Give that chicken fat back to the chicken..

Hai Guiseeee!
Let me tell you a little story while giving you an intimate look into the real me.Sit back , relax, grab a handful of almonds and enjoy.

Chapter 1 Childhood :Let me begin, my name is WOB I recently turned 28 years old and I'm from the armpit of America.. New Jersey. While most recent stereotypes portray us as all hard bodied , tanned , jerks, I can tell you none of it is true. However If I'm wrong and it is like that, I seem to be the exception. My parents were never the type of people to say no to their child, and i don't blame them. Looking back on it i could say I would act like a total brat *for lack of a better word* until i got what i wanted. While most kids wanted video game consoles, sports apparel , or whatever else kids wanted in the 90's all i would ever ask for was McDonalds. In one sitting I would consume over 2500 calories. I can even remember the order 3 cheese burgers 2 super size fries 10 nuggets and a large coke. While other kids were struggling to finish their happy meals so they could go into the playroom I would be stuffing my face.I would eat then go home and sit in front of the TV until bed time.I recall wishing i could look like the wrestlers i saw on tv . Looking back on it I wish I knew the concept of proper diet and health in general. In school fitness was nothing more than letting us loose for some air during recess,or doing 5 minutes of aerobics to some old vinyl record playing "go, you chicken fat,go" before throwing us some jump ropes and basketballs letting everyone do whatever they wanted..Either way, it never mattered much to me, i never had many friends since nobody wants to play with the fat kid and much of this time was spent hiding in any crevice i could find until the bell would ring.

Chapter 2 growing up is hard to do "The Teenage Years:Years later I shed my cocoon and became more of a social butterfly ,but with more friends came more irresponsibility. I got my first job at age 15 where my father worked.He wanted me to be more active so he asked his boss if i could work a few hours on the weekends. He was correct about the active part, the job was extremely fast paced and I was definitely burning lots of calories, unfortunately this job was as a waiter, and In between tables i had ample time to eat back all of those calories and then some. At this point I have absolutely no self control.Making things even worse, I was a 15 year old with cash in his pocket, and what does a 15 year old with cash in his pocket do? I can tell you it doesn't involve saving or investing. This kid would take his friends out to eat! Who said money can't buy friendship. At this point hormones have caused me to want the attention of the opposite sex. I decided to jump in head first, i was gonna drop this weight and find love. Without consulting anybody i just decided "yolo" and started starving myself. Soon i felt adventurous enough to go for a long run. Towards the end of the run i started to feel light headed, after making it home and taking a few steps inside the rest is a blur. I woke up and was surrounded by paramedics, apparently my Potassium levels were out of whack and caused me to pass out. Rather than take this as a learning experience I continued my unhealthy lifestyle. Like most things trying to change for other people rather than for the benefit of yourself tends to be short lived.

Chapter 3 If it fits in my mouth I WILL eat it : I have come to terms with my obesity . After trying every fad diet imaginable, and straining my back 2 times in one year trying to lifts weights too heavy and with poor form I gave up. I have accepted my fate, the battle of the bulge has won. Binge eating has become routine, leaving my bedroom was not an option unless i felt like driving 2 blocks to get some Chinese food. I am now 24 in what feels like rock bottom. My bedroom riddled with weeks worth of beer cans and bottles of brandy.I have reached 320 pounds. I was basically shoving anything i could find into my gut there was no limit. Life has a funny way of sneaking up on you, all the signs were there but I ignored them each step of the way. In 2012 I had a tingle in my arm that I shoved to the side as me spending too much time sleeping on that side. A few days later an intense feeling in the middle of my chest. I was having a heart attack. 25 years old and having a heart attack. After a week at the hospital i was relieved it was not actually a heart attack, but i was riddled with all sorts of problems from high blood pressure, to low kidney function. This was my rude awakening, I didn't want to die. I needed to change. This time for ME. I was armed with a nutrition guide and discharged from the hospital without so much as a happy face sticker. But i digress, I was alive and more importantly i was given another chance.

Chapter 4 A new outlook on life : It is now the end of 2013, i have dropped 50 pounds, and although I'm still classified as morbidly obese by set standards I feel great. Being active and eating more balanced has given me a feeling i have never felt before, gone are the days of feeling sluggish after filling up on HFCS.Although I fell off the wagon for a bit, I was recommended MFP as a mighty fine calorie counter. It has since helped me maintain my new lifestyle much easier than pen and paper ever has although i tend not to use the exercise counter since it seems extremely over calculated. I come here to be inspired,lifestyle changes are never easy and I hope through MFP I can absorb all of the positive energy, and meet other who can be that extra push i need to stick with it. I don't ever want to be THAT guy again...And that's all i gotta say about that. =-)