2010 has been a year of big changes for me

IAmDanMarshall

Hey guys, I figured I'd post this since I've been putting it off.

*waves*

I'm Dan. I'll be 30 years old on the 29th of this month. I was a skinny kid until my dad died when I was 9, then I went candy crazy and spent the rest of my youth as a fat kid. When I graduated high school, I weighed over 300 pounds. Through some massive changes in my life, I dropped down to about 180 back in 2001. Then I got married (and later divorced) and gained it all back around 2003-2004. That's my background, and I was slowly creeping back up to that 300+ mark.

Let me tell you about my year so far.

In mid-April, I quit a 10 year pack a day smoking habit. I had tried to quit several times before and failed, and decided to bite the bullet and get a prescription for Chantix (even though I was hesitant due to potential psychological side effects from the drug). I took it for only 1 month, and decided to stop taking that as well. Actually, tomorrow is my 6 month anniversary, and I have not had one single cigarette since 4/14.

I quit drinking coffee. There are no words to describe how big of a deal this was for me. I grew up next to one of the best coffee shops in Ohio (Staufs, for any of you Columbus folk), so when I switched from coffee to tea for the first few days I wondered if the world would end. I then quit drinking tea, as well as soda, and now primarily drink water with the occasional fresh squeezed juice or green smoothie.

I continued to eat poorly, and I work in IT so I have very little activity at my job. In August, my girlfriend and I joined a gym. It is the first gym membership I've ever had. We get up at 5AM and hit the gym before work, and try to go 5 days a week (M-F), although we do slack sometimes and skip a few days here and there.

Next, I decided to change my diet. My girlfriend and I transitioned to a vegetarian diet on 8/23, and then to an entirely vegan diet on 9/20. The first day we went to the gym I weighed 278 pounds. Today, I am down to 255. We also try to take a walk every day after dinner. This gives us time to talk, hold hands, enjoy the weather, digest our dinner, and burn some calories.

My main motivation has been my awesome girlfriend, with whom I'd like to live a long and happy life, AND I want to be good looking again like I used to be ;-) I'm also tired of people at work and other places calling me "big guy"... like "Hey, big guy, how ya doin?" I know it's not meant to be hurtful, but you never hear a skinny dude getting called big guy.

That's about all I have for now. I love MFP for the support it provides, and for iPhone app that makes it stupid easy to log exercise and food. Feel free to add me as a friend, I'm mostly a nice guy!

Ely82010

Congratulations on all your achievements, quiting smoking, tea, coffee, meat, and also joining the gym. Talking about geting the bull by the horn!
You are the man!
Keep up the good work and keep us informed of your progress. You will find ideas and support in this website. I only recommend that you keep logging your food and keep on moving. It does makes a difference.
Good luck and welcome.

IAmDanMarshall

Thanks!

I just... I dunno... I feel like a switch just flipped. I realized that I was eating and smoking myself in to an early grave, and that's not the kind of life that I want for myself, I feel like my path is better than that.

My motto for this year has been "radical results require radical change", and I've been doing my best to live up to that. I don't always succeed, but I'm also getting better at not beating myself up over it, and just trying to take things one day at a time.

Thanks again for the kind words :-D

angelsxzist

Congratulations. You WILL live a long and healthy life. Looks like you can do anything you put your mind to. I'm going to follow you on your weight loss twitter.

IAmDanMarshall

Wooo yay! So far I just have it feeding stuff from MFP, but eventually I plan to post link to recipes and articles that help or inspire me in my journey to get fit.

Jigster

Hi
Well done, god you really are swimming.
I'm just learning to thread water at the moment. I guess you got to start somewhere. One of the main reasons I'm doing this is of course to live a healthier Life but more than anything it is to prove that I can make these changes. Time I grew some willpower :-)
Keep up the good work.
Jigster

Regnulify

"radical results require radical change"

I'll remember these words. I know what you mean about the switch. I don't know what tripped mine. I think it was seeing over 250 on the scale and realizing I needed to lose 20% of my body weight.

kkochend

My main motivation has been my awesome girlfriend, with whom I'd like to live a long and happy life

IAmDanMarshall

My main motivation has been my awesome girlfriend, with whom I'd like to live a long and happy life

Hehe <333

You're awesome.

IAmDanMarshall

Hi
Well done, god you really are swimming.
I'm just learning to thread water at the moment. I guess you got to start somewhere. One of the main reasons I'm doing this is of course to live a healthier Life but more than anything it is to prove that I can make these changes. Time I grew some willpower :-)
Keep up the good work.
Jigster

Any change is better than none! Just keep at it, I didn't do all this stuff overnight, even though it was in a short amount of time you have to go at your own pace-- everyone is different. I think out of EVERYTHING we did the thing that made the most difference was buying a food scale. I had no idea what a real portion looked like, or what a serving actually should be. Once I started measuring things out, I had this idea in my head while eating it of "this is what a portion is... this makes a meal, and it's going to have to last." Chew slowly, enjoy the time that you spend eating in a different way than you used to. I used to look at the goal of eating as "being full when I'm done" and now I look at it as "no longer being hungry when I'm done." Over time your stomach will shrink and it will take less food to make you feel full. Go for a walk after dinner if you can, it helps digestion, gets you out of the house, and aids in digestion.

The most important thing is to not beat yourself up when you fail, no matter how big the failure. We all are human, and we all let ourselves down from time to time. Don't sweat it, just make a promise to yourself that tomorrow is an entirely new day and that you will just work that much harder to not slip again.

Good luck!

IAmDanMarshall

"radical results require radical change"

I'll remember these words. I know what you mean about the switch. I don't know what tripped mine. I think it was seeing over 250 on the scale and realizing I needed to lose 20% of my body weight.

I am right there with ya. I have been lying about how much I weigh for years, sometimes because I honestly didn't know the real number (but knew it was higher than what I would tell people it was), or out of embarrassment. No more! I'm stepping up and owning it. I am overweight.

But not for long.