My friends and family were a bit taken back when I started dating my husband several years ago. One close friend did not understand how our relationship could withstand the dichotomy between my boyfriend's hunting animals and my commitment to saving them.
I never judged my husband's choice to hunt. It was his passion until he met me. Now, he says, he 'hunts' me . . . I am his passion. He hasn't hunted since our first date. I never asked him to stop, he's never agreed to stop.
When we began dating, I told my future husband that I was vegetarian, he said, "great! I've always wanted to eat that way." He had a stint with the veg lifestyle as a young man but for lack of 'partnership' in his quest, he went back to eating a sugar laden, carnivorous diet.
When we met he weighed in at about 210 lbs. with a 6' 2" large boned, muscular physic. His face was 'puffy' and his skin and hair dull but he was gorgeous and I adored him. Because he was motivated by love, my future husband stopped eating candy bars and drinking soda and in less than 2 months he dropped 40 lbs. His face was sculpted, his hair was thick and glossy, and he had abundant energy . . . he looked like an Adonis and he felt fabulous.
In the Spring of 2004 I was diagnosed with Melanoma. My husband encouraged me (pleaded with me might be a better verb) to follow an alkaline diet based on the guidelines of Dr. O. Robert Young from his book, 'The PH Miracle'. My husband stayed on a mostly alkaline diet for several months and dropped down to his high school weight of 165 lbs. I began at a weight of about 114 and went down to 108 (at 5' 5"). We both felt healthier and more energetic. It didn't last for long. I stayed vegetarian and about 75% raw, my husband came home one day with a bag of candy bars and soda. Throughout his life my husband has struggled with his sugar and caffeine 'addiction'. His weight jumps up rapidly when he makes a choice to add sugar and caffeine back into his diet. I've been through this roller coaster ride with him a few times. In 2005, after reading 'The China Study' I decided to go one step further to eating vegan. My sister-in-law and I began with a one week challenge; no dairy, no eggs. I've never looked back.
On Sunday, my husband tossed out the bags of licorice and boxes of See's candy. He dumped out the plastic bottles of Mountain Dew and threw away the half empty bags of kettle corn. He's off sugar and caffeine and I am thrilled.
We are on this journey together. I love him, I want to live a long, vibrantly healthy, active life with him. Supporting my husband in his quest gives him the 'partnership' he desires and gives our marriage a 'zest' that I crave. Doing this together has me feel a connection with my husband that is diminished when he is on (what I see as) a self-destructive path.
We agree that journaling about and sharing our experiences will help us both stay focused on our progress. We hope that publicizing our journal might also help others who are struggling with food addictions or health issues to feel some sense of 'partnership'. So we begin . . .
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