Never too late.
dwburman95
Posts: 11 Member
53 years old, slowing down and feeling pretty crappy about myself and my health. I love to cook and I love to feed people. I have never put any focus on a healthy manner of eating. I was VERY athletic in high school and had no problem eating like a horse and staying fit. Went into construction out of high school and literally worked my butt off. As my skill and experience increased, the physical demand diminished but my appetite did not. I am now in the office and in July my weight made it to 361 Lbs. My wife mentioned that my Dr. was not doing his job and wanted a second opinion. New Dr. provided a realistic synopses of my overall health with a dim prognosis. I was committing suicide by fork on the installment plan.
Medical diagnosis had my undivided attention.
It also unleashed a willingness to do whatever is necessary to change. I am still cooking incredible food, I just changed what I am cooking and began tracking my food. I also started consuming lots of water. I went from coffee being the only liquid that I was drinking, going from 224 oz of black coffee a day / 0 water, to 24 - 48 oz of black coffee and 200 oz of water.
On September 29, I was straining a bit to pick up a 44 pound bag of dog food when it hit me... as of right then, i had lost 45 pounds. That blew me away! How did I carry this much weight at all times. That explains the way I felt. FF to November 6, I am down 56 pounds! The Dr. has changed prognoses to one with hope and can not believe the indisputable results from following her directions.My wife says that I am looking better in my cloths...I say that I am looking better out of them!
More to come...
Medical diagnosis had my undivided attention.
It also unleashed a willingness to do whatever is necessary to change. I am still cooking incredible food, I just changed what I am cooking and began tracking my food. I also started consuming lots of water. I went from coffee being the only liquid that I was drinking, going from 224 oz of black coffee a day / 0 water, to 24 - 48 oz of black coffee and 200 oz of water.
On September 29, I was straining a bit to pick up a 44 pound bag of dog food when it hit me... as of right then, i had lost 45 pounds. That blew me away! How did I carry this much weight at all times. That explains the way I felt. FF to November 6, I am down 56 pounds! The Dr. has changed prognoses to one with hope and can not believe the indisputable results from following her directions.My wife says that I am looking better in my cloths...I say that I am looking better out of them!
More to come...
87
Replies
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I’m so happy for you! Great work and congrats on your 56 pound loss-well done! Best of health to you going forward:)4
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Congratulations on your success!!!1
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Feelin' good feels good!5
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Wow outstanding job simply amazing congrats
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You sir are a captivating writer! I look forward to reading about more of ur success! Job well done so far! Thanks for sharing.4
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Really enjoyed reading that. You have a great way with words. Looking forward to instalment two.
Wishing you continued success on your journey.
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Congrats on your progress.
Love the dog food analogy. As you lose keep lifting those heavy things and putting them down again.
My SO worked through the civil construction industry and, like you, by 50+ was not burning the cals, office bound, but still eating them.
It took some serious cal tracking to get him down to his former weight, but he got there and has maintained it (10lbs range) for about 4 years now.
Cheers, h.3 -
Loved reading this. Congrats and good luck on your journey!
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Great job!!! Keep up the hard work, it’s worth it!!2
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I also very much enjoyed your story. I laughed when you said that you looked better out of your clothes. What wit! I'm sure you are right, after your 56lb loss. I wish you continued success and happiness.3
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Fantastic!
You might have missed your calling by going into construction rather than writing 2 -
Nothing says you can't do both, construction and writing. You have a way with words. I'll be watching for more from you.2
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53 is not an age to be slowing down my friend. You have so much more to achieve!! Well done.1
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Me in 1995
Me in 2018
32 years of undisciplined living took me from looking buffed to stuffed. How did I get fat? One bite at a time. Scientifically yet simply put, I consumed more calories then I burned. My doctor always told me that I should eat less and exercise more. Yeah yeah yeah, anyway… how’s your golf game?
I love to cook. I do it competitively… and win. I got fat (morbidly obese is the Doc’s term) by enjoying truly amazing food. Most of it would even be considered healthy. What was unhealthy was the quantity that I was consuming it in, immediately followed by a few laps around the living room in my recliner. It’s not like I was out of control, it was only gaining 6 pounds a year, that works out to 8oz per month or 1/4 oz per day. 2 Hersheys kisses weigh 1/3 of an ounce. It’s really easy for it to not look like a problem. Every now and then I would have “a moment of clarity”. Getting winded from putting on my socks. Getting lightheaded buy walking up a flight of stairs. Not being able to enjoy one of my greatest loves, fishing, because I cannot navigate walking on river stone.
