chaoticdad

Born in S. California and grew up mostly in the mid-west. Early-on, I was 'chunky' - having to watch my mom buy "husky" jeans when I was a kid. Even then, relatives would say negative things. Through the teen years, I grew taller, so I was "normal" (or even a little on the thin side). I was also very active in sports and weight lifting, so I didn't really pay any attention to any kind of long-term habits that I may or may not be forming. But after high school and into college, the "freedom" of being out on my own resulted in poor decisions and a focus more on school, relationships and work than my health. This led to a balloon of weight gain. Since then, I have been yo-yo-ing with weight gains over 100 pounds and losses from 60-85 pounds and back and forth. As of Jan 2010, I am tipping the scales at 300 pounds. For a 5'9" man, that's morbidly obese. It's time to (1) get some help in the form of a device to limit intake (2) continue my emotional therapy and start dealing with stress in lieu of "eating it" and (3) get on a realistic exercise and active lifestyle mission (not some wacked-out 7 days a week 6 hours a day "biggest loser" type thing, but something that I can work into my family and business schedule - that still keeps me healthy and active).

My wife of over 20 years and my two teenagers are very supportive, but given their completely different metabolism and eating habits, I am looking to this forum for yet another outlet of support, guidance, advice and mind-share. In my business life, I've become very successful because I've leveraged information and resources to make the best decisions to get me "ahead". I view this no differently; I want as much support and information as possible in order to reinforce the decisions that will be necessary to have a healthier life with my family.