Challenge Accepted!

First and foremost, I want to begin by telling you I AM NOT a medical professional. I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, personal trainer, or dietician. I am a normal every day person with a stubborn streak a mile long. That is it; that is all. I work for a living, have a family, am not a person who makes a lot of money, and am not doing this for fame or fortune. I just want to see if they are all correct; I mean how can that many professionals be wrong, right?

Please, if you wish to try something like this for yourself do not do anything without consulting your doctor first. I have already completed three rounds of physical therapy and have a regular doctor that I will seek out when I need assistance. I have the experience of working with weight doctors, so I do have the knowledge to take on this task just heed my warning and do not take this on a challenge yourself without assistance.

Now that the legalities and warnings are out of the way, the next point I need to talk about is what the challenge actually is. The challenge I am accepting is to:

• Eat a healthy diet, following the basics: leaner meats, more vegetables, less sugar
• Eliminating sugar drinks. Less chemicals, more natural.
• To quit smoking. Within the first four weeks of this challenge I will quit smoking cigarettes. This seems to be a biggie for the doctors.
• To start moving, starting with minimum movement escalating to what my body can handle.
•  Eliminate all alcoholic beverage consumption. This is something I have already begun.

What I cannot do, and we all have something we can’t do and it is important to recognize this. I will not eliminate coffee from my life. It is important that my family live through this experience and for me to remove coffee from my life would be detrimental to all around me. I will do my best to cut back on the sweet, sugary, unnecessary coffee drinks but this is a deal breaker for me so I will keep my morning coffee.

The idea behind this challenge is to try to do things more naturally; that includes pain relief in ways other than chemical pain relievers, however, I do not pledge to not take them if I feel them necessary.

Finally, I want to discuss ACCOUNTABILITY:

You, whoever you are, whether it be many or one who follow my challenge, are my accountability. I will share every day with you whether it be a written journal entry or a video log because let’s face it, I don’t always feel up to typing and I want you to all see the real me at action doing this challenge. I pledge now to you:

• I will never lie to you. I will not over sell or minimize what I am thinking, feeling, experiencing or doing.
• I promise to follow my guidelines put forth and share my experiences. Remember, I am taking the most used reasons from my medical professionals for my pain and creating this experiment.
•  You have the right to give feedback at any time, however, please be aware that fat shaming, mocking, hurtful words with the intent to be hurtful, and foul or vulgar verbiage will not be allowed. Constructive critics, skepticism, disbelief, and denial are all part of human nature when faced with something like this; however, the other stuff is not and won’t be tolerated.
• I promise to share with you tips, natural products I find along the way that may help others.
•  I promise to share recipes, ways to eat more naturally, and nutritional information I find on my journey.
• I promise to share with you tips on movement, exercise, or healing as I come across them.
• I promise to share with you information on chronic pain, what causes it, whether my journey is helping or not and where you can get assistance as I find it.
•  Most importantly, I promise to be accountable to you!

I want to mention again; I AM NOT a medical professional. I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, trainer, or dietician. I am a normal every day person with a stubborn streak a mile long. That it is; that is all. I will always share the source of where I get my information unless it’s something I make up and then I strongly suggest you run it by your doctor to make sure it is right for you before you do ANY thing. I do NOT suggest you stop any medications unless directed by your physician. I DO suggest you speak with a doctor or nutritionist before starting any diet, eating plan, or life change – what works for one person does not always work for another. Remember, this is an experiment for me and perhaps an inspiration to others. What have I got to lose really? I am already in pain; all I’ve got is some weight to lose and a couple bad habits with the potential of a much better life on the other side. I think it’s worth the challenge.