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I'm 40 years old and
feel every bit of it most of the time. I am blessed with a beautiful
wife and a lovely and talented little girl.
I've been heavy all my
life. When I graduated High School, I weighed 212 lbs. I'm about 6'
1" so that wasn't so bad. Then one day, 22 years later I
wake up and I'm 163 lbs heavier than when I got out of High
School!
The weird thing is, I
could go years and never gain or lose more than 5 lbs or so.
Then, I'd have a change in my life and I would add another 10 to 20
lbs rather quickly.
I can look back on my
life and tell you when I gained weight. Whether it was a job change
or relationship change, for some reason I added weight.
I've always been a
pretty active person. I'm an outdoors type of guy, so my hobby's
kept me busy when I wasn't working. I also had very physical jobs in
my younger years; oil field worker, laborer, construction, mechanic,
machine operator, etc. I know this what helped me keep my
weight off when I was younger.
I never really tried
to lose weight purposefully. Well, there was the time when I was
single in my early 20's, but that didn't last longer than a few
months. As usual, I lied to myself. I was only about 20 lbs
overweight then. I'd look in the mirror and say "Nah, you're
not that much overweight, the Babes still dig ya".
Otherwise, I ate
pretty much what I wanted and never gained or loss much weight
unless there was a lifestyle change.
What's funny now is
the lies I kept telling myself (and still do sometimes). I use to
look in the mirror and think "Geez, I'm not so fat, in fact, I
wear my weight goooood". I think the lies are part of a self
preservation program that our body uses. I think of them as coming
from a little fat guy inside me that doesn't want me to lose the
weight.
He's the same one that
makes you look so good in the mirror but terrible in a picture? Why
is that?
The
Rest of the Story
As I've stated earlier, The Biggest Loser Show
really got me to thinking about seriously losing weight. I knew I
could do it if I applied myself. I've been able to accomplish
most things in my life when I put my mind to it.
My wife is also heavy. We discussed our weight and
the need to do something. Something besides talking!
We joined a group at Church. Our little group met
every Monday night to weigh in. The leader of the group had years of
experience counseling people in weight loss programs. We learned a
lot of good eating habits from her and she helped us stay on track.
One thing I quickly learned was that the pressure of
weighing in every week was very motivating. Not only did I not want
to be the "least loser", I wanted to be near the top. I'm
a competitive type person and knew I could finish at the top or darn
near close.
Shortly after we started the Monday night program,
my wife bought me a copy of "The Biggest Loser Workout
DVD" and Book. I watched it a few times from my recliner while
reading the book. (News Flash: The DVD doesn't work well when used
in this fashion!)
I started using the workout routines in my Garage. I
set up my portable DVD player, salvaged the snap together foam
padding that my little girl used to play on and bought me two 5 lb
weights.
My first workouts lasted 20 to 30 minutes at a time.
I just could not handle a 45 minute to 1 hour workout.
We started changing the way we ate. Most of my adult
life I could get along by eating a large breakfast, small lunch (if
I ate lunch at all) and a huge dinner. I learned from The Biggest
Loser Book that I should eat smaller meals more often, so that's
what we did.
I must admit, at first it was hard getting use to
eating more often. It didn't feel "right" to be eating
every 2 to 3 hours, no manner how small the portions.
The
First Weigh In
The week preceding the first weigh in, I got 3
workouts in. They lasted anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. I kept my
calorie intake between 2000 and 2500 calories a day. I started my
mornings off with a bottle of water, then before work I would have
two Eggo Nutra Grain waffles or a Palm Beach Breakfast Taco. (around
200-250 calories) I took a baggie of mixed nuts/raisins/craisins for
my between meal snack. Since I was on the go constantly, I'd stop at
a fast food place and get a salad or at Chic Fi Let and get a
grilled chicken sandwich with the fruit cup.
I was nervous the first night of the weigh in. I
could tell I'd lost some weight, but I didn't know how much. So I
stepped on the scales and watched our Leaders face light up as she
read the scales. She wrote the number on the card and showed me. 10
POUNDS, I'D LOST 10 FREAKIN' POUNDS IN A WEEK!!
Boy, was I on cloud nine!
I was psyched. Every week after that I posted a 3 to
7 lb weight loss. My weight loss was tied to the amount of time I
spent working out. I could post huge losses when I worked out 3 or
more times a week for 20 to 30 minutes.
I started looking for things to do around our home.
I have 5 acres plus my yard, so I dug in and was doing all kinds of
physical yard work on my days off. Anything I could find to help me
burn a few more calories I jumped right in.
