reality bites by James Norton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

The main focus on this past holiday is to pay homage to the brave efforts of our servicemen and women over the years for our country and for our own personal freedoms as citizens of this great country.  It‚Äôs a day devoid of politics and filled with honor and respect ‚Äì I wish there were more days like that.

The secondary focus is obviously to enjoy the fantastic parade and come together as a community, as friends and as family.  Again, I wish there were more days like that.

As I look back over the last two years in particular and reflect on how I have grown as an adult, it brings me to a crossroads, yet again, in my personal life.  It has been almost two years since I last saw my kids, and even though I might communicate daily in one form or another with one or both of them, I can‚Äôt wait for them to arrive to spend their summer here at the end of June.

In those two short years I have gone through a lot personally and so have my kids.
They have grown into two wonderful young teens with a lot of promise in both the classroom as well as in sports.  Their grades are good; they don‚Äôt get into trouble and my daughter recently set three young women‚Äôs records in the European Union in track and field ‚Äì specifically in the shot put, the discus and the 100-meter sprint.

To say that I am proud of them is an understatement, and I know they will have a great break here visiting with us.

Personally I have been through a lot ‚Äì and spending a good portion of that time dealing with different maladies took its toll on me emotionally.  Having surgery earlier this year and since then getting divorced also took their toll.

The good news is that in the last 10 weeks I have beaten diabetes without medication, dropped my blood pressure down from a deadly rate, fixed just about everything else wrong with me medically and lost about 60 pounds in the process.  Not bad for someone whose own doctor said I had little hope in turning it all around.

So now I am going to get emails asking how I lost 60 pounds on my own in such a short time.  The simplest way I can explain how I did it was by having a positive attitude and by eating right.  Seriously.  Anything else I did was purely supplemental.

For example, every morning I have a coffee, with little cream in it.  Then I split lunch with a friend ‚Äì eating less means eating smart.  Dinner is interesting, because I eat probably only 1/3 of what I used too.  Put all that together and avoid any type of bread or sugar and I might not be a fitness guru just yet, but I bet you will lose weight too, and without starving yourself.

This brings me back to that crossroads ‚Äì looking back won‚Äôt move me ahead, so I will keep on pushing forward with new friends, old friends, family and loved ones.  Bring on the summer and everything it brings – and look ahead to the future with a new perspective.

It’s good to be back.