Richard's Story

I found out I was pre-hypertensive when I had my first physical nearly four years ago. At that time, I was over 350 pounds and avoided going to the doctor for fear of finding out I had obesity related health risks. I had stopped weighing myself before I reached 350 as I did not want to know what my weight was at its worst.

I work for the state of Connecticut and the union I am in revamped their health care requirements. One of their enhancement program requirements is a physical every two years. At that point there was no way of getting out of having a physical.

I had started to lose some weight before seeing the doctor. I was down to about 320 pounds. This was just the beginning of the journey. My doctor told me he wanted to put me on hypertension medication. I had no interest in being on medication. I told him that I wanted to try and lose weight first and see if I could get my blood pressure down that way. He agreed and I never had to take any hypertension medication.

I began to cut out foods with excessive sodium in them. Eventually, I saw an episode of Dr. Oz featuring Dr. Fuhrman. He talked about the G-BOMBS foods (greens, beans, onions, mushrooms, berries and seeds). Ever since then I've been consuming these foods daily.
I ended up losing at least 150 pounds, the majority of which was during the first year. I researched different foods that helped bring down blood pressure and started to eat those foods. It was with Dr. Fuhrman's advice, along with research that got me to lose the weight.

Although I have some modifications, I consider myself a Nutritarian. I have eggs a few times a week and minimal turkey (not every day). I feel like I have a ton of energy eating the G-BOMBS and feel healthier than when I was in my twenties.

I'm also in the best shape of my life. I am trying to build muscle to tighten up any loose skin. My body fat percentage is around 12.7 percent. It will take time to get my abs to where I want them.

I’m happy to report that my weight is 195 pounds at 6'3" tall and my high blood pressure is gone! Before the weight loss it was running about 140/90. Now I get average readings of 110/70.