"It starts." --Timon, The Lion King (1994)

diaita [noun] -- Greek: "way of life"

Welcome to our blog!

Why are we here? In late 2004, my wife Dee and I hit the peak of our unhealthy lifestyle. I had migrated to wearing loose-fitting size 5X (that's XXXXXL) Hawaiian shirts and size 58 jeans, topping out at 446 pounds. Dee was up to 296 pounds, and wearing a size 24 pants and a 3X top. When I started threatening to pop out of my shirts yet again, we decided it was time to act.

Over the course of the next couple of years, through a stint at eDiets.com, a little bit of the Subway diet, and a healthy dose of Nutrisystem, we dropped a ton of weight. At our lowest, around May 2008, I found myself at 289 pounds (a 157 pound drop) wearing size 42 jeans and mostly XXL shirts, with a few XL sprinkled in. Dee was down 96 pounds to an even 200 pounds, sporting size large tops and a pants size of 14. Amazingly, this was all accomplished through healthy eating with no regular exercise regimen. A few mile-long walks here and there and some time on a Gazelle, but nothing crazy, and it was definitely few and far between.

And now... the rest of the story. Through too many relaxing family trips, grabbing fast food on the way to and from community theatre play practices, Chinese buffets, fancy coffee drinks, pastries, and too many other things to mention... we backslid a bit. (I backslid quite a bit more than Dee, which she'll be quick to remind me... ha!)

Start of the year 2010, she's at 231 pounds (a 31 pound gain) while still maintaining a size 14 somehow. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here like a lump at 371 pounds after gaining back 82 pounds. That's just over HALF of what I'd worked so hard to accomplish in the first place.

So, here we are. Motivated partially by a "bet" with Dee's brother to see who could lose the most weight in 8 months, and partially by a need to prove it to myself again, we're back on track. So many people (both now and then) asked us what we're doing... what do we eat... how does it work... Sounds like it's time for a blog, so all the world can live along with us, and participate if you so choose.

We hope to share details about our lifestyle... what we're eating, weight updates, new recipes we're discovering, ways to sneak healthy stuff and make it taste good... and maybe we can motivate someone out there to grab onto a new "way of life" along with us. Remember... it's not a DIET... it's not a bunch of restrictions... it's developing a new way of living that you can LIVE WITH.

We welcome comments, suggestions, and anything constructive. Life is a journey, so let's see how far we can go together.

--Jay