In early August, my wife Pam went to the doctor and discovered that her cholesterol was 250 and she was close to becoming a type II diabetic. I like having her around so I knew we needed to make some changes in our lifestyle. About that time, I talked to my sister-in-law Vicki who told me about some amazing results that her pastor had achieved in restoring his health through a change in diet. She told me that we would have to give up meat, all dairy products, nuts and all oils. I told her she was nuts. I might as well be dead.
I loved my steak and was a total sugar addict and Pam was a sugar addict who had to have three big chocolate chip cookies everyday or she went into withdrawals. This would never work. No how, no way.....
Then I sat down with Pam and we discussed the outlook for our lives together if we didn't make some major changes in our love affair with food and all types of sweets. Like everything, things weren't all bad. Vicki did say we could have alcohol. I reasoned that if I drank enough, I could maybe forget that I hadn't eaten.
I was totally shocked when Pam said she would commit to giving this lifestyle change a three month trial. This is a woman that very rarely will make an outright commitment to something I suggest. (Mainly because there is a good chance that my suggestions will turn out badly). She said that she had planned to go on Jenny Craig, but would give this a chance instead. I nearly fell out of my chair. So I began to research recipes that I could fix that would keep her taste buds from freaking out and her gag reflex in check. I even found a wholesome brownie recipe and learned that oils could be replaced with plain old applesauce on a 1 for 1 basis. We were getting off to a good start. The big question.....? Could it possibly last? In order to keep peace at home, I won't announce Pam's starting weight, but I weigh 225 pounds, my cholesterol is 203 and my LDL is 120. Nothing ventured, nothing gained (or in the case of artery blockage and weight, nothing lost).
