This morning, I decided to get up early and take a walk, something that I don't believe I have ever done.  Lately, I have been doing a lot of things that are what we can consider "out of the norm" for me. I guess the thing that changed my prospective on life is in March, I had a wake up call by way of a heart attack that called out for me to change my habits. It has been a most difficult trip thus far but I think the results will be most favorable. My mindset has to be on continuing the good habits that I have started and not get back into the rut of making bad decisions.

The first habit I changed was I started the process of ending my smoking of cigarettes. I started out using the patch which is something that I had used successfully before and it worked. I guess that what works sometimes isn't guaranteed to work all the time as the patch was a bust. It did help reduce the amount I smoked a day but did not help me with the cravings. My second plan of action was using a drug called Chantix. I had heard some good things about this drug and it did live up to it's reputation. After the first week where I was allowed to smoke, I stopped smoking and did not have any cravings what so ever and have been smoke free for 116 days and have no desire to return to smoking.

Whenever most people quit smoking, there are tons of positive things that happen to that person such as easier to breath, able to walk more without losing their breath, a sense of smell returns but there is one negative thing that can and usually does happen when you quit smoking and that is weight gain.  Within a matter of weeks, I gained nearly 20 pounds and picked up an inch or two in the waist line. This is something that I was afraid of and of course it happened to me, so I decided that something needed to be done. I had noticed an associate in my office who had lost around 40 pounds in two months and I questioned him on what he was doing that was allowing this weight loss. He introduced me to Herbalife and the process of learning to eat healthy.

I have tried the shake process before when attempting weight loss and the one thing I found was that like most healthy things, those shakes might have been good for you but they sure did not taste very good. When my associate introduced me to another shake, I did not have very high expectations but the trial was free so I made the plunge. My first shake was a banana chochlate and it was great. After listening to the herbalife lady tell us about the product, I immediately signed up for the Ultimate plan and things have improved ever since.

The ultimate pland was a shake meal plan with protein, and 5 vitamins three times a day. You drink a meal shake for two meals a day and then eat a healthy meal with good nutritional foods. During the first week, I lost 6 pounds so you can imagine my delight. I also noticed that the vitamin regiment also gave me more energy and I started walking4-5 times a week at 30-60 minutes a go. This is not something I planned, but was something I just felt like doing and I have been feeling better each and every day. I have also watched the kind of food that I eat, I am not successful 100% of the time, but I am striving for good food 90% of the time.

I know this is not real estate related but I just wanted to let the world know of my new found knowledge and maybe inspire someone else to start down the path of a healthy life.

Gary Nelson, Harford County MD, 410-459-6920