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Before/After
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A244
Body Type:
A
Start Weight:
354
Current Weight:
242
Goal Weight:
225
Posts: 133
Joined: 2/12/2004
Status:
offline
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"Hi...my name is Rob...and I've been overweight my entire life." It may sound like the beginning of an "anonymous" meeting, but I cannot think of any other way to start an essay about the effect 6WBMO has had on me than that.
HOW I GOT HERE
My parents were both overweight during my childhood. In fact, dad was a meat cutter by trade, and we ate lots of red meat! Steaks and potatoes laden with butter were a regular feature at the dinner table. And, we were encouraged to "clean our plates." There are, after all, kids starving in China, so we should never let food go to waste.
As a child I heard all the "fat jokes". I can remember the first time I went "back to school" shopping with my mom and bought jeans that were labeled, "husky." I wasn't sure what it meant, but I knew they looked different than the ones marked "slim."
By junior high I had gained a number of nicknames. The basketball coach liked to call me "Sky" - because I couldn't jump real high. On other days, he would substitute "Porkchop" as a play on my last name and because I looked like I had had my fair share of them. I recall once during wind sprints the coach suggested I imagine a "Big Mac" at the other end of the court, assuring me that if I did, I would outrun all the other kids.
In high school, the pain of the nicknames was replaced by a slow realization that my dating life was in paradoxical proportion to my waist size. The bigger my waist got, the smaller my dating life became.
Throughout junior high and high school my mom tried to help me loose a few pounds by making my lunch, etc. Her efforts were well intentioned, but did not take into account my body type, or, the inconsistency of eating tuna and cottage cheese for lunch, followed by steak and potatoes for dinner. My weight fluctuated a bit, but I always ended up gaining back far more weight than I ever lost.
My college years were some of the best and worst of my life. During that first year I gained 40 pounds, certainly not a good start to my college career. Over that summer I met my wife, Susy, and we were married in the fall of 1989...things were beginning to look up! But, over the next three years, eating too much pre-packaged food and getting no meaningful exercise, I managed to gain nearly 100 more pounds. By the time I left college, I weighed nearly 350 lbs.
Over the next 10 years, I tried every diet in the book. In fact, I tried some that you can't find in books! While at the YMCA I was approached by a guy selling "Diet Cookies." This was sort of the cookie version of slim fast - which I also tried and failed...three times. I remember my experiments with Weight Watchers, the Cabbage Soup diet, the Mayo Clinic diet, a religious based program called First Place. In every case, I lost a few pounds, leveled off, and began to gain back more weight. And, every time I failed, I became more convinced that it was simply my lot in life to be fat.
A FINAL ATTEMPT
My final diet attempt came with the Adkins Diet. I had heard rave reviews about this plan and thought it was right up my alley, so to speak. I mean, who couldn't love eating all the red meat you want! So, during the summer of 1999 I gave it a shot. I started Adkins at 335 pounds and lost 30 pounds very quickly. Of course, I also ended up becoming very sick. My blood sugar plummeted to dangerously low levels. I had to return to "regular food" and, gained back all of the weight I lost - with interest!
My experience with Adkins dealt my psyche a pretty strong blow. If "everyone else" in America could lose weight with this plan except me, maybe I was just destined to be fat.
I considered having Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Early in the summer of 2003, I sent for material from a place in St. Louis that performs such surgeries, but couldn't get past the notion that such a step would be admitting my inability to control my food intake. Besides, I couldn't afford it financially and was frightened by the risk of surgery. In a funny bit of irony, they continued to send me material until three months ago; when I called them and informed them I had lost over 100 lbs. They asked me who did the surgery and I told them Michael Thurmond...of course, I explained the 6WBMO. They were speechless.
So, I settled in for a lifetime of obesity. This type of thinking culminated with a moment that will forever live in my memory. It was September 2003 and I was helping my parents with a remodeling job - they are remodeling contractors. My sister and mother were in the driveway talking about their latest diet attempts when I chimed in with my opinion.
"Nothing works," I told them, "and I don't care anymore. Bury me in a piano case if you need to, but I'm going to eat what I want." My mother was extremely upset with me and challenged my attitude.
"Look," I told her, "I try to eat right, I gain weight...I eat what I want, I gain weight...bottom line, you gotta eat, so, I might as well eat what I want and let the chips fall where they may."
"Besides," I lied, "I am happy with who I am." The truth was that I couldn't have been more unhappy.
