Never thought I would have to diet

perrybucsdad

Well, okay, so most of my life I was known as “stick boy” because I was always the skinny one. In fact, when I got married at age 22, I had a 28 inch waist and weighed about 110 lbs. Now, I’m 20 years older and 90 lbs heavier and struggling to stay in a size 36 pair of pants.

I never had the problem of having to watch what I eat. I would eat everything and anything and never gain weight. In fact, I remember going through this kick when I was little where I would have a milk shake with Orange Juice, Ice Cream & Bar Sugar (remember the old Orange Julius shakes) each night hoping I would gain some weight… nope.

In college, I remember using a protein shake to help gain weight… nope.

Well, part of the issue was I was born with a congenital heart defect…not just one mind you, but two (why settle for just one… gotta be an over achiever I am). One of the defects was a Coarctation of the Aorta (Coart). This was repaired at age 8. The second defect was a bicuspid (as opposed to tricuspid) aortic valve that caused a heart murmur. This didn’t cause me any issues when I was little and through early adulthood. In fact, I ran marathons with this valve and it did just fine. But when I turned 28, I was huffing and puffing and ready to fall down (by lunch time) each day. My cardiologist did some tests and found that it was time for me to have this leaky valve replaced with something that would last me a number of years. So, I have me a mechanical clicky thing installed and off I go (no, I didn’t swallow an alarm clock if yer wondering).

Ah… now I start to gain a little weight to where I look healthy. In fact, I can buy normal people pants now (anyone know how hard it is for a guy to find a size 28 pair of pants?). BUT, I started drinking heavily too (well, okay, it wasn’t just heavily, I was a flaming alcoholic), and I pork up to about 190 lbs by the time 2009 hits.

So, my family convinces me that I have issues with drinking and I see the error of my ways and I quit drinking and join AA. I’m doing good, and have been sober since (2+ years as of this writing) and lost about 30 - 40lbs. I found my higher strength, and then I find out (sort of like I found out I was an alcoholic…. Everyone saw it before I did) I have sleep apnea. I go and get the sleep study and find out I have moderate sleep apnea and get put on an APAP machine. This was in October of 2011. Well, I begin the use of my APAP machine and I feel great… I’m sleeping better, my wife is sleeping better, the dogs are sleeping better, the neighbors are sleeping better… well you get the point. But WHOA!!! Why am I gaining weight? My doc tells me, “nope, not the APAP machine making you gain weight”. Well, it appears that I was feeling so good each morning, I was treating myself to these KILLER omelet’s in the cafeteria at work. Three eggs, green pepper, sausage, bacon, tomato’s, two cheese’s… and then on top of that TWO orders of this most delicious yummy bacon…. I think I figured that was well over 2000 calories in of itself. Did I mention I was having that every weekday? Well, it’s no wonder I gained all that weight in a few months.

So here I sit, two days into my weight loss program. I’m in no rush to lose the weight (well, maybe I am) because having to limit my calories is not something I’m used to. I figure I will try and lose ½ lb each week and I should get there in mid summer.

So, Hi There everyone, feel free to friend me and give me tips. I’m all new to this, and me and my little FitBit (if I can ever get it to work right) will be trying our best to lose some of this weight so I can go back to being an EXTREMELY handsome (and humble) man.

John

PinkEarthMama

Welcome John!

My daughter is a complex heart kiddo ( anomolous coronary artery from the pulmonary artery ). She's a tiny little stick girl too!

Have you checked with your cardiologist to see what sort of exercise is safe for you? ( You may have no restrictions )

Glad to meet you, and feel free to add me as a friend.

( For the record, I'm a recovering anorexic. I always though fat people were fat AND happy. Guess who was WRONG? )

PercivalHackworth

Welcome John, everyone has it's own story, I'll add you, feel free to ask what/ when you want.
- cheers Razique

reneepugh

Welcome! Glad you are here!

pdworkman

Not to discount the effect of the heart problems, but a lot of people who are a stick as a child and overweight as an adult have celiac disease. Not saying you do, but something to consider.

I'm glad to see you here. I think that once you become more aware of what you are eating by logging here, you will be able to cut down on a lot of those I-didn't-know-what-I-was-eating calories.

Pam

perrybucsdad

Pink, my cardiologist gave me free reign as a kid to do what I wanted EXCEPT competitive weight lifting. Too much BP in the brain and having a Coart tends to lead to aneurysm's (which I have had two... and one that went POP and damn near killed me). In fact, my cardio was the one who encouraged me to get into running. As stick boy, I was built for it. It's kind of funny where my oldest son also ran Cross Country Running in high school (and he is perfectly healthy) and it burned him up that my best time was much faster than his best time and he doesn't have a heart murmur. I have to remind him that I was MUCH lighter than he was/is (not that he is fat... just has more meat on him than I ever did at his age).

perrybucsdad

celiac disease.

Not quite sure what that is Pam... Who knows.. it seems if it exists out there, I have it. I feel like I grew up in a hospital (maybe that's why I couldn't gain any weight... their food is awful).