This is My story

Howdy,

I'm 41 years old, 5'6" and as far back as I can recall, I've struggled with my weight management. I weighed 220 lbs in 1998 (the year I was married) and I peaked to 302 lbs 2003. I'm not sure what I was most depressed with; my weight, my job, my drinking or just all of it! I truly felt miserable and forgot what success felt like, indeed I needed to change and did not know how.

Step one - what does success feel like? I decided to go back to school and earn my MBA. I thought about the last time I felt successful from my own efforts and it was earning my Bachelors degree (lots of reasons why, but this post would go on for ever if I illustrated all the issues in my life). Thus I decided to apply to a prestigious MBA program, went through the interview process, got accepted (success #1, first goal was acceptance), figured out the financing (100% school loans), set goals #2 and#3, which were to graduate and then graduate in the top 10% of the class (earn a special designation), respectively. I did graduate in December 2006 and I am a Fuqua Scholar!

Step two - drinking! I am a recovering alcoholic. Last drink was in March 2007 and I thank God every day I stay sober. I lost about 20 lbs by this decision and my weight dropped to about 280 lbs. I recommitted to being a husband and a father, these responsibilities are the most important roles I have in my life, I feel good about this. It's hard, not easy at all - but Everything worth having is worth working towards.

Step three - I left the family business (I worked for my father). I felt undervalued by our customers, they have no clue! With my MBA and my work experience I was offered a a great role in a turn around assignment. We, my executive team that I am a part of and I, are successfully creating enterprise value. I do miss working with my family though, need to figure this out. This is life success #4.

I feel good about my education and my career, I'm now ready to work on weight. As many of us that have struggled with weight know, the last thing we want to do is try and tackle our weight issue, fail and have one more thing to feel bad about! By knocking out several of the reasons why I was unhappy and start liking and caring about myself again, I was able to think about losing weight - or planning on losing weight!

Step four - the fallacy of exercise! In the spring of 2009 I decided that I would exercise 30 minutes per day for a minimum of four days per week. "Commitment to consistency", I used two different social media tools to broadcast to folks that I'm committed; as a metaphor to "stand on my soap box" and tell everyone that I'm going to do something different! One problem, I did not lose any weight. Aaahhhhh, now what? I did not quit! The success before all this kept me focused and my "soap box" - my friends did not let me stop, they noticed if I did not exercise and encouraged me (let your people know, they will inspire you when you need it).

February 2010 - Dr says change or stop coming to see me! I have had the same Dr thorough this entire time and he has been harping on me thorough the entire time. He scheduled orientations for the gastro bypass, which I did not go! He finally said "you don't listen to me, so why are you here - stop wasting our time!". I shared with him my historical exercise log and he said "I don't care how much you exercise, it's good that you are because it illustrates discipline. But you need a caloric deficit! Apply that discipline to your mouth."

Final step - awareness! My sister in law referred me to a calorie counter and I started using it religiously. I kept exercising and I kept using the calorie counter, I lost weight. Wow, really - wow! I switched to MyFitness Pal because it's better! I had no idea what I was eating in terms of calories before, now I do! I don't want to eat 4500 calories per day (that's what I was eating and drinking per day to maintain 300 lbs). Becoming aware of "how much" I am eating is the greatest awakening I have experienced in my life.

I am happy, I will always use my fitness pal! I feel better, I sleep better, I look better, I think better, I have more energy, I have a positive outlook, my kids are proud of me, my wife finds me attractive, my peers and direct reports are inspired, my friends are supportive and celebrate with me, my Dr is pleased, my father and mother are proud of my accomplishment and life is good!

One last point, very important!!!!!!!!!! You can do it too! Thanks for reading.