An introduction with a life story. Come say Hi!

Hello everyone.

I'm glad you all have come, and I am willing to bet you are wondering why I called all of you here.













































Ok, just kidding, I just wandered in myself!

My name is Todd, and I'm just saying Hi to everyone. I'm 26, happily married to my best friend (Who is also taking this journey with me), and looking to become the man that I picture when I think of who I COULD be. Many years have gone by and I have not been truly happy. I've been happy enough, really, and my life is good. I'm a Paramedic, and I love the work I do. My wife is amazing, and I own my own house with two four-legged companions. Things would be perfect except for a nagging voice inside that tells me that I could be more.

No, it's not a literal voice, the doctors told me I'm not crazy. It's more of a subconscious desire to be everything that I can be. We only get one life, and who wants to look back on it when they are old and grey and wonder about what might have been if they just would have worked a little harder, if they just would have taken that leap?

I didn't always have this perspective. It started in 2011 when I was working as an EMT-Basic and started to feel a nagging pain in my *kitten*. My first though was that it was my wife, but then I quickly realized that she wasn't anywhere around and the pain in my *kitten* must have been something else. It kept getting worse over 2-3 months, going from my butt down both legs, eventually making life miserable. I couldnt stand or sit for longer than 10 minutes, and every day was a day filled with blinding pain. The doctors ran tests for RA and Lupus, both negative, and it took longer than it should for them to get an MRI and diagnose me with herniated discs in L4-L5 and L5-S1. Both discs were herniated on BOTH sides and there was pretty severe sciatic nerve compression. Well, I was taken off work (Yes, I was working the whole time) and had to, for the first time, imagine a life where something I LOVED to do was ripped from me. It devastated me, and the depression I went spiraling down in to did nothing good for my weight. I was around 220 when this started, and in fairly decent shape. Between being nearly bed-confined and depressed, my weight ballooned. I had injections done, physical therapy, and eventually had surgery to trim the discs in march of 2012. The recovery went slowly but smoothly. The time laying in bed doing nothing caused some atrophy of my muscles and it took 9 months before I felt normal again. My weight was around 250 at this time.

I re-enrolled in the Paramedic program, which I was just starting when I was pulled off the ambulance for the injury, and I finished the class with a 4.0 GPA. Yes, I'm damn rpoud of that, because I was the only one who was able to pull that off. Go me, right? I got a job working for one of the best municipalities in the area, usually reserved for medics with several years of experience, and life was grand. My weight was an issue, creeping towards 260, but I was happy, right?

Then it happened. I "tweaked" my back moving a 400 pound patient. I was placed off work, MRIs were done, and I was terrified. I had accomplished so much, and here I was, about to lose it all again. As luck would have it, they think this time it was a muscle strain and acute SI joint pain. I've just been cleared to return to work!

While I was out, it dawned on me that if I was to continue to do what I loved, I needed to get healthier. I've always been a very stocky guy, my lean mass has always been very high. I carry my weight well, and even at 260 I didnt look really "fat" but it was definitely starting to show in my face. So, in the last month, I have jumped feet-first in to a lifestyle change.

I have quit playing most video games. I used to play them to escape reality and stress, and it led me to neglect the things I needed to be doing as a responsible adult. I also cut out the people who enabled me to do this. This has been hard, I had a lot of "friends" who I gamed with. They are where I was, running from their problems, and they cannot do anything but drag me back down. I'm stronger than that, and I don't have room for people who drag me down.

I am eating healthier. I'm still new in to nutrition but I have a basic understanding. I plan on researching nutrition a LOT in the near future, and have already learned much. I bought a Bodymedia Fit Link for my wife and I, and it has been an invaluable tool. Combined with MFP, I'm able to watch what I eat and hit the deficit that is right for me.

I'm stretching. One of the issues I had was incredibly tight hamstrings/hip stabilizers/piriformis/everything. I'm not working out too much yet, I was JUST cleared from light duty, but I'm trying (and failing most days) to get cardio in. This is the hardest part for me. I have mastered my food, for the most part, but the willpower to get up and go use an elliptical or just walk for an hour, these things are difficult.

Oh jeez. I've turned an introduction in to a journal entry. Guess it needed to get put on paper anyways.

Glad to meet all of you. I'm looking to add people to my friends list who are motivated and supportive people. I have recently cut a lot of dead weight out of my life, and I could use some positive attitudes to replace them!

Todd