Today, it is just over 4 months later. I weighed in at 176 pounds while my brother weighed in at 172. I lost over 40 pounds in 4 months.

I cannot remember exactly when it started, however, if I had to guess, I would say it was shortly after I quit smoking. I had always heard of gaining weight when smoking subsides, but I had never had an issue with it before in my life. I weighed about 185 pounds at most, and that was during the holidays. Who doesn't love pie? Hmmmm.... About two months after I quit smoking, I noticed a little bit of weight gain, so I did what I have always done. I became more and more active. I renewed my gym membership. I went on long hikes with my kids. When my kids went to the park to play, I went along to play with them also. I did whatever I could to keep "burning" off the excess weight gain. It didn't matter. No matter what I did, there was no change for the positive. I only kept gaining more and more weight. Finally, this past January, my brother hosted a Christmas party for immediate family and good friends that weren't able to get together beforehand. It was probably one of the best times of my life. I spent it with great people. My Aunt showed up and was taking pictures of everybody smiling and having a great time. Later on, she had uploaded those photos to Facebook and I had seen how much different I had started to look. I was in shock by my weight gain. I checked the scale and I had come in close to 220 pounds. Now to some people, this may not seem like much, but to me, it was unacceptable. I just accepted that I would have to go to the gym more and eat "healthier" foods. But that is not what sparked the change in me. About a week after the party, my kids and I went to this local general store that specialized in carrying crazy statues and signs and whatnot. We were walking around and there was this clearance bin full of books. I have always loved reading and learning so I glanced in quickly. That is when I saw the book that changed my life. The title was so odd that I could not help but pick it up. "Eat Bacon, Don't Jog." I thought it was a joke at first. I picked up the book and just started reading one of the chapters, which were very short and to the point. The first thing I read was that Fat Storing Hormone was not exactly the hormone I thought it was originally. It was like I got slapped in my face by a train. I bought the book and read the entire thing in 1 day. It explained almost everything in such a simple way that being a doctor or scientist was not necessary. It gave facts, not opinions, about how food is our friend and that Fat Storing Hormone is the evil dictator trying to take over the body. Okay, maybe not that crazy. But it did open my eyes to how things in the body work properly. That night, I put some corned beef in my crockpot and went to bed. The next day, all I ate was that corned beef. I remember it as my first meal since the "realization." The first full day alone, I lost almost 2 pounds. The next day I lost another 2 pounds. 2 more pounds the day after that. It just kept falling off. I was in shock. By the first week's end, I had lost 14 pounds. My pants were a little less tight than the week before. I couldn't believe it. Lied to my entire life about what is proper to eat and what is not. After 2 weeks, I was already down to 200 pounds even. I bought another copy of the book online and sent it to my brother. I explained to him how it worked, and of course, he had all the usual questions. Doesn't eating fat make you fat? Doesn't that clog your arteries? How can you survive with so much more salt? He read the book from cover to cover as I did and we now share the same admiration for this newfound knowledge. Today, it is just over 4 months later. I weighed in at 176 pounds while my brother weighed in at 172. I lost over 40 pounds in 4 months. Now of course the journey to do so was a bit challenging at first. I had always learned to eat carbohydrate-influenced meals my entire life so now trying to find other foods was proving to be a challenge. Because of this, I searched videos on the internet explaining different methods of cooking fatty foods and different things to make. The video of Dr. Berg and his beautiful wife making the pizza crust was the first of a long line of videos I would later learn would be vital in my nutritional health. I learned about potassium intake, mineral intake, fatty liver, Fat Storing Hormone issues, fasting properly, exercise methods, etc., If it wasn't for the knowledge from Dr. Berg's videos, I would have felt like a lone swimmer treading in a sea of sharks. It is good to know that we have someone at the helm ready to champion our new lifestyle. (Sidenote: I love it when people claim that I must clearly be on a diet. This is while I eat 10 strips of bacon in front of them and then eat cream cheese out of the container with a spoon. Sometimes I do it just to see the look on their faces, but I really do it because it is a lifestyle and not a diet. But they will not understand unless they give it a whirl.) Best wishes, Jim