1000 Day Consecutive Logging Streak and 204 Pounds Lost at 55! I have my health and life back!

staffordshire62 wrote: »

Hello to all My Fitness Pal users!

I'm a 54 year old man who has had some tremendous health problems in the past from years of abuse due to poor diet and an overall destructive lifestyle which included terrible nutrition combined morbid obesity. Two and a half years ago , I was on 9 different medications with multiple health issues including depression, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes and I weighed 402 POUNDS at 5 foot 7.

Within the past two and a half years I have managed to turn my health and life around, and now I am in better shape and stronger than I was in my 20s weighing in at 196 lbs.

Currently, I am off all medications (which makes my doctor very happy!) and was able to successfully reverse my type 2 diabetes which I was at the threshold of during my last doctor's appointment when I weighed 402 pounds.

Results from my last physical showed my resting pulse rate is 52, A1C is 5.1, and cholesterol and blood pressure readings are amazing!

Through a combination of good quality clean eating and a wide variety of cardio exercise as well as weight training and swimming....... I have found the key to a better lifestyle with no gimmicks, diets, or pay programs .

I truly believe that the use of the My Fitness Pal app is the single most important tool in my arsenal because of all the high quality information available, the blogs, and especially the friendships I have made with people from around the world with the same goals. I love the fact that it is now run by Under Armour (which is my absolute favorite sports product brand) and I like the "accountability" which I derive from it.

What I have achieved is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life, but adapting to this type of lifestyle is extremely rewarding, satisfying, and pays off better than anything a person could do for themselves especially at my age. I am a firm believer that an active healthy lifelong lifestyle combining consistency with exercise, and healthy food choices with the addition of food logging through My Fitness Pal is a recipe for success.

For long term results, these habits need to turn into a way of life.. Never say DIET.. It needs to be a healthy lifestyle with moderation and knowledge being the key to healthy food and exercise choices.

The first 2 fat pictures showed me at only around 335 lbs and I maxed out later at 402.

One final thought... don't make too many lofty or aggressive goals at first because you might just set yourself up for failure so take it slow and gradually ease into your new lifestyle. For instance, I used to get out of breath just going from the couch to the refrigerator so I started walking around the block slowly. Each week I tried to go a little further until I was able to walk a mile or two and then I gradually started to jog a little bit. Now, I regularly run 15-20 miles per week and enter many 10k charity runs. I also swim 3 days a week about an hour each session and do lots of cardio and weight training in the gym just to change things up and keep my workouts interesting. I find myself taking the stairs instead of elevators, and parking at the end of a parking lot just to get in some extra steps for the day.

I hope my success will help to motivate some other people who are in the same situation I was more than two-and-a-half years ago. Remember......the human body is amazing and it is possible even in your 50s (or any age) to turn things around and allow yourself to heal naturally by just taking care of your health by healthy eating, gaining knowledge, exercising, and making the right choices. I always remember one thing a friend of mine who used to be very heavy told me and I quote "nothing tastes as good as being thin and healthy feels"

Chris

staffordshire62 wrote: »

It absolutely has to be a lifetime lifestyle change for it to be permanent as I too have yo-yoed like many others have over the years but until it got life threatening around 50 years old I finally got it through my thick skull. Now that I have a couple years under me I actually enjoy eating healthy and I realize that I have to exercise for the rest of my life and that's no problem because I enjoy every minute of it now that I'm in shape and getting ready to turn 55 in about 2 weeks