Every now and then I get a PM asking me how I have lost so much weight so fast and what do I do for exercise. Let me tell you honestly I have lost a significant amount of weight just by simply doing things that I couldn't do for a very long time. Things that most people do daily.
When I was 488lbs I could hardly stay on my feet for 10 minutes at a time without sever muscle cramps in the back of my legs. I couldn't even walk the grocery store with my Wife. I used to sit in the car and wait for her to do it and then I would get out and help her load the car. We would get home and carry the groceries into the house and I would have to sit and catch my breath, rest my legs before helping her put stuff away. It was no way for a 45 year old man to live.
So to say I lost a lot of weight with no exercise is not completely accurate but the exercise I was getting is stuff that some folks may take for granted and I never will again. At my heaviest everything but sitting and lying down was a task. I was a home body as much as possible and even going out to a movie was a task. I even reached a sad point where taking a shower was a real chore but I did it every day because not taking one is just unacceptable not mention gross.
So as my journey has progressed so has my physical activity but yet I am still having a problem getting in actual exercise and sometimes just a simple walk is hard to get in. Last week I committed to 10 hours of cardio and came up way short not even reaching half. This week same thing I committed to 10 hours of cardio and I didn't get the walk in yesterday. Today I am going and this time no excuses.
Exercise needs to become a daily task just like taking a shower is a daily task....
So far my weight loss has not really started to slow down but I am starting to see the signs that it might. I figure as I am inching closer to goal it will only get more difficult/slow. My initial goal that I was shooting for was to weigh 220lbs. That would still put me into the obese BMI but I can accept 220. I am on track to hitting my goal of 250 for Christmas which I set last Christmas.
Starting to wonder if 199 is possible. Excess skin is really becoming noticeable but there is not much I can do about that. Insurance is not going to cover plastic surgery. So you choose to live with the excess skin or be fat. I'll take the loose skin just as long as I don't start having problems.
Anyway if you read this far then thank you. I hope your day is going well and that your scale is being friendly to you!
415 to under 235 I had to do this twice so Never again and Never forget!
About 8 years ago i found myself over 400 lbs. I wont put blame but I do have to say I was in an abusive relationship with a women that drank.. So I ate and ate and ate some more. I Decided one January morning that everything was going to change. I advised her unless she stopped drinking it was over. SImple as that and i walked out the door of my home in NH and started walking.. Every day i walked and walked a little longer every week i would increase my walking . Well come May I had done away with her and it was all about me at that point. I ended up getting to about 250 lbs on my own. No surgery this time.. I was happy but had a ton of excess skin. I did my legwork and found a plastic surgeon who did 2 seperate surgeries. My Upper body and my lower body. I will say the upper body surgery was not to bad to remove the "man boobs". The Lower Body the Pandectomy procedure was something I would never do again and glad I dont have to.. Very painful procedure and a scar all the way around my body. Im glad I had it done and im glad the second time around my tummy went back to being flat as a board.
So back to my story.. I had both surgeries feeling good no issues and then one day out of the blue, and ill never forget it was a couple of days before Thanksgiving I stopped going to the gym.. Dont ask me why I have no clue why i did this. I was invisible. I was working out 6-7 days per week and felt good and i just stopped! The weight started going back on. You all know the struggles of a YOYO person. Up and down and up and down. Well soon after that my father passed away. Very very mixed emotions and a heavy heart. I balooned back up to 415lbs + or -.. I stayed that way for the last couple of years.. At almost 45 years old I didnt know what to do. I knew I needed help. I didnt think i could do it on my own again. I found Dr Jiser the chief bariatric surgeon at Lowell general Hospital in Ma. He advised me I was a great candidate for the "Sleeve". he said i would see amazing results and the sleeve was slowly catching up to the bypass as far as results go, So I went for it. I started in April at 415lbs. I got down to 372 on Surgery date June 24th 2013. I kissed my wife and my mom and said lets do this. i was dedicated. I worked out and walked and walked and walked and then started lifting weights again. Well here we are Jan 11th 2014 9 months after taking the initial step in April.. I weighed in just the other day at 232lbs. Thats -183lbs in 9 months. Amazing. Even Dr Jiser said i was so far ahead of schedule. i went from a 52inch waist to a 34. I went from a 4x shirt to a large. I am off all medications!!! I will never ever go back. I am happy. all the frightening stupid things that "NORMAL" people can do I can now do. We all know how frightful it was to get on an airplane or go to a show. Nothing worse then needing an extended seat belt or wondering if you would fit in the movie theater seat. Well No More. never ever again will i be worried about having to get an aisle seat so i wouldnt bother the person next to me. i recently went back to Aruba. We go everyyear and the reactions were funny and amazing. Hardly anyone knew who I was. It was funny but it showed me i was such a different person. The weight loss has also opened my eyes to the discrimination we all face or faced. We all know that people looked at us "heavy" people differently.. I have noticed so many people have a different attitude towards me. It is for the better now but it also shows me how my weight before made people discriminate against me. Well here I am about 20lbs from my high school weight. I want so badly to be able to take this and help others. Id love to start a support group.. Id love to be a counselor at say a weight watchers but amazingly enough to do that I would have to weigh about 180lbs. Yes that is not happening. I have never been that low and will never get that low. I would look unhealthy. Im trying to break through and figure out ways to reach out to people in similiar situations and help. This weight loss has changed my whole life. I will never look back but I will never forget!!
