The First 50

I hit my first milestone this week, and I wanted to share my story.

In May, I developed an embarrassing problem. I had urinary incontinence. Basically, I was a leaky faucet. I developed a bladder infection. My friend, who is a nurse, told me that it was rare for guys. I started to read about prostate cancer and various problems that men have. I thought I was going to have this problem for the rest of my life. When the infection didn't go away, I went to a walk-in clinic. The doctor looked at me like I was some kind of worthless dreg. She put me on the office scale, and I was too heavy. It only went up to 379. I was ashamed and embarrassed.

I hate doctors. I've always hated doctors. Before that visit, I hadn't been to see a doctor in 10 years. So that's why I knew something had to happen when the doctor told me the news. If the bladder infection returned, I had to go see a urologist. The thought scared me. And it was going to cut into my finances, too.

So I went home that day and did something. I decided that maybe, just maybe, the problem was weight-related. After all, I didn't know I was that heavy. I had been around 340 for a few years and knew I was larger than that. But 380 or more? Yikes. Suddenly, I understood why it was difficult for me to do basic things that people take for granted. I realized why parents didn't want me to be their baseball coach. I could barely pitch to the kids because I could barely move.

I'm not one of those people who just didn't know what to do. I knew how to lose weight. I knew that it was about calories. So I started to eat less. After a week, I started to log my meals. After five weeks, I switched my logging to MFP. Meanwhile, I started to exercise. I signed up for YMCA basketball. I must have been insane. During the first game, I tore the MCL in my right knee. I was out of commission for several weeks. In fact, It's still healing. So I've been relegated to walking when I want to start running.

I didn't get on a scale the whole time. Because I get ridiculous about weighing. I'll weigh myself three or four times a day. And one bad day can cause me to go on a this-isn't-working binge of epic proportions. Plus, it's difficult to find a scale for a guy who weighs more than 350 pounds. And, if you find one and buy it, there's a good chance that it'll cost $50 and will break within six months.

Today, though, I was going through the line at the grocery store. And I spotted a scale off to the side. So I said what the heck. I wanted to know if I was having as much success as I thought. I estimated that I started at 385. And I figured I had lost 45 pounds based on how my clothing was fitting. But part of me thought I was lying to myself. It just didn't seem possible to lose that much in about nine weeks.

Well, I guess I believe it now. The scale said I weigh 335. I've lost my first 50 pounds, and it was relatively easy. I just logged everything I ate and stayed under my calorie goal and got some exercise 3-4 times a week.