One of my favorite people on this Earth left us eleven days ago. Steve Petersen was my father-in-law. I have known him for the last 35 years. He has had a huge impact on my life, and I'm going to miss him tremendously.
Steve had ALS. It is one of the most soul-crushing and destructive diseases in existence. No sane person would ever wish this disease on anyone. He battled it for about two years with courage, strength, and everything he had. There is no cure for ALS, and the treatment options are almost worthless. No one beats ALS; it always wins. It was so difficult for me and all of Steve's family and friends to watch him slowly lose control over his body as the ALS destroyed his muscles.
For the last 3 months or so, Steve has been in a nursing home. He was unable to walk, and needed more care than was available to him at home. The crew at his nursing home did a great job of caring for him, but there was nothing that could be done to slow down, stop or reverse the effects of ALS. We could do nothing but spend time with our loved one, and watch him deteriorate.
Steve died on November 3rd, and left a giant hole in our hearts. My wife's family 10 days grieving, planning a funeral and remembering Steve. This was a necessary process that took me away from almost everything that I was doing to try to improve my own health.
I was spending a lot of time away from home and eating restaurant meals. I was also eating meals, treats, and snacks that were provided to the family by Steve's friends. I continued to take my diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol meds, but my exercise routine was gone, and my eating habits were much different and much less healthy than what I had been eating.
Grieving a loved one taps your energy like nothing else. I didn't want to exercise, and I didn't want to eat the healthy plant-based foods that I have been including in my diet. The more primitive parts of my brain took over, and I was craving sugary and starchy carbs, meat, and salty snacks. It was 10 days of forgetting everything that I had been working for since July.
This morning, the day after Steve's funeral, is the time for me to begin again. I weighed in, up 8 pounds. I went back to the 30-30-30 plan that I started just before Steve's death. Back to counting calories and staying under 1,800. Back to exercising 30 minutes or more, 6 days a week. Back to eliminating meat, dairy, and other saturated fat from my diet.
I'm back to my plan, as of this morning, but it's important to realize that some things are more important than my plan. Being there for my wife's family over the last 10 days was more important. Properly grieving for someone that I loved with all of my heart was more important. Forgiving myself for living in an unhealthy way and putting on almost 10 pounds is more important.
I'm back at the plan, and my goals haven't changed. I just hit a bump in the road. Steve willingly fought a battle that he knew he couldn't win. He fought hard so he could have more time with his family and friends. I can look at Steve's example as I fight my diabetes. I believe I have a disease that I can reverse and beat. I'll be fighting for the same reasons that Steve fought, but I have a tool that he was denied; hope for a better tomorrow.
Rest in peace, Steve. You will be greatly missed by the 250 people that were at your funeral yesterday, and countless others that were unable to make it to the ceremony. You'll be remembered for your kindness, generosity, sense of humor, and love for your family and friends.
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