By Dave Werner of Four Corners Farm

Upon arriving to live at Four Corners Farm in May 2011, I weighed 236 pounds.  Over the course of my adult life, I have weighed as little as 196 but only for a short while.  I am 6’ 2” tall and weighed 165 when graduating from high school.  For the past few years, my wife and I have tried to eat healthier, buying organic foods and grass-fed beef when we could.  But, during the work week, I would eat out at restaurants while still in my banking career in Florida.

My weight loss began to change slowly and unexpectedly after moving to the farm, despite eating plenty and enjoying ice cream 3 or 4 nights/week. We eat mostly organic food—as much as we can grow when possible—and stay away from foods that have been genetically modified, anything with food coloring/dyes, soy, meats that have been raised in feed lots or in confinement where the animals have been given growth hormones, antibiotics, or other chemicals that are unnatural.

By December, my weight had fallen to 196 pounds.  That’s when the big challenge came—to stop drinking sodas, particularly Coca Cola.  I have drunk cokes for years as my source of caffeine since I don’t care for coffee.  After studying the ingredients in Cokes—particularly High Fructose Corn Syrup—I just had to try to quit.  Substituting green tea, I took the plunge into being High Fructose Corn Syrup free and more pounds began to come off to the point where, one year after arriving at the farm, I weigh 185—a loss of 50 pounds!

In addition to enjoying the freedom of carrying less weight around, my doctor has taken me off of high blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications.

I highly recommend reading The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn O’Briento gain an overall understanding of what our food contains—both good and bad—and how processed foods can kill us.  There is still much for me to learn about food contents, vitamins, homeopathic solutions, etc. but this book is a great starting point.

Whatever your food story is, remember there is always time to re-write it and change your eating habits through daily healthy lifestyle choices!  Want to know more or ask any questions?  Feel free to email me at dave [at] fourcornersfarm [dot] com

Dave – Before

Dave – After