How My Life Has Changed Losing 185 Pounds

I want to share how my life has changed in losing over 185 pounds. I have also lost 25 inches in my waist (from 66 inches to 41 inches measured at my navel). But those are just numbers and don't compare to how my life has changed for the better. I don't avoid mirrors anymore. I can sit in normal chairs with arms. I can tie my shoes after putting them on. I can cross my legs. I don't feel like I'm going to die young. I don't breathe heavy after walking up a flight of stairs. I can actually see my feet while standing. I can sit in my car comfortably. I don't have a double chin anymore. I don't fear booths at restaurants or breaking chars. I'm no longer the biggest person in the room. I feel good about myself. I feel better in every aspect of my life.

Now that my health is good, my wife and I have decided to try to have another baby. For years, I didn't want to have more children in part because I was afraid of dying young and felt like I was a bad father and having more children would be just too hard. But now that my health is good, we really feel like we want to try to have another child or maybe 2 more. I'm 38 and my wife is 30. We have two boys ages 8 and 6 and realize there will be an age gap but it's something we both really want. My wife has also started to exercise more and we are even exercising together playing tennis and going out for walks.

Last week, I went out mountain biking with a buddy of mine. The trail was about 8 miles total (4 miles out and back) with an elevation gain of around 1,000 feet. There is no way I could do that trail before when I was over 400 pounds. I would have probably broken the bike. It feels great to go mountain biking and be more active. I was still a little slower than my friend and it was only my second time mountain biking. I borrowed my friend's extra bike but I'm thinking about buying my own mountain bike.

We went out for a family walk last night at the park. There is a pretty steep hill on the walking path around the park and I gave my six year old little boy (who weighs about 55 pounds) a piggy back ride. We also did a sprint race. It feels good to be able to give him a piggy back ride and go running with my little boy. I couldn't do those little things when I was morbidly obese. This is the same little boy who told me 16 months ago "Dad, you're too fat!" that was one of my main motivations in losing weight. Now, he says "Dad, do you want to race?" I haven't seen or told my parents about my weight loss. I plan to see them this summer with my big weight loss change. One friend from church who I haven't seen in a few months even joked "And you are . . .?" implying that I now look like a totally different person. My father in law even commented that I'm now a "health nut." I'm just trying to live healthy and live life to its fullest. I still have about another 20 pounds that I want to lose but my life is forever changed.

I hope that I can inspire and motivate others to also live healthier.