Author Archives: Ray Clark

About Ray Clark

Married to a crazy, feisty redhead, and plan on taking her along, step by step, on this journey to a happier, healthier life.

Let’s ride

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For those that read my post, Baby I Know, and my wife’s post, My Confession, I want to talk about our ride towards a happier, healthier lifestyle.  As you know, my wife talked about her struggle with sugar and how we looked at our eating after I was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Its been 11 months since my prostatectomy, and my 9 month checkup shows no traces of cancer.  In this blog, we will share our experiences with diet, nutrition and exercise,  Neither of us is a licensed nutritionist, these are simply our experiences in changing the way we eat, prepare our food, exercise, and the way we live in general.

You can have a nice home, great job, new car etc. but without your health, its hard to enjoy life. Our goal is to live more simply, and strive towards better health and fitness, so we can enjoy the day to day experiences more fully and spend quality time with the ones we love.

After looking at different exercise programs and eating regimens, we are tweeking the things that seem to work best for us.  My diet is now approximately 70% plant based, and I spend about 45 minutes to an hour, 4 – 5 days a week, in the gym.

With plant based eating, its more than just salads.  With the shift to more plant based meals, we are preparing most dishes from scratch using fresh ingredients, and trying to avoid ready made, processed, chemical and preservative laden foods.

On the fitness side, working two jobs, I don’t have the time to spend exercising like a madman.  I spend about 45 minutes per gym visit, alternating cardio and strength training.

As i have previously stated, this is not about losing weight, it is about staying fit both physically and mentally.  I’d like to thank my wife for going to the gym with me.  I know some days it’s harder than others for her to find the motivation, but that’s what we are here for, to motivate each other, and hopefully our readers as well.

So get in, and let’s ride!

 

 

Baby, I know…

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My name is Ray, and yes, I know my wife is cheating on me.  I caught her, red-handed, on a Facebook post… about Gummi Lifesavers.

First off, let me fill you in.  I am 51, and I am a prostate cancer survivor.  After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, it made me think… about the people I love, my life, my health, and I wanted to be able to spend more time with the people I love.

The first thing I did was to look at the way I had been eating.  After looking at all the different eating and exercise plans, I had to decide on one that fit what I wanted to achieve in order to spend time with my family and friends and the woman I love.

So it wasn’t about weight loss, or diet.  I wanted to focus on an overall healthier lifestyle.  And, yes, I have gone from 238 lbs to 215 lbs in 4 and a half months, but I also feel better both mentally and physically.

My wife and I go to the gym 4 to 5 days a week, for about 45 minutes each visit.  I don’t force my wife to go with me, this has to be her choice.  The struggle of going to the gym and eating healthier is real.  We all face it, and even fall off the wagon from time to time, but it has to be a conscious decision that we make to reach our goals.  We need people around us to encourage us to continue forward.

One person I should give a shout out to, besides my family, is my good friend, Joe BigDawg Daniels.  When I was down, his encouraging words kept me moving.

That’s the reason for this blog, to provide encouragement to others when they need a little help to keep going forward.  So get on this ride with us…  bring your addictions, your struggles.  My wife and I will give you our input, recipes, what does and doesn’t work for us, and most of all, that encouragement to travel forward.