Happy Anniversary!

Today is my 36th wedding anniversary, so I want to wish a Happy Anniversary to my dear husband, John. This is a man who has literally loved me through thick and thin (during the many years of "thick," he never, ever once made a negative comment to me about my weight) and who has supported me every day and in every way - I am SO blessed!

Two years ago, when I found information on about Take Shape for Life/Medifast and told him I was thinking about placing a 4-week order, he had every right to roll his eyes and say "not another diet. " He had watched as I went on diet after diet, subjecting myself and him (and, when they were younger, our children) to the crankiness that accompanied every diet (mostly due to the fact that I was always hungry and felt deprived). I have no idea how much money I spent on failed diet attempts over the years, but I had a library of diet books, diet cookbooks, audiotapes, videotapes, and even one infamous exercise DVD entitled "Big Butts on the Beach" which featured plus-sized women working out on the beach. I never stopped trying, but nothing ever worked, yet he encouraged me to place an order.

When my order arrived, I explained to him how the program worked and told him about my daily lean & green. He immediately said that he would eat whatever I ate, which made it SO much easier to stay on plan! Lest you think he is a total saint, I will mention that when we'd go out for dinner, he'd eat rolls, potatoes and even onion rings - right in front of me! But since he was so good at home, I had no choice but to forgive him :-). When we weighed out my lean every night, he always made sure that I had the amount I needed, even if it left him short on protein. That was really hard for me and flew in the face of everything I was taught about being a "good wife," but he made sure I had what I needed and if he didn't have enough meat, he'd make himself a peanut butter sandwich.

As I lost weight, he was supportive and encouraging, and I started to see how proud he was of me, especially when other people started noticing.

My big surprise came in January of 2008, seven months after I went on the program, when he told me he was ready to start on his own journey. He lost 50 pounds in 3-1/2 months, reaching his goal about a month before I reached my own. We celebrated our anniversary last year at our goal weights, and a year later, we're STILL at our goal weights!

Thirty-six years into this adventure, we're still having fun together, and now we're working together to help others get healthy, too - something that we couldn't have done two years ago. We are so thankful for all that God has done, and continues to do, in our lives!

My hope for each of you is that you have someone in your life, whether it's a spouse or a good friend, who is supporting you on your own weight loss journey. You deserve it!