It seems that everybody wants to lose weight unless they are as lean as a chalkboard. Hopefully, my weight loss story will inspire you to achieve your own weight loss goal.

For readers who do not know, I am a physician—a pediatrician, precisely. I’ll just point out the obvious: even physicians can get themselves into medical troubles. So, on a visit to my own doctor 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with hypertension because my blood pressure was elevated at 140/90. My doctor wanted to prescribe drugs for my condition, but I quietly disagreed. I had a plan of my own.

At that point, I weighed 183 pounds. For a man who stands at 5’ 8”, that gave me a BMI of 27 and put me in the overweight category. I went to work because truly, challenges are the mother of actions. I did some research and found with every 1 pound of weight loss, the upper number in a blood pressure reading could go down by 1 point. A ten-pound weight loss could lower an upper number by 10 points. “Let us do it,” I said to myself.

So, within 6 months, I lost thirty pounds. And as a result, my blood pressure was as normal as a teenage boy. My looks changed, too. My cheeks went from puffy to sculpted. My friends and family were both excited and worried. I assured them I was okay, and that I did it for my health.

I want my readers to know that I made easy lifestyle changes that did not demand much of my time. For example, instead of frying my eggs, I boiled them. Instead of eating out, I made my own food. Plus, I swapped beer and soda for water and more water. I used the holidays as another occasion to eat healthily and passed on junk food. I traded salt for herbs to season my food. And these little everyday changes made a big overall impact on my weight and my blood pressure.

We all have our different stories, our different life journeys, but I believe lessons can be learned from my experience. I was so happy about my accomplishment that I wrote a book about it, and I encourage you to pick it up. People spend thousands of dollars enrolling in gyms they will never attend and exercise equipment they will never use. But $10 spent on my book could be one of the wisest investments you’ve ever made. Why this book you may ask? Because it is easy to read, full of good advice, and written by someone who actually lost thirty pounds.

Disclaimer: Please consult your doctor if you suffer from high blood pressure. High blood pressure has many reasons, and losing weight may not cure your own hypertension.