Sometimes people need a major change in their lives in order to see life from a different perspective and set new priorities.
When a person you love very much dies, they certainly leave a huge gap behind. But sometimes the pain such a loss causes can be the turning point in our lives.
Just like what happened with Jacob Anselmo of Rhode Island in 2016, when his beloved wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and, a while later, doctors told them she had just months to live.
Jacob and his wife Rachel had been a happy couple. By 2016 they already had a beautiful home and two amazing children, Sophia and Henry. It looked like nothing could take happiness away from them, but that was until Rachel was diagnosed with cancer.
Posted by Rachel Anselmo on Monday, August 10, 2015
The doctors tried every single kind of treatment for her, but it just wouldn’t go away. One day, they told her husband that they shouldn’t postpone that trip to Disneyland anymore.
This was the moment when Jacob realized that he would soon need to take responsibility for his house and kids all by himself.
He was bound to be a single dad and this didn’t feel right.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Tuesday, September 8, 2015
On top of everything, Jacob was obese, too.
“I had no regard for my health at all,” he told TODAY. “I always thought, ‘Someday I’ll lose the weight.’”
Jacob had spent the last decade of his life eating junk food and drinking soda instead of leading a healthy life, and it was time he changed it.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Thursday, July 19, 2018
“Cancer was tearing my wife’s body apart, and I was tearing my own body apart by eating processed foods and junk. I had a huge uphill battle to face for the rest of my life, and I wanted to deal with it as a healthy man, not as an obese man.”
That’s when he decided to quit all the bad eating habits he had had up until then.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Thursday, July 19, 2018
He started by deleting soda from his life and drinking water instead. He was amazed when he saw the first 20 pounds waving goodbye.
Then, he simply swapped the sugary coffee he used to have two-three times a day with black coffee. That’s when another 20 pounds dropped.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Thursday, July 19, 2018
That was it. He then felt strong enough to keep going, to keep trying to get healthy again.
Sadly, in 2017 Rachel passed away. Instead of coping with the loss by drinking or eating more Jacob dove in even further in his research about nutrition.
“I thought I was going to have to give up all the things I loved. But I didn’t. I gave up processed carbohydrates and added sugars. I learned I can still enjoy food without having a lot of calories. And I learned that I liked vegetables.”
But that was not all. Jacob subscribed to the gym so he could go whenever he had some free time. And he didn’t even stop there: he even built a gym in his house so he could work out when the kids were asleep.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Sunday, August 4, 2019
After nine months of strict diet, Anselmo lost 115 pounds. He was so proud of himself and so happy that he could go about his family life without the burden of obesity.
Today the single dad eats 2000-2500 calories a day and he even has some cheat meals, but he’s certainly not going back to his previous, unhealthy habits.
Posted by Jacob Anselmo on Monday, September 14, 2020
You can head over to his Instagram account, where he shares moments of his family life and healthy eating journey.
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