My story -- and call for mutual support.

ohenry78
ohenry78 Posts: 228
in Introduce Yourself
So, I normally kind of dislike posting things like "Hi here I am, friend me yo!", but I am going to do just that, I think.

I am not new to MFP -- I downloaded the app a couple years ago, when I needed to keep track of what I was eating for the purpose of losing weight for my wedding. It worked; I went from 317 down to 283. Not as low as I wanted to be, but quite a feat for about four months of work, and I looked great (comparatively) for my wedding.

Well, after the wedding, the honeymoon happened (an all-inclusive resort in Mexico...SO. MUCH. FOOD.) and then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and I fell out of keeping track of my food, as well as exercising regularly. I let myself slip, and ended up ballooning back up to 328 pounds.

A few things happened recently that made me realize I need to get my act together. One was that I had to be put on blood pressure medications. I'm 25. I shouldn't need to do that. Those are for old people, right? Nope. Apparently not. The second was that my wife gave birth to our beautiful baby daughter (who you will see is my profile picture). I realized that if I don't get myself together, my family history of heart disease and diabetes is going to kill me before she gets old. I want to be there for her as long as I can.

The last one is slightly more superficial, but it was my belt. When I had lost the weight previously, I had dropped down several notches on my belt. Sometime in December, I ended up getting back to the furthest notch on the belt. Back to square one. All that hard work and progress, completely gone. That stung.

So, I'm back at it. In full force. Not overdoing it, keeping a measured pace. I am tracking my calories, and working out at least three times a week. But last time didn't stick, so what can I change about it this time?

The social aspect of it. Last time I did not friend anyone or post in the forums at all. I did it myself. My wife is wonderful and supportive, but she is fit and healthy and doesn't quite relate to the type of support that's needed for something like this. So this time I am changing that. I have a couple of people who friended me here, and seeing their posts, commenting on them, and them commenting on mine has been a whole new type of motivation. Odd, how strangers can help like that.

So, that's where the "friend me, yo" comes in. Don't add me just for the sake of adding me, but if you are in the same boat as I am and could use the support, and enjoy giving support back, feel free to add me. Let's lose some weight!!

Replies

  • ihad
    ihad Posts: 7,463 Member
    Been there and made it back. Request sent.
  • Gr8ChangesAhead
    Gr8ChangesAhead Posts: 836 Member
    Glad you decided to come back, all friends welcome and I will offer your support along the way. Kimi
  • ifontaine
    ifontaine Posts: 2 Member
    "So, I'm back at it. In full force. Not overdoing it, keeping a measured pace. I am tracking my calories, and working out at least three times a week. But last time didn't stick, so what can I change about it this time? "

    Nothing external will make it stick. Your motivation HAS to come from your internal "you". For me, I was in a similar situation. My wife and I did really well about 5 years ago, went on our trip, had a wonderful time, and slowly added the weight back.

    Late 2011, I noticed that I was having a little bit of chest pain after meals. No biggie I figured. Probably just heartburn. I was 320 lbs...and I'm just under 5'11". But I'm fairly thick. I have a very dense bone structure. But, I wanted to get it checked out. Besides, I hadn't been to the dr's office in a few years. Well... I had all the signs of the issues that fat people have. Fortunately, it was mostly just heartburn, but I did have some thickening of the heart muscle, but my sugar was good, cholesterol was ok, but my BP was also high.

    I decided that I'd start working out seriously. I hired a trainer at my gym, and worked pretty regularly on and off for the last year. I say on and off because I had to take some time off in February to get a muscle hernia in my leg repaired. That laid me up for about three months. Then in August, as I was making decent progress, and was a week away from running my first ever 5K, I threw my back out. That put me down for a month. Then it was wisdom teeth extraction. All four at once. Then a bad chest cold. Finally, in October, I started getting a real solid routine. However, over the course of the year, I gained another 10 pounds even though I was getting stronger. Finally, around the end of November, it just dawned on me..... I've been busting my *kitten* in the gym for the last year, I've spend a couple grand on a personal trainer, and I'm not getting anywhere. Why? Am I broken? Do I have some internal issues? Do I need to see a dr.?

    No. I decided that I just wasn't eating well enough. At 39 years old, I needed to start paying attention to the kind of fuel I was putting into my metabolic fire. The day after my birthday (and that was a blow out), I started the Advocare 24 day challenge. The first 10 days was a "cleanse" where you're supposed to eat very specific foods, and eliminate certain types of foods. No complex/refined carbs and sugars, no dairy, nothing like that..... Veggies, fruits, and lean proteins. I lost 12 lbs those first 10 days and felt AWESOME. I've been going at this now since 01/06, and I'm close to have lost 20 lbs total. I'm soooo much stronger now that I'm putting in the right fuel into my body.

    I have decided that I want to live healthier. I've stopped putting most chemicals into my body. I try to eat nothing but "real" foods. I'm more cognizant of what's in food. I'm more cognizant of what a portion size. I understand a bit more about my metabolism and how it works. I know how to maximize a workout and can burn 500 - 700 calories in an hour by doing a few simple exercises.

    I've also started realizing that my love affair with food goes beyond my desire for it. There is an emotional need. Being lonely growing up, food now is a great opportunity to bond with friends and enjoy those moments that I felt I was deprived of growing up. Food represented an emotional and a social crutch for me.

    For you, nothing will "take" until you decide that you want to change. And it starts with the next day. It will never be easier than it is today. Tomorrow will be harder, and the day after, etc... You have to commit to it EVERY day. That's the only choice you have.

    I wish you the bet of luck. You have your whole life ahead of you, and these next years can be some of the best of your life.

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