B/2/2/2
Body Type:
B
Start Weight:
270
Current Weight:
199
Goal Weight:
200
Posts: 116
Joined: 6/29/2005
Status:
offline
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All of my doctors since high school had told me to lose weight and exercise so I did what any invincible 20 something on his own would do, I stopped going! After all I could ride my bike and go for walks. I even bungee jumped once. I rode jet skis with my buddy in Northern California. I went camping and would go for hikes or swim. I was healthy right? Yes, except for the fact that I would break into a sweat by just getting up out of a chair. The bungee jumping guy needed to go get the heavy-duty cord so I could go. When I went to buy a wet suit to jet ski the sales girl said, "Sure go try to try it on. There is a jar of Vaseline in the changing room so you can squeeze in." All of this hurt and all of it should have told me to change my lifestyle. It didn't. I laughed whenever someone tried to be serious about health. I hid behind humor to mask how upset I was about my weight. I would say things like, "Sure, I could afford to lose ten or seventy pounds" or "If I knew I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself."
20 years later and the good news is that I developed a pretty good sense of humor. The bad news is that I seriously neglected my weight and my health to the point where I had to take blood pressure medication and I didn't want to do anything that involved activity. I was taking so many antacids that my mother-in-law gave me two bottles of the newest type as a gift. She wasn't being mean. I needed them. It didn't even occur to me that it wasn't normal to get medicine as a gift. A friend told me that the best way to eat was to "graze" or eat all the time. That might work for some unless you "graze" on Snickers, Cheez Its, and Girl Scout Thin Mints. To steal a line from a comedian whose name I forget, "The funniest thing ever written was on a container of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Servings per container: 4!!" I didn't realize it at the time but it had been years since I had felt hungry. When I saw food I would eat. I was an adult, I had food, it tasted good, bring it on! Once in a while I would try a diet that extolled the virtues of things like drinking coffee and eating grapefruit for ten days. I even tried skipping meals and not eating all day until I got home. Only to pig out on whatever was around when I got home. It obviously was counterproductive.
People always recognized me. On the street, in stores, people that I hadn't seen in a long time everyone said the same thing, "You look the same." I always thought I looked the same as I did in high school but I guess I was deluded. I was always a "big guy" and, as a kid, when I would shop for clothes with my mom I can never remember buying anything that didn't say "husky." The adult version of this is "big and tall." I was wearing tight size 42 pants and started to look at 44. I wore at least XXL in shirts and sweatshirts. I even had a few 3XL. They were comfy. People described me as fluffy. I should have said that fluff doesn't weigh this much. What I did was laugh.
The day I stopped laughing is when I took my family to the movies. This is one of my favorite activities. It's inside with air conditioning, it requires no movement, and I can usually find a movie that will make me laugh. No problem, until the day I took my family and I couldn't get comfortable in the seat. It took me only a second to realize that I couldn't get comfortable because no matter what I did my posterior was touching both sides of the seat. I had to squeeze myself in between the armrests. That was my rock bottom (no pun intended - well, ok, maybe I intended it a little).
I didn't know what to do. While watching TV one Saturday morning (my second favorite activity - no air conditioning) I saw a group of people sitting on a couch and talking to a woman about something. Had I known it was an infomercial I would probably have changed the channel since I am still smarting from not being able to learn how to play the piano overnight, but that is a different story. The people looked normal. They were talking about Michael Thurmond and this program that helped them lose weight while eating more and exercising less. OK, right, NEXT!! But no, something made me keep watching. I liked that the people were NOT jocks who were born in a gym and ate nothing but bean sprouts and wheat grass until they showed up to pose, smear on baby oil, and read a script. These people looked genuine and honest and the program, with its individualized nature appealed to me. It appealed to me, that is, until my wife woke up and asked what I was watching. Click. "Nothing." Long story short (I know - too late) she gave me the go ahead to order it and still I resisted until I saw it about a week later at work and ordered it in the privacy of my classroom.
THE INFOMERCIAL AND THOSE MATERIALS CHANGED MY LIFE! I got the package a few days later. I figured out my type, B, and jumped in with both feet and all my taste buds. Drank my water, ate many times a day, took a walk four times a week, stayed away from things I shouldn't have and expected to send the program back in 5 and a half weeks so I could get my money back. At the end of the first week I had lost about 11 pounds. "Water weight" was what the scoffers said. Week two I was down 16 pounds. "Big guys lose faster than people who just need to lose a little" was the second thing I heard. Week four I was down 28 pounds and it would have taken Michael Thurmond and all the people in the infomercial to pry this program from my hands. It took me less time to make it to my goal of losing 70 pounds than I planned for losing 40! Now I hear things like, "You are done. Stop losing weight or you will be too skinny!" I had NEVER been called anything even close to skinny unless it was someone teasing me.
People who I have worked with for years didn't recognize me when I rolled up my sleeves and put on a hat for Halloween. Neighbors I have known for decades introduced themselves to me. People are asking my wife, "Who is that man I saw you with?" It is really amazing how much it has changed my appearance and my outlook. Now I am walking and running. I have even run 13 miles in one stretch. That's a half marathon!! It is really amazing and I am really thankful! I really did eat more to lose weight! It doesn't make sense when you first hear it but it is true. Either that or you think, "Too good to be true" and pass on to the next show. The doctor told me to stop taking blood pressure medicine, I go on hikes with the family, and I have to buy sweaters because I am no longer hot all the time. I am spending less money on gas because I am no longer hauling around 70 extra pounds and also because I am riding my bicycle to work several days a month. My accomplishment hits me every once in a while in very tangible ways. The time I realized that I had lost more weight than my son weighs. The time I picked up three bowling ball bags and thought, "Yup, lost more than this." And last but not least when I hug my wife. We are closer than ever, literally!
It is amazing to me how foods have changed for me. I went from meat and potatoes to vegetables and salt free cooking. From beef and pork to chicken, turkey, and fish. When I snack on something now I choose sugar snap peas from the fresh veggie aisle and I consider a handful of raisins my "junk food" vice instead of buying the two pound bag of M &M's as a single sitting snack. I thought there was no way I could give up the love of my life, garlic bread, (I am a good Italian boy after all) but I find that it just isn't something that I want anymore. Still love the garlic but hate all that grease! Makes my stomach churn. I remember going to a barbecue at church and thinking that I would be able to eat a sausage since I made it to goal and didn't need to be as careful all the time. Without the gory details let's just say that my body was not pleased with that choice. Once I started eating healthy foods my body changed. Whenever I tried a little of a food I used to eat regularly it would show in some way. The sausage - Yuck, barbecue chips - headache, piece of pizza - thirsty all night. I can't believe that I was able to ignore all these things before.
All told I went from size 42 pants to size 33. I now buy large shirts but will get mediums if they look like they are "made big." I lost 71 pounds, 52 inches, 1 prescribed medication, and several destructive food cravings. I also lost 10 pounds of my wife (due to secondhand weight loss). I gained an active life, energy, the amusement of wondering why that guy is staring at me until I realize that it is me and a mirror, and many other intangibles that are too numerous and far reaching to mention. Thank you very much for this program and I would like to say that if you stick to it you will lose weight. If the bread loving, ice cream craving, chocoholic like me can do it, you can too!
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