75 lbs in 2 & 1/2 months (Still long road ahead)

dhaemon · October 2014

I want to share to everyone a story about me that continues today.

On August 4th me and my wife started our weight loss journey.

People deal with depression and anxiety in different ways. Me it was food. Ever since Junior High I was a big person. My Anxiety stemmed from my shyness in school, low self esteem and my attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

So I ate to feel better, at least that is what I kept telling myself. Little did I know that overeating was adding pounds, which in turn was creating more shyness/anxiety.

So lets skip a few years, well maybe a lot of years. Early this summer, I noticed my feet swelling and I was too tired to even push Zachary(My son) on the swing. I felt horrible, pathetic. I wanted to change and my best friend, my wife, jumped on board with this change.
I literally said to my wife "I want to be around for Zachary when he gets older and enjoy being outside with our family". "I don't want to die young".

I wasn't going to do some special fad. Been there done that. I was just simply going to count calories and exercise. Because, simply put, I am a meat and potatoes guy and that is not going to change.

I still remember my first day starting my weight loss journey and wanting to give up. I looked at Zachary and realized that I can do this. Not only for him and Dana, but for me as well.
When I began to exercise, my feet started to kill me. So bad that I barely could get out of bed. I soon realized I developed Plantar Fasciitis. Simply put, I had too much weight for my feet to support while walking.

So I turned to swimming. Boy was that difficult. Going shirtless? Hell no!
But with my wifes support, I got over that fear. Seriously though, what was I teaching Zachary, give up when you feel embarrassed? That is such a bad reason not to exercise.
I broke through that wall and now I swim a lot and I feel great!

After my first month of weight loss, I decided to go to the doctor to get some bloodwork done to check for diabetes.
Turns out I don't and caught it in time! No going back now!

75 days (Just over 2 months) later and here I am. What are my results so far?
75 lbs lost!
That's right, 75 pounds, no longer in my body.

To put that into perspective....

1) $34019 US dollar bills (around $453 per pound)
2) Average Alaskan Malamute Husky Dog
3) Average Weight of 11 year old boy
4) 100 cans of Beer
5) a little less than a bag of concrete
6) 2 1/2 cinder blocks
7) 12 1/2 red bricks
8) 300 apples
9) 37,500 plain M&Ms
10) 5 High Performance Racing Bicycles
11) 247.5 Wigs
12) 960 Matchbox cars
13) 300 average weight kittens
14) 1440 AA Batteries
15) 3600 comic books
16) Around 54 bibles
17) 4037 gum balls
18) 300 Sticks of Butter
19) 5-10 Large Hams
20) 262,500 Bees

Some day I will tell Zachary my story. I'll show him the pictures of me when I was at my biggest. I hope he will take it as a lesson that no matter who you are, what you feel or how old, never let food dictate who you are and decide what you will become. You can achieve great things when you put your mind to it and have the support and love from family and friends.

One piece of advice. Someone cannot force you to lose weight. YOU have to make that decision yourself.

caranais · October 2014

amazing. Fantastic story and great comparisons too. Your son will grow to be very proud of such a determined, loving father I'm sure. He's a lucky boy.

mgcarrillo · October 2014

Congratulations! Not just for your weight loss, which is awesome, but for successfully surmounting the emotional blocks that make getting healthy so difficult at times. I'm inspired.