150 lbs in one year, my story so far.. with pics

Hi there.

In February 2012 I had a family member pass away. The cause of death was respiratory arrest, with an underlying stage 4 COPD and MRSA. I was called to his home and asked as the next of kin to make a call to the funeral home and begin the processes of putting an end to his life I had a glimpse of the end of the road. I got to see what exactly was in store for me if I continued down the road I was traveling. Some people would just continue on and take the easy road; I decided it was time to make changes to make sure no one would every have to watch my belly jiggle while being wheeled away by the coroner.

I was a smoker for 20 years, I started at 13 and up until 2011 was going steady on a pack-a-day, I was also a heavy pot smoker. My back was tired of carrying around the 375lbs I had amassed and I could barley walk 50 yards without crippling back pain. I really didn't know where to start so I chose the most obvious, smoking. So I quit, cold turkey and began to detox from both cigarettes and pot; anyone who says pot is not addictive has no f****** idea what they are talking about. I had chills and insomnia and when I did sleep my dreams were haunted with vivid memories and an imagination that had been dulled for years. Slowly my brain and lungs started to wake up and today I can proudly say I haven't smoked anything in 17 months 17 days 8 hours and 1 minute.

Once I beat smoking I needed to get my back looked at, and get a plan in place. I met with my new Doctor Andrew Lenhardt with the Lahey Clinic and got my first physical in years. I could tell when he walked in the room he was shocked at my size, I told him I was ready to change my life and I had a list of things to take care of. He took a deep breath and said, we should start right away. He sent me to a sport medicine Doctor to have my back looked at. They told me I was fat, well maybe not. They told me I had been carrying so much weight that my core muscles could no longer support what they needed to, they feared that I had the same condition my father did which was spinal stenosis. A MRI was scheduled for me Friday Sept 7th 2012, I was terrified. I remember getting out of work early and my wife and I headed up to the hospital, we had to park almost 100 yards from the front door and I can clearly remember how much pain I was in trying to walk. I gathered myself and walked into the office, they were very nice and had me fill out some forms and in no time I was being led into a chamber with the MRI machine. They loaded me up onto the bed and began to slide me in the tube feet first, I didn't fit. They brought me back out and said I could sit up and I couldn't, my back hurt so much from the walk in I couldn't even lift myself off of the MRI bed. With the help of two small nurses they got me up and told me I had two options, I could either go to the zoo and be scanned there or try and find an open MRI, this was heart breaking. I wanted to die. One week later on September 14th 2012 I went and had an MRI done at an open MRI machine, it was terrifying and strange to me; the machine closed down on top of me and I found out I was claustrophobic that day.

The MRI results showed I was fat. Well not really. They said everything looked fine and my weight was causing my muscles to pull and they were in a constant spasm, which would require some extensive physical therapy to fix. So Tuesday October 2nd 2012 I slowly walked into Lahey out-patient physical therapy and met Lauren Kelleher; she would soon prove to be someone who changed my life. She gave me a quick evaluation and asked me to elaborate on my pain and in no time she put her hand right on the spot and said is it here?? With tears in my eyes I nodded and she came up with the plan. HARD WORK was the plan. I met with Lauren 3 times a week for the entire month of October and had my last appointment with her on Monday November 12th 2012, I continued the program she taught me at home throughout November and was able to walk without (much) pain for the first time in 6 years.

So whats next?! Weight-loss is next. I googled "nutritionist in Beverly MA" and started to look at options I came across the website for NourishRx (this is not a plug but an honorable mention) and liked what I read about Ryann Collins. I reached out and she emailed me right back, she asked that I have some lab work done and we set a meeting for Monday December 3rd 2012. Just like Lauren, I had no idea I was about to meet someone who would change my life forever. When I received my lab results back its showed I had an A1C of 9.7% the note that my Doctor hand wrote said "results consistent with type 2 diabetes, please schedule a visit to talk about disease management" Holy ****.

I met with Ryann and we talked for an hour, we talked about goals and how to begin this journey together. The goal we set was a weight of 215lbs which seemed to be a pipe dream. I haven't weighed 215lbs since junior high or maybe even 6th grade. With some reading material and willpower I set out to meet my wife and go grocery shopping, this was the first time in 3 or 4 years I had been able to walk around the grocery store. I still go and see her, I was there yesterday for a 1 year check in and my visit prompted me to begin a blog to figure out who I am now because everything has changed.

I joined Planet Fitness \o/ to lift things in December 2012 right before Christmas and started using the recumbent bike 3 days a week for 25 minutes each time. Oh god did it hurt! My body hadn't moved like that in a decade, 3 miles was an accomplishment and I stuck with it increasing my time and resistance each week. Here is a picture of me on Christmas Day 2012 eating salad for Christmas Dinner



The doctor put me on Glyburide and Metformin to control my diabetes, Ryann said I would be off my meds as soon as possible and we would get there through diet and exercise. In March I went back to the doctor and got weighed and more blood drawn, I was down 30 lbs!! When my blood work came back my A1C was down to a 6.7%, great progress for the first 3 months and my Doctor took me off the Glyburide and Metformin!

Over the next 4 months my gym sessions increased to an hour a day, 6 days a week mostly cardio. I would walk on the treadmill and use the recumbent bike. This was getting boring, and it was summer, in June 2013 I lost my first 100 lbs, 6 months?!.




I decided as a reward for losing the 100 lbs I would go get a mountain bike and headed out to the bike shop. I had no idea what I was getting into, apparently the Huffy my Dad used to get us were crappy bikes and who knew they made better ones?! I picked out a Specialized Hard Rock Sport Disk 29er for my first ride




I LOVE MY BIKE!!! Who knew that 7 months after walking into a physical therapist office morbidly obese at 375 pounds I would soon be plotting my first 20 mile ride through Plum Island wild life reservation in Newbury MA. Over the rest of the summer I would anxiously wait each week for Fridays, Saturdays and sometimes Sundays to get out on my bike and enjoy the fresh air. While still maintaining my diet and now getting into some weight lifting by September I had logged over 500 miles on my bike and lost a total of 140 lbs.



Things have pretty much stayed the same now, I ride when I can; although as I write this we got a half foot of snow falling over night. I have been going to the gym everyday besides Sundays mostly lifting weights with a friend. I signed up for the Tour de Cure, a ride for diabetes awareness in the Spring of 2014, this is a 64 mile ride that I will be competing with Ryann and her friend as well as some other friends who want to come support the cause.

Today is December 18th 2013 and I weigh 225 lbs, I am within 10 pounds of the goal Ryann and I set a year ago. My new goal is 199 and I will reach it sooner or later. My goals for 2014 are "easy"





Century ride by the end of 2014 - 100 miles
Spartan Spring Obstacle Race - 5k with mud and fire
199 lbs - 26 to go, this is a fluid goal. If I get to 215 and feel and look good.. this might change.. who knows

Dont ever give up on your goals. This has been a wild year for me, I never thought I could do it and now im here. I still have lots of work to do both physically and mentally but I wanted to share my story and maybe be an inspiration for others.

Thanks for reading.

Deven

edit to fix pics.