Never too late to make a change

SmileyMarliG

There was a time in my life when I felt that my life was on a predestined course, and I was helpless to the horrors that awaited me. I lived through a period of religious, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. In addition to these things, I suffered from a medical reaction that cause pulmonary embolisms that almost ended my life. This one event made me begin to look at my life. I determined that I was more valuable than my situations. I got out of my situation, which unfortunately meant shedding relationships with people who were dangerous to my health and well-being. I lost my relationship with my parents in the process of making life changes, and it still hurts me when I think about it.
It has been 3 years since my life changed for the better. It has been 3 years since I allowed myself to be used and mistreated. It has been three years since I made the decision to live my one life without regret. I have lost 26 lbs and my heart rate and blood pressure have gone down significantly. I found the love of my life, who in spite of my troubled life, sees my value and worth. I decided to share my story and open this discussion because if a person like me, who lived a life to please everyone else, can make changes to improve her life, then you can too. I would love to hear your stories of triumph and success!

Endless_Journey

So this Endless Journey started 1,000 days ago. It was a Friday, got home, went upstairs to change, came back down and then something happened. I had to sit down, sweat pouring down me, struggling to breath and had chest pains. my body was telling me that all was not well. The pains got worse so decided to visit my doctor. She sent me to the ER straight away, I was very quickly seen by a Consultant who carried out tests. I did not want to tell my wife as she was at work. The consultant called me in and said very simply, that if I did not change my lifestyle, he gave me five more years. very simply I was killing myself. Going back to my car, I realised now that life is not a rehearsal, I needed to act now. My Journey has now started.
After tellng my wife, she said that only I could change this and of course she was right. I grabbed the laptop and sat down. So how was I killing myself?, for one week I wrote down how much I was eating and drinking. The results were frightening I was consuming up to 4,000 calories a day, add that to the fact I was not even exercising, nothing more to say. My weight was 276lbs, pulse rate 77. My blood pressure was normal.
A new diet was planned, out went hamburgers, take aways, junk food. No more drinking alcohol, and eating between meals. The fridge was completely emptied and replaced with fresh fruit, vegetables, salads, chicken, fish. Cans of coke were replaced with bottled water. Extreme you might say but time was not on my side. Eating beteween meals was a problem so each morning I would get a bowl and chop up some melon, apples, raisins, add some celery, nuts and raisins. Now whenever I was hungry instead of having crisps or chocolate I would reach for the bowl. Drinking water before each meal helped to curb my appertite.
Ok thats the diet sorted but now exercise, being so overweight this was not going to be easy. I just started going out for walks around the block, the first time after twenty minutes I had to stop I was so out of breath. But gradually as each day passed i just incresased it. Weight loss was slow so i checked my diet, reducing my intake to 1200 calories, this suited me but may not suit everybody. My BMI was 49% so the body had enough fat to live off. The next stage of getting fit, I decided to purchase a mountain bike. OMG what a sight seeing me trying to cycle, confidence was low, and made worse by other cyclists making nasty comments, this just made me more determined. I was hooked on cycling and went out every day increasing the time I spent out on the road. The same cyclists passing me by asking if I wanted a push. My time would come.
My weight was starting to melt away and i started to feel good about myself so the next stage was to invest in a road bike. I did this and started cycling furtther and further. Ok 2014 was not good i got knocked off my bike no less than four times, but was determined to carry on. Easter this year I decided to enter a road race, a 130km race. The weather conditions were the worst I had encountered but was determined to complete the course. Oh so what happened about those cyclists who were so cruel to me I can here you ask? The next time i went out on the road I saw them in front of me approaching a hill. As they started to cycle up it they were all breathless, I pulled along side them and said. would you like a push? I then left them struggling, looking over my shoulder they knew who I was.
So 105lbs lighter and a healthy pulse rate of 45, BMI now 25.5, everything was going good. Until about 12 weeks ago, after a long cycle I returned home feeling unwell ok I thought it was caused by the long cycle but it was not. After a visit to the doctor and some blood tests, I was sent to ER to see a consultant. Who just by looking at me suggested I may have Kidney Cancer, leaving the room my wife just looked at me with tears in her eyes. Comforting her I said lets see what the scans show. Two days later, after two scans the best results ever, I did not have cancer. There was however a problem with my Kidneys. I have been told that an operation will cure the problem, I am still training only after speaking to the surgeon. I have a 160km cycle planned for November this year which I should be fit enough to compete.
One final thing to mention. Not only has my wife stood by me and supported me but also my MFP friends. in my early days when I was not eating enough and over training there was one friend who has followed my Journey for a long time and has just been there. That special friend is Dorothy. What can I say about her, she has been very supportive, critical, and not afraid to give me a virtual kick when needed. There have been times when I could of easily thrown all my hard work away. But I knew Dorothy was there supporting me. Sometines I would not be on the site for a while but she would send a message asking If I was ok. What more can I say apart from Thank you so much:)
Thank you for letting me share my Journey with you all. It is an Endless journey and it will continue. Remember, life is not a rehearsal, you do not get a second chance, so dont waste it. Your body is a temple so look after it.
Good luck