Most people will get to a point where they hit bottom or become unwilling to dig any further. Seeing my wife in tears over the fact but the doctors were now willing to place estimates on my life span. Having doctors educate me on the irreversible damage that I have done to my body. Actually getting to see myself has morbidly obese‘s instead of big boned. I came to except the fact that I am fat because I have been living a lazy, gluttonous, and undisciplined life.
Kinde reader, don’t go blue on me! It turns out that that last paragraph was a great gift for me. It doesn’t need fixed if you don’t know it’s broke. I considered gastric bypass, wonder drugs, liposuction. The problem is that that would only be fixing the symptoms of the part of me is it’s broken. Now the adventure begins… More to come.
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Well done. Amazing transformation!1
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Another awesome read. Beautiful little girl with you too. Keep winning the war and keep posting.1
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It can just kinda sneak up on you over the years. The important thing now is that you recognize what you’re dealing with and are willing to make changes. I think you’ll do fine—keep us posted!1
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Great work - you're in the right place0
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@dwburman95
“ I was committing suicide by fork on the installment plan.”
I have felt same at some point. Feeling breathless after short walking which was my wake up call as I love walking.
Thank you such a inspiring writing. Looking forward to read more. You have made amazing progress.0 -
Brilliant in every way. You so deserve the wonderful life you have worked for. You could also publish by the way.
Seriously ! All the very best to you and your family. I hope to read more from you. Pam.1 -
Your words are very powerful. Congrats on the progress so far. I look forwrd to more posts from you.2
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I have lost the weight equivalent of an average nine-year-old child.
Let that sink in.
The fat that I have lost could walk itself to school.13 -
😝😆😆😆1
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dwburman95 wrote: »I have lost the weight equivalent of an average nine-year-old child.
Let that sink in.
The fat that I have lost could walk itself to school.
This would make a great a Twillight Zone episode.
Thanks for sharing your story. My 40s are fading fast and never thought I'd still be struggling with weight. You give me hope.2 -
It’s been weird watching my weight bounce up and down by a couple of pounds on a daily basis. At the end of the week, I am usually down another pound or two from where I was seven days prior. I guess that’s one thing I love about this tracking ap, it verifies my progress (or lack thereof). My weight graph line starting on July 4 (361 lbs) has been consistently trending downward zigzag line that has most recently registered at 302 lbs.
The changes that I have made are minute. The most notable two are:
1) The amount of simple carbohydrates that I am consuming.
One disappointing thing that my doctor discovered is that I now have Type II Diabetes. Bread and many types of snack foods that I enjoy, were not only “Not my friend” but they have become my enemy and are trying to kill me. That resonated a little bit louder than “Cut back on the spaghetti!”.
2) The amount of water that I am consuming.
I was drinking coffee. ONLY coffee. 5 days out of 7, Coffee was the only liquid that I consumed. I feel like a knucklehead when I say it out loud, But when I was doing it, I could see no err in my ways. I would joke with my buddies that I boil my water and filter it through ground up coffee beans to achieve and exciting level of purity. My Dr. Just gave me “The Look” when she found out I was drinking NO water.
The doctor explained to me that I should be drinking water to equal half of my body weight in ounces every day. 361lbs divide by 2 = 180.5 oz. That’s 5.6, 32 oz Nalgene bottles a day! I tell you what… my body actually will hold that much water. I felt as bloated as a dairy cow during calving season on the day the farmer skipped the milking. The thought of sitting down and enjoying a loaf of cheesy garlic bread… well, let’s just say that that thought never really took roots.
My new routine, combined with some of the medications that my doctor put me on, produce a not so surprising side effect. My body was now turning 8 ounces of water into 3 1/2 gallons of urine! I have titled this new work out, “Urine The Lead Cardio” (with your instructor Cpt. Peezalot).
My office is on the second floor and we have no elevator. If you remember from an earlier post I mentioned that I could barely drag it up and down the stairs and would have to take a break at about the halfway point? There is no more dragging anything. There are no more breaks halfway up or down the stairs. I am hustling my butt back-and-forth to the bathroom at an astonishing pace driven by the desire to finish my day and dry pants. It takes what it takes.
More to come…10 -
Well done on your progress so far, I look forward to watching your journey.1
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I am enjoying your writing. Best wishes on your continued journey.1
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Blackened salmon over jambalaya sauce with Alaska shrimp and roasted asparagus.
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dwburman95 wrote: »
Blackened salmon over jambalaya sauce with Alaska shrimp and roasted asparagus.
Oh, how delicious..
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Nicely done! Sometimes it takes an uncomfortable doctor's visit to light that fire. Though you are not where to you want to be yet (but you will be) you should also recognize that you are in such better shape now than when you started - soon you will be skipping steps as you run between floors. So awesome!
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