A Year of Change

As of today, it has been a year since I started my current weight loss and exercise programs...

The reason why I changed my life is because on July 1, 2011, I almost died of high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure... I weighed 393 lbs and I wore 5 XL shirts and 58 inch pants... In addition, other than what little exercise I would get from working at my job, I lived a very sedentary life... My diet used to be nothing but fried food, fast food, and tons of red meat...

So, I started to implement the changes I needed to do ... It had not be easy... I started to eat more vegetables and phased out the junk food... On August 18, 20122, I joined my local area Y and started to work out on August 20, 2011... At first I had been so badly out of shape that I could not stay on an elliptical glider machine for more than 2 mins and 30 seconds.

I had a setback during the month of September 2011... It had been the fact that I failed the stress test and that I needed to have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implanted into my left chest with at least one wire going into my heart... I did not let that stop me... I did not allow that setback to stop me... I continued to lose weight and to improve my physical fitness...

Last December 18, I decided to participate in a 5K run/walk... I had been able to walk the 5K... My time had not been the greatest but I did accomplish my goal of completing the event... Last December 26, I decided to become a member of myfitnesspal.com because I needed a easy to use calorie counting system...

About a month later, I had to undergo ICD implantation surgery... The good news had been that I only needed one wire to go from the ICD control box into the right ventricle of my heart... The recovery had been emotionally difficult because I could not work or perform any exercise that required me to lift my left arm above my left shoulder... However, I had been able to walk... I built up to being able to walk about eight miles a day 3-4 days a week... I walked with my left arm in a sling... During that time, I had been able to continue to lose weight...

In late February, I had been able to go back to work and doing my upper body work outs with both arms... I started to work out 3-4 days a week for at least 2.5 hours a day... I even started to more actively participate in my favorite form of physical activity... I have to admit that I really love Zumba...

The good thing is that I had been able to stay away from the junk food... Not easy but it is worth it... Having an ICD is a constant reminder that I can never, ever let myself become obese again... I have had many ups and downs so to speak but, I must continue to do everything I need to do and to never give up...

Today, I weighed in at 184.8 lbs... I can now wear pants that are between 32-38 inches... My shirt size is down to a large... I can probably wear a size medium, but I do not like wearing tight shirts... I have been able to keep my weight between 184.6 and 187.6 lbs... I now eat vegetables, fruit, whole grain products, fresh salsa, corn tortillas, veggie burgers, veggie chicken patties, veggie cheese products, turkey, chicken, fish, and seafood... I avoid caffeine... In addition to water, I drink low calorie powdered lemonade. I avoid fried foods, fast food, and red meat...

I have recently uploaded a profile photo to show have far I have come... I also uploaded two of my personal ID pictures as examples of what I used to look like when I weight over 300 lbs... The ID photos are a little blurry, but it is easy for anyone to see how heavy I used to be... They are in my photo gallery of my profile...

I do not know how to incorporate photos into message board posts...

I have to admit that I am not very photogenic... On the other hand, compared to my before photos, it is clear that my recent profile photo shows that I have made great progress...

Finally, I would like to say that if I can change, everyone can change for the better...