A SAD REALIZATION
On Halloween Night, 2003, my wife and I were planning an overnight getaway to celebrate our anniversary. We stopped by my parent's house to drop off our kids, and were planning to head to the hotel. I had no idea how that weekend would change my life.
That night my nephew Aiden was on the floor in the living room crying about something. It was nothing major, just a little guy in need of some TLC. My dad - Aiden's grandpa - sat in his recliner and called to Aiden to come over to him. My dad couldn't go to him, because he weighs over 400 lbs. As I watched this scene unfold I knew I was headed in the same direction. I would be my dad, someday. I had lived half my life as clinically obese and knew that someday I would approach 400 lbs and would be unable to offer comfort to my children or grandchildren when they needed it. In fact, if I didn't change something, I might never even meet them.
That night Susy and I went to the local shopping mall and out to dinner. At the mall I stopped in the bathroom and jumped on the "quarter scale." You know, the kind of scale that gives you your weight and six lotto numbers for $0.25. I hadn't been on a scale in a while (most don't go high enough) and was anxious to see the results. I don't remember the lotto numbers, but the weight blew my mind - 352 lbs!
6WBMO!!!
The next morning, as my wife was getting ready and I was channel surfing, I saw the Makeover America infomercial for 6WBMO. While I thought the premise was good, I have to admit I was skeptical. After the Cookie Diet and similar fiascos, I was prepared for a gimmick. But, Susy convinced me that she had heard good things about 6WBMO and that I should give it a try. This was the first time in our marriage she had ever strongly suggested that I order any type of diet plan. What I didn't know - couldn't know - is that she had been praying for me to get serious about my weight for years, but couldn't figure out how to bring it up without hurting me.
While she put the finishing touches on her make-up, I ordered the material. I have to be honest, I didn't believe it was legit. I assumed that the test results were rigged, so that everyone testing would come out that same, and have to order a special food / supplement from Provida to "really" lose weight. I honestly believed I would try it for six weeks, it would fail, and I would get my money back. How's that for initial commitment!?
When the material arrived, I put the test to the test. I had Susy take the test, also. Now, understand, Susy is 5'3" and weighs 124 lbs. When I met her, Susy was 5'3" and weighed 124 lbs! She is a picture of health and fitness. I, on the other hand, am not. If the test were legitimate, we should not end up with the same body type. If not, it was going back. Well...I tested an "A", Susy tested and "E"! We couldn't be further apart - and that was right on the money! Way to go Michael Thurmond!
I figured if Provida got the test right, maybe they got the diet right, too. So, I committed to being POP (Perfect on Plan) - even though I didn't know what that meant - for six weeks. If it didn't work, I'd get my money back...if it did, I'd keep going.
MY PLAN
I created a chart for my progress over the course of a year, planning to lose no more than 2 lbs per week. My goal was to lose 100 pounds or so between November 10, 2003 and December 31, 2004. Since I was starting during the Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year's food fest, I thought I should be conservative in my goal setting.
I also committed to weighing in every Monday morning at the county health department. They have a calibrated scale that is never moved, so it is very accurate. For my plan, I decided not to exercise until I hit my first week of < 2 lbs lost. That way, the exercise would help eliminate the typical plateau period.
I also devised a set of sayings to remind myself about the importance of what I was doing. When I would eat a smaller portion and leave food on my plate, I was often reminded of that childhood saying about food going to waste. So, I would tell people, "All food goes to waste or waist, you decide which one."
To battle the idea that losing weight and dieting are restrictive, I told people, "You gotta eat, you might as well eat food that helps your body rather than hurts it."
To those who tried to tell me obesity was all genetic I replied, "I didn't choose my inherited genes, but I can do something about the size of my store bought jeans."
MY SUCCESS
I've been following the 6WBMO eating guidelines since November of 2003 and have lost 110 lbs. That total was reached in 8 months time between Nov 2003 - July 2004! I have been living at this level for well over a year now with no setbacks. This is the longest I have ever maintained a weight loss and I expect it to continue. I still eat according to plan and still weigh in every week - on Tuesday now - too many Monday holidays!
In September of 2004 I ran in my first 5K race. I didn't win...but I finished a 3.1 mile race! In September of 2005 I completed my second 5K.
So, there it is...from over 350 to running a 5K in less than a year. If I did it...you can do it, too!
Rob
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