SubVet688

Who am I? I am a Dad, Husband, and a Submarine Veteran. I have fought my weight since I can remember. The battle was hard, but a LOT easier when I was younger. I have tried one diet or another throughout my life; shakes, bars, meals, weight watchers, calorie counting, etc. They all work to a point, then you go off of them, because life is not about painstakingly tracking every bit of food going into your mouth, counting your steps, calculating your calorie burn, weighting your food, jumping through endless hoops that only show progress at the cost of everything else in your life. As I age that progress is slower and slower.
 
At one time I weighed close to if not at 400lbs. I woke up to this when I stepped on a scale that maxed out at 350lbs. It scared me. First thing I did was cut ALL processed sugars out of my diet. I actually went through DT tremmors from this. I guess a twelve pack of regular soda has a bit of sugar in it. I minimized the effects eating fruit, but then cut back slowly to a more normal intake. I discovered I was damned near 400lbs when I started after I joined a gym to start walking on the treadmill. The gym had a digital scale that had a high enough cappacity to accurately weigh me. I had already dropped some noticable weight and when I weighed there I was at 390lbs.
 
By cuttting out all processed sugars, walking regularly at the gym, counting my calories and how much I burned, I was doing well losing 2-3 lbs a week. I hit 330lbs and was frozen there for over a month. I re-evaluated and went to weight-watchers. For some reason this broke my platough. I was able to lose another 40 some pounds. The lowest I got was 288lbs. Over 100lbs lost in about a year and a half.
 
This is not as great as it sounds. I platoughed again. I was ALWAYS HUNGRY! Every day was a flipping struggle with no benifit other than frustration. The good thing is I learned healthy eating habits. A blanced diet and no processed sugar. The bad thing is I stopped counting and logging, and the regimental pain in the ass dieting. I ate balanced and I still walked every day for exercise, but I did not stress or count or WORK at it anymore. This was back in about 2005.
 
It was a slow process gaining it back. At least slower than some. Bit by bit I lost track. About five years later I was back up to 375lbs. I went back on the wagon again, but would platough at 330lbs. I never had the currage to tighten up again to drop my weight. See I got so discuraged with how hard it was to lose and then how hard to maintain. It is tough wondering if it is all worth it, My life focus had to be on weight loss and that is it. Imagine going through life with your main focus losing weight and not living.
 
So now it is five years later and I maintain between 350 and 360 lbs. I have to work at that, too. I physically have other problems as well. I can't walk for exercize due to Plantar Fasciitis. My main means of exercise that I can do when I have time in short bursts or long walks, whenever and wherever is out. Now if I want exercise I have to block out at least 30 min, at the gym for the machines that don't hurt my feet, or for the pool to swim. Not even remotely as flexible as walking. So here I sit looking at bariatric surgery to reset my clock. Make it easier to lose at first and then easier to maintain I pray.