One Week In: Pinching Inches and Resizing Rings

We’re pinching our slimming sides and noticing that rings are getting looser – already. Stay tuned. The next edition coming soon!

Preparation Phase, Day 1: Atomized Beef a la Smoke Cloud

We have started on our journey of weight loss. First, I want to say that nobody was injured, and the program is going great. We would have started sooner, but we decided to begin with the new year, and a day after my 45th birthday.

In a devoted husband fashion, I (Mark) took it upon myself to bring excitement to Peggy’s day. Plus, I gave her an opportunity to exercise her eye-rolling muscles. Exercise is good, right? Being married to me since 2002, Peggy has developed eye-rolling muscles that could pull a truck!

Although this program doesn’t specify an exercise regimen, I’m customizing the program to include some fire extinguisher relay runs and smoke detector towel flips.

Here’s how it went down: In our preparation phase, our wonderful counselor, Linda prescribed generous helpings of beef. More on Linda as the story unfolds. I’m pretty fond of Linda right now. Linda and cows – I love them both. My only “beef” with Linda is that she told me I drink enough coffee for 40 people, and I’m going to need to cut back. Yes, I love them both, Peggy and Linda, but they’re clearly plotting to kill me.

I digress. Back to the beef and freezing toes.

Of course, frostbite is not in the Slim4Life Weight Loss Program.

We normally wouldn’t have the doors open and fans blowing on a 20 degree morning, but I’m a thrill-seeker. Now, before you assume I’m a kitchen-illiterate bumbling doofus, I have trained a top graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, and I have spent more time in a kitchen than many people have spent in a t-shirt. I’m just a thrill-seeker. A thrill-seeker who forgot that my kitchen at home doesn’t have the huge vent hoods and air handlers of my former commercial kitchen.

While trying to get a really delicious caramelized sear on a roast, I fogged the whole house. Since the kids are still out of school until tomorrow, I figure I gave them a top-of-mind story for when people ask “What did you do over break?” You know, the whole “My Daddy tried to burn the house down” bit. Come on, guys, you’ve inspired that story before, right? Please, if you’re with Child Services, we did turn up the heat, and the kids are fine!

On this 20 degree morning, toes are freezing in the kitchen, but the beef smells great, and I think I feel slimmer already. If any neighbors within three blocks were home to smell the cloud, I’m pretty sure they’re jealous right now. Call it my way of beating the Jones’s.

How is your story unfolding? I invite you to share it with us.

Our story is in the works. Stay tuned!

The Announcement: Our New Life Begins!

My name is Mark. I’m the guy on the left. The woman on the right is my wife, Peggy. Those little ones are our children. In the coming weeks and months, we will be sharing our experiences with Slim4Life Weight Loss. We will share it in photos, observations, tips, hardships, successes, and all.

We just completed our health assessments with Slim4Life, as we prepare to take on a life-changing journey, together. Husband and Wife … a team effort.

It’s a big step for us to take on the challenge of getting to our ideal weights, but we must start somewhere. The decision has been made. Our collective foot is down.

No pressure or anything, but I work for Slim4Life Weight Loss. I’m the guy on the other side of Slim4Life.com, and I’m the guy behind the upcoming Slim4Life Weight Loss mobile apps. In fact, I’m the guy behind the scenes for the majority of anything we do online – since May 2016, at least. Perhaps my best work will be a time-lapse video of our weight loss. It’s in the works. Stick around.

I sit for a living. I don’t exercise. I love food. We are both chefs, so when I say we love food, I mean, we really love food. Lots of it, and not just the healthy stuff. Crazier yet, Peggy runs our bakery. It is a dessert bakery. You know, the kind that serves cheesecake, bread pudding, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and cake. The sort of stuff that wakes a guy up at night to raid a refrigerator.

Kids? Yes, we have four young kids. I think many parents can agree that kids will sure slap a few extra pounds on a person if you let them.

Before you call us doomed, remember, I said the decision has been made. We are stubborn. We can do this! To me, the biggest part of the whole process is the decision we made to be better to ourselves, for ourselves, and for our kids. The rewards for losing this weight are huge. It goes well beyond fitting in all those clothes we used to wear. For me, it means this belly won’t cut off my breath when I put my socks on. For Peggy it means she’s not carrying around an extra 50 pound bag of sugar and a 20 pound bag of flour everywhere she goes.

We have a long way to go. We will lose a combined 85 pounds during this journey, and that’s just to get back on paved road. As we look at the long-term differences to our lives, it’s really something to be emotional about.

The journey has begun. The decision has been made. I look forward to sharing the experience with you. We also invite your participation, encouragement, questions, and suggestions.

Let’s do this!.