A little history and my six week success!

What's my story? Pull up a chair....

I've always been fat. Well, except for those few years in high school when I had a growth spurt and finally "grew into my body". Those were good times. Of course, my body caught back up to my height and all those new clothes no longer fit. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. See that attitude? That is why I've fought a battle of clothes no longer fitting for many years. It was never a matter of losing weight, it was always "I need some new clothes". After a while I reached a plateau and I was comfortable there. I stayed the same weight for years, even though that weight was considered to be obese, I was okay with it. Well, until it was time to go to the pool or something that required me to be half naked. But, overall I was happy...or content. One of the two.

I married the girl of my dreams 7 years ago and you know what happens when you get married? You get happy fat. You stop sucking in your gut and deciding not to eat dessert. You just smile, look at each other with those googly eyes and stuff your face full of everything. We each have our own couch and know how to use them. I've got about fifty pounds of extra happy fat.

Within the past year I noticed that I could never find clothes anywhere I shopped. Nobody had my size. I ended up having to go to one of those "big and tall" stores. I was mortified. I put up a good fight acting like it didn't bother me, but I think I died a little bit every time I had to walk in there. I was so excited when Kohl's added a Big and Tall section even though I really hate the "big and tall" classification. It's better than "husky", which is what the clothes I wore as a child were called. Anyways, it was the fact that I couldn't find clothes that started me thinking it was time to do something. Not for health reasons or anything like that. Clothes. Talk about your warped priorities.

About six weeks ago someone in the family decided to do a Biggest Loser style competition and see who could lose the highest percentage of weight within twelve weeks. We put in $50 each and away we went. I wasn't planning on participating, but the competitor in me won out and I jumped in wholeheartedly without a plan on how to do it. I decided the best thing for me was to count calories. I didn't want to do any fad dieting. I didn't want to just eat boiled chicken everyday. I wanted to still have the option of eating what I wanted, within reason, and make the choice based on calorie content whether or not I was going to eat it. Sure, I've made sacrifices, but mainly because I can't stand artificial sweeteners. It's like drinking sand when I ingest them. My mouth dries up and my throat closes. Horrible stuff. So, I drink lots of water and mourn my daily gallon of Mountain Dew. I avoid sweets and, my biggest sacrifice....no more fast food breakfast. McDonalds has to put crack in their breakfast because it was the hardest thing to give up. I needed a McDonalds patch to curb my cravings. Now, I'm through it and don't give them a second thought. Well, maybe a second thought, but never a third.

As of today I have lost 19 pounds in six weeks. My goal was just two pounds a week. My pants are falling off of me and that in itself is motivation. I've had my first few people ask me if I was losing weight and that just fuels me to keep going. Now I just have to figure out my next step. Lots of challenges are in front of me, but I've never been more proud of myself. I'm almost halfway to an initial goal that I thought was impossible just a few short weeks ago. Away we go.......