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Tim Kaufman on Doing a Little More Today Than You Did Yesterday: PYP 163

tim-kaufman-pre-postWhen Tim Kaufman was in his late 30s, he weighed about 400 pounds, struggled with addictions to pain killers, and figured this was how his life was gonna be from now on. After all, he had been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic disease that messes with connective tissue and left his knees essentially useless.

We spoke a couple of weeks after he finished his first marathon.

(Pause to let that sink in.)

As our mutual buddy Josh LaJaunie notes, when people make excuses about why they can't turn their lives around, they spit on Tim's story. He's got every excuse in the book at his disposal, but one day he stopped indulging and starting disputing them.

His mantra: “Eat plants, move your body, and do a little more today than you did yesterday.”

[powerpress]

Our conversation ranged over many topics:

  • training for a marathon in the snow, at night, in Yak Tracks
  • becoming slightly famous in Buffalo
  • how a high school dropout became an engineering teacher
  • quitting college because he couldn't sit at a desk
  • growing up strong on a farm and on the line of scrimmage
  • discovering his EDS, and making sense of his childhood “clumsiness”
  • arthritis, painkillers, splints, crutches, and canes in his 20s
  • “get an office job”
  • learning a year's worth of trigonometry in 45 minutes when the application was obvious
  • using genes as an excuse
  • when it's better to attack symptoms than root causes
  • “one more year and I would have been dead”
  • the double-edged sword of sympathy
  • the double whammy of family cancer deaths that shook Tim out of his self-pity
  • change as pins in a tumbler lock
  • getting rejected for bariatric surgery
  • praying for strength to do more, rather than a miracle
  • the initial dietary transition (jerky and mozzarella sticks instead of wings and burgers and fries)
  • the life-changing magic of juicing (courtesy of Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead)
  • watching Forks Over Knives twice at one sitting
  • buying produce wholesale
  • “my son is gonna die if you don't help him” – the pressure of Facebook advocacy
  • walking, jogging, and climbing mountains
  • “I'm just a fat guy who ate some apples…”
  • consistency (“It snowballs out the same way it snowballs in”)
  • everyone has 24 hours; it's priorities, not time
  • and much more…

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Tim's site: FatManRants.com

Tim's story on the Buffalo ABC news affiliate (complete with video with tearjerking music)

Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead – documentary

Forks Over Knives – documentary

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Audiobook: Use the Weight to Lose the Weight

Listen to Josh LaJaunie and me narrate our latest audiobook, about how to start moving when you're obese.

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Music

The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.

It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.

You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.

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Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.

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