and weighed in at 217 last night, a loss of close to 19 pounds...!

I feel better than I have in years. ...And, we have been eating like royalty around here, too! If anyone following my progress would like to sample some of our recipes we'll be glad to share...!

So right now I am looking forward to another round of the Alumni Tournament series I started in June. I think I will be more of a threat with the shedding of 20 pounds...

The next Alumni Tournament will be November 19-20 at the Columbia Lakes Tennis Center in West Columbia, Texas. The deadline is November 12. You can register online at http://chadwelltennis.com/

See you on the courts...!