Patric J. Dufficy: Dealers in Hope

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged anything, but I had some good reasons. I had a great goal to achieve before the end of 2013.

I decided back in March 2013 it was the end of my unhealthy life, so I began to plan a strategy to regain the health I had abandoned twenty years ago.
Back in March, my weight was around 260 pounds… And with good reasons, I had awful eating habits. With my 5’10”, I certainly was in the obese family.
I’ve never tried any diets, but I have done some changes along the way; in late 2010 I stopped drinking cola, and I was drinking that poison like water. It helped me lose around 30 pounds in 4 months without changing any other habits. Then in February 2011 I quit smoking but and it did not make me gain weight, my life was probably too busy at the time for me to eat more.
Then in 2012, I’ve had some lows in my business life that pushed me to eat more crap, more often. It wasn’t too long before I got back to 260-265 pounds.
By the end of 2012 and 2013 first months, my mind was full with all sort of stuff; ups and lows with my business, ups and lows in my personal life, my mother’s health going down with severe type 1 diabetes and my weight back to its highest level. This is when a light finally turned on in my head and “I DECIDED” to make the changes necessary to regain a physical and mental balance in my life.

I happened to have a great book written by an expert on nutrition and I decided to start reading it completely. The book was not based on any diets, at the contrary; it’s an “anti-diets” program!
I only had to read about the third of the book to learn how I was doing all the wrong thing with my health. The book explain how our body works with what we eat and how we live in general. It doesn’t just tell what to eat, it teach us the why and the how.

In March 2013, I began doing some adjustments to my eating habits and started to do some workout. And then, by the end of March, I carved in an Excel sheet the date range from April 1st 2013 to January 1st 2014… I had to lose 60 pounds in that time range (enough to break the 200 lbs barrier).
April 1st, I started to implement more seriously the nutrition and workout program I’ve learned, and after a couple of months, my progress was so great I decided to adjust my end of the year goal of reaching 199 lbs. Now I was confident I could reach my final weight of 180 lbs.

Let just say I had a lot of ups and downs along those 9 months. Excitement, discouragement, fatigue, lack of motivation, food temptations, etc. My wife followed me with the nutritional changes, but she wasn’t too disciplined with the workouts, and some evenings I was tempted to just relax, but I kicked myself and did my workout anyway.
There was the summer week-ends at the lake with all the extra eating from my brother-in-law, and the barbecues… OMG… Barbecue !!!
But it was recommended in the nutrition plan to have an “off-plan” meal once a week. OK, I had some “extended off-plan” meals on some week-ends, and yes, I had some weeks with a little weight gain. But I was adjusting my eating and workout the following week to go back on the right track right away.

On the long run I stayed on my average goal settings every month.

The last two months of 2013 were a bit harder to lose the weight, but I was very near the shape and health I wanted.
My goal was reached with a weight of 185 pounds. This is 80 lbs gone from my higher “known” weight of 265 pounds!!
Let me tell you. The end results of losing weight to be healthy again is much more than just reaching your correct weight, it changes everything mentally too. Also, doing this with the resolution that it will be a lifetime commitment, not just a diet with several months of restriction and privation, gives a level of discipline that helps with everything in life.

Today I’m between 182 and 184 pounds and feeling absolutely great.
This change is for the rest of my life; for an excellent life.
Remember, nobody can attend perfection. I choose to achieve excellence.
When goals are reached and you feel great about yourself, you see all the hard work with a new perspective, it do not seem that hard anymore, it’s just the right thing to do to live a life of excellence.

I’ve seen for myself on this life changing journey that when you trace a line in the sand and decide to do something; plan what to do, start doing it, check your progression, and adjust whenever necessary (PDCA)… Nothing’s impossible!

Thanks for reading, God Bless,
Patric J. Dufficy

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