After a few weeks, I bumped my workout time to 45
minutes to an hour. I posted another 10 lb weight loss that week.
After a month, I had lost 32 lbs!!! Man, I can not tell you how good
I felt! Try holding 4 - 1 gallon milk jugs full of water. That is
how much weight I lost!
Weight
Loss Leveling Off
Well, about 6 week into our Church group meeting,
our Leader was diagnosed with a terminal illness. She could not make
our weight loss meetings any longer and we could not find a replacement, so the
meetings were cancelled. I was sad to see them go. I figured I would
just keep up with my weight loss program.
It wasn't to be so.
I started back sliding to my old ways. My workouts
became fewer and fewer until I stopped doing them, I could find more
excuses not do them, so I didn't. Then the weather warmed up and
turned my unconditioned Garage into a Sauna. It's hard to workout in
a 95 degree Garage!
I could feel the weight slowly start creeping back
on. I didn't let go of all my new habits, I still start my day with
a bottle of water and try to drink between 1/2 to 1 gallon a day.
Before starting my program, I was lucky if I drank a gallon a month!
It's been a few months since I've worked out. My
work schedule doesn't allow me to run down to a gym and work out so
I get one here at home. I put on about 12 lbs of the weight I loss.
I'm not happy about it.
I yearn to get back to losing weight. I found that I
actually miss weigh in and the workouts. Most importantly, I miss
the way I felt when I was losing weight!
Now your up to speed. I'm struggling with the idea
of buying an air conditioner for my Garage. I want to get back to my
workouts and my eating habits. I need a group to be accountable to.
So, I figured the internet would be a good place to start. I know
there a millions of people just like me who want to get this damned
weight off once and for good. My wife and I are searching for a TOPS
group to join (www.tops.org). The problem is finding one that
we can make with our schedules.
If peer pressure can cause people to do stupid
things, then it can also motivate us to do good things!
What
Were Some of The Changes I Noticed?
You know, I really didn't think I would notice much
change. Actually, I didn't think about the changes until one day I
had some extra room in my pants. After the 1st week, my wife kept
commenting on how she could already tell a difference. I figured she
was just saying that.
Then I noticed I kept having to take my belt up more
and more. I got to tell you, I really liked that! The best part was
when I was able to pull my pants up, with them buttoned and zipped
up!!! I knew it was time for a size smaller pants! I was in a
Wal-Mart one day and my jean shorts kept falling down around my
hips. They would have fell off if I hadn't held them. Do you know
how it must look for a fat guy trying to keep his shorts from
falling down over his hips while walking through Wal-Mart? I'm sure
every Security Camera they had must have been on me. I could just
hear them; "Hey Bob, check this fat guy out on isle 3, look how
he's walking". "Yeah, I see him, I don't know if he
just shoved a bag of Cookies down his pants or if he has to go to
the john real bad".
I never went out again without putting on my belt!
I noticed after about a week that I had more energy.
Not a little, a lot! I told my wife that I had been lethargic before
starting my diet and working out. I had actually wanted to do
things, but I was too tired or just didn't feel up to doing it. Now
I was looking for things to do and the lethargic feeling left. I
guess the old saying is true "You have to use Energy if you
want Energy". I was amazed at how just a little working out
improved my energy levels.
I also slept really well and would actually wake up
refreshed. Something I hadn't done in a long time. I actually
believed that I was showing signs of being a borderline diabetic and
probably had some stage of sleep apnea.
One of the biggest changes was that I didn't wake up
in the middle of the night with heartburn or have reflux episodes
after I changed my eating habits started working out. I would
literally go through a bottle of Tums (r) in less than a month in
many cases. Before starting my program, my nightly routine started
by me laying 3 or 4 tablets on my night stand so I could easily
reach them in the night.
Let me clarify, the reflux episodes (when you're
woke up in the middle of the night by reflux coming up in your
throat) or heartburn didn't become less after starting my routine,
THEY STOPPED ALTOGETHER!
There were other changes. Like my old tennis shoes
fitting, being able to bend over in my small shower and wash my feet
(used a back brush prior to that), plus I noticed the gap between my
belly and the steering wheel grow and grow. What a measuring stick!
Now that the weight is creeping back on, I notice my
lethargic-ness creeping back also. I truly miss the way I felt when
I worked out and ate properly. I now know what it feels like to
actually "Feel Good" and I know what it feels like to
"kinda feel good because I'm fat". There is no doubt the
way I want to feel and that is Smaller and Good! It's time to start the
Biggest Loser weigt loss again! |
