189 lost in 20 months: 8 months into maintenance update with some pictures :)

I have been asked for an update on how maintenance is going for me after a post I made some months back. Rather than linking to the old post I thought I would reproduce it and give a maintenance update at the end. I have also added some photographs.

Previous post:

About 5 years ago I was diagnosed with congenital heart failure and was told I needed open heart surgery to replace my right ventricle valve and to repair my triscupid valve. At the same time I was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and sleep apnoea. This was on top of the arthritis and gout that I was constantly suffering from. At the point of discharge from hospital after a 29 night stay I weighed 19st7lb (273lb) and was told that I needed open heart surgery but they would not even consider doing it until I had got my weight down to a maximum of 15st (210lb). For the next 2-3 years I completely ignored everybody's advice including the heart consultant. By this time I had ballooned to 23st7lb (329lb); on one of my regular visits to the cardiac ward my consultant came straight to the point and told me I would be dead within 5 years and I had to make a choice. I have to admit it felt like a challenge and I still ignored him for a while. During this time I was getting constant gout attacks and if it wasn't gout it was arthritis; one morning I woke up and thought to myself "I can't do this any more" and made a decision that day to change.

15 months later after beating the diabetes (now gone) and the sleep apnoea (I no longer sleep with a papa machine) the gout has totally stopped bothering me, in fact this was the first major health milestone for me. More importantly for myself I had my open heart surgery done 13 weeks ago and now have a new heart valve. I weighed 12st7lb (175lb). I have today finished a physiotherapy course at the QE hospital in Birmingham cardiac rehabilitation suite.

I have no wise words of wisdom for you, we all have our own paths, it does seem to me though if I can do it with all of the problems I have faced then I think most of you probably can do it. :-)

One other thing to mention. When I was ill I was on many medications. Metformin, Spironolactone, Bumetinide, Ramipril, Gliclazide, Pravastatin, Colchisine and a few others I cant remember the names of. Today I am absolutely free of any medication other than an advised 75mg daily Aspirin and my multivits. Life is looking positive for me. Time to go in to maintenance and I am under no illusion that this could be even harder than any challenge I have faced, but I think I am up to it :-)

A few photographs of my progress:

At or above 329lb (wasn't really counting at the time)



Enjoying some Christmas pudding although the signs of illness where there to see.



At this point I weighed 189lb but was 10st (140lb) lighter; still suffering with heart failure although I was feeling much healthier. lost the type 2 diabetes by this time.



2 days after open heart surgery and already smiling ;-)



After some R&R this was taken back at the beginning of March 2015 weighing in at 140lb. Started doing some light weights, and some treadmill work. They aint my smudges on the mirrors in the gym lol



Short update:

Since the above picture was taken I have kept myself busy. Firstly I still weigh exactly 140lb. I took up jogging and I joined parkrun. I have since completed 9x 5k park runs, PB 33:45 not fast I know but I'm just happy to get around the course without stopping or keeling over at any point. I had my HBA1C done last week and it was perfect according to my GP, that is now 2 years officially clear of T2 diabetes. My cholesterol is 3.7. When I was in weight loss mode my average calorie intake was around 1250 which I know is extremely low but as I was suffering from heart failure for most of that time it was pretty difficult for me to burn any serious calories through exercise so it was better for me to lose them from my diet. I'm happy to say that nowadays I am maintaining on an average of 2200kcals per day and if truth be know I could probably easily push that to 2500 per day without any significant gains. I wont though as I feel fitter now than I have at any point in the past 20 years. next update maybe if I ever make 12 months maintenance, I am all too well aware of the pitfalls of getting too confident or becoming complacent.

Recent pictures:

Nice day for a 5k park run



Still enjoying the occasional light snack lol



Selfie taken a couple of days ago



I wish you all the greatest of success in you endeavours

Zezel :-)