Why and how I lost a lot of weight

I always felt like the ‘fat kid’ and even though it’s not fair, I felt people discriminate against me due to being overweight.

In fact, the 15 years I spent in the US Army had been the only period of time when I didn’t struggle with my weight and people’s perceptions of me. Controlling my weight with intense physical activity was easy during my military enlistment as a Military Police Officer in the US Army. But when I separated from the service, I began a new civilian career—and an upward spiral in weight gain.

Over the years, I steadily accumulated weight, along with a litany of health problems: diabetes, colen and kidney cancer, Gout, PTSD and sleep apnea only to name a few. Now that my civilian career is winding down and I am preparing to retire and spend more time even less active then when I was working, I am fearful about the future. I am taking 9 different pills each day and I had gotten up to 233 pounds!

Reaching the 233 mark on the scale at the ripe age of 61 was the “trigger” that made me realize that I needed to change before it was too late. I had become a walking time bomb.

Losing weight I think is part of a last chance at getting healthy for me and it is working. By gradually increasing my physical activity and changing my diet I lost a total of 24.3 pounds so far. This exceeded my initial goal of a 5-percent weight loss. With my BMI reduced from 33 to 31, I feel much better. I still have a long way to go. I am aiming at a BMI of 25. That's a lot more weight loss and a lot more hard work.

Encouraged by Dr Ferguson, I went to the VA Medical Center here in Las Vegas and received a thorough medical evaluation. Dr Ferguson who is the director of the Move and Weight Loss Program at the VA recommended I addressed my weight problem by enrolling in the MOVE! Weight Management Program. Joining the Move Weight Loss program at the VA was the smartest thing I done in many years and may of saved my life.

I don’t feel like the fat kid anymore, when I walk down the street now, people don’t stare - instead they look at me, smile, and say ‘hello’. The combination of exercise and a better diet has yielded another surprising result for me. I am saving money. Both my grocery bills and my clothing sizes are shrinking. And I owe all this to Dr Laura Ferguson and the Move Weigh Loss Team at the Las Vegas VA Medical Center.

I am working on starting a new group here at MyFitnessPal. The group I am starting is going to be called "Veterans Weight Loss Support. This weight loss support group is open to all veterans, active military and friends of veterans. If you are at all interested in joining this new weight loss support group, I would LOVE to hear from you. leave a reply to this message that you are interested and I will be sure to drop you an email in the next few days when I am finished creating the group here on MyFitnessPal.com