My Story so far

tinger12

Hello,

I have read many comments in the Community area from people struggling, achieving, and questioning everything in their personal effort to become healthier. I am one such person.

I have been on a 20 year quest to conquer many issues that has made my life a miserable chore. 30 days ago I decided, at age 53, enough was enough. So I visited my doctor and came up with a plan that I have been able to follow and complete for 30 days as of yesterday. Today I marked that first 30 days with a small reward, a beer.

In 2003 I had ballooned to an incredible 585 pounds (by the way I am 6'2"). Needless to say life was hard. Then I had chest pains and a mild heart attack. After a quad-bypass and some great after care I managed to lose about 200 pounds. I topped all this off with severe depression that I coped with by stuffing my face with food. Depression is a difficult problem to handle because everyone is affected by many types of depression. Controlling one's depression is a study in medications, therapy, and personal understanding. It is never the same between people. In the end I shot back up to 490 pounds as of July 4th of this year.

I struggle with walking as I have let myself get to the point of both knees being bad, both hips being bad, and other aches and pains. The good thing is my vitals have been constantly good over these past 12 years since the bypass. But I needed to recover my life again. I set a long term goal to be able to ride a bike again. Not a special bike for obese people, but I wanted to buy and ride a regular bike again. So, I set out on July 6th to make it happen.

I have my short term goals that I have setup for myself and reached the first one yesterday. I followed very focused diet and change in eating habit that has provided approximately 15-20 pound weight loss. I eat every 3 hours so I don't get overly hungry. I eat one serving of protein, 2-3 servings of mostly green vegetables, one service of complex carbs every meal. I use butter and regular salad dressing for when needed. I don't shy away from them as they are my main source of fats. You may disagree with their consumption, but for me it keeps my on track. I have averaged 1800-1900cal a day with some days more and some days less. Yeah, MFP has figured I need to eat more (something like 2950/day) but I cannot eat that much. And yes I have tried with my current plan. So I hit my comfort level and showed my doctor my diary and we both agree that for now it appears I am getting enough to sustain myself.

At this point since I am still struggling with mobility, even in my own home, additional exercise is quite limited but it will be added upon improvement of my weight loss and mobility. My next short term goal is my 90 day mark. I am confident with the plan my doctor has laid out and that I am able to follow it with minimal stress and frustration. After I reach that, I will make another short term goal that I feel is reachable. All until I can reach my first long term goal of that bike ride.

I don't normally get involved with discussions with strangers, but I felt after reading the stories here that mine might give some inspiration to those who feel their goals may seem impossible to get to. I figure I have quite a way to go myself. I may stumble, I may fail at times, but I hope my fortitude will carry me through to my goals. "I'm getting too old for this!" Don't let the comments from others whose goals seem far less than yours stop or discourage you. Don't worry what others think or their own struggles. Those of us with a long road ahead need to keep focus on ourselves and what road we are on.

I wish everyone the best in their own quest for bettering themselves. I am confident that I may just conquer my issues in the months to come.

tinger12

Well I just found out from my doctor that I didn't start this change at 490 pounds, but I was actually 540 pounds! I was 50 pounds heavier than I thought. I asked why she didn't tell me the correct weight. She said that it was her mistake. She was really stressed that day and had just had a difficult conversation with another overweight patient. She believes she got her numbers messed up and was quite sorry for the incorrect number.

I had asked her to weigh me with a large scale as her normal one was not able to handle me. Since I am so big I could not read the number (damn belly) and she wrote it down correctly at 540.2 pounds and then when I asked she said 490.2.

I am not angry at her as she is an awesome doctor. It also doesn't depress me to the point of not continuing. I just need to reset and move forward.

Madwife2009

I was really moved by your story, you've already overcome so many issues and the weight loss is just one more that you will be successful with. Depression is such a difficult problem but I am so glad that your doctor's mistake hasn't put you off your determination to lose weight. I wish you well