cw71
Mon, Oct-16-06, 14:33
Hello. I've been lurking around these forums for the week since I started changing my life and I have picked up a lot of great information and been inspired by all of you, Thanks!
My story: I was never a fat kid. I was always super active at sports and mountain biking and really tall (6'4"), so it always seemed like I could eat whatever I wanted and not worry about it. Even into my early twenties I never thought about this stuff at all. Then I had a very life altering event. A serious knee injury ruined it all, and was followed by a $40,000 knee surgery and a year+ of rehab. I was 21 years old, 230lbs at that point, and told by my orthopedist that I shouldn't ice skate anymore, it would be rough on my rebuilt knee. (He was the team physician for an NHL franchise, and he said that my injury would have ended the career of an NHL player!) Of course, he was not telling me to give up physical activity entirely, but my addled brain interpreted it that way.
I went into self-pity mode. Since the things I had always done were leg oriented (like hockey and mountain biking) I just ended up doing nothing at all. My activity went to nothing, and the amount of junk food I was eating started to creep upward. It did not change drastically, but along with my new inactivity and the fact that my metabolism slowed down as my twenties went along, my weight climbed.
I was never that worried about it really. I never dieted or tried to change my WOE. I was tall and big-framed, so I guess I carried the extra weight fairly well up to a certain point. People were never able to guess my weight, and still are not. Even today at the massive size I am, if people try to guess my weight they usually say something like 275, 280.
So now its a decade+ later. I am 32 years old. I got married along the way to a wonderful 125lb. woman and proceeded to bring her into my lifestyle and now she is up to 210lbs.
I went to the doctor the other day and was told I have high blood pressure and the doc said he might want to put me on medication for that. I am going for a full cardiac workup and stress test this week to make sure everything is OK. I weighed in at 382 pounds, the heaviest I have ever been (or will be). I have migraines, unexplained chest pains, sleep apnea that requires me to wear a mask to sleep, and in general I just feel like crap.
I went to the bookstore and picked up the Paleodiet book, Protien Power, and Atkins. My wife and I both were intrigued by the Paleo thing most, and we are doing it together. We bought a stationary bike so we could get some exercise during these Michigan winters. We know it will be a slow process, but the rewards will be wonderful. We want to have kids in a year or two and we want to be healthy for them and each other. I have roughly 150 to lose and she has about 70 to lose.
It's only been 8 days since we got started, and it has been tough. Not so much physically, but mentally. You never realize just how powerful an influence junk food and fast food are until you consciously give them up. I don't really have any physical cravings, but the mental cravings are there for all those things I gave up. I used to sometimes eat 3 or even 4 McDonalds double cheeseburgers at one sitting, and wash them down with a large coke. In retrospect, it probably is not even that good tasting when you really think about it, but man, even as I sit here and type this I think of how easy (and cheap) it would be to go through that drive through and do it again.
But, I am not going to do that. I am strong. I have a decade+ of abuse to correct, and I know that even after I do that this healthier WOL is going to have to be a permanent change. I have lost 9 lbs. so far, a small step on a long journey. Thanks to all the posters here for helping me get going!
My story: I was never a fat kid. I was always super active at sports and mountain biking and really tall (6'4"), so it always seemed like I could eat whatever I wanted and not worry about it. Even into my early twenties I never thought about this stuff at all. Then I had a very life altering event. A serious knee injury ruined it all, and was followed by a $40,000 knee surgery and a year+ of rehab. I was 21 years old, 230lbs at that point, and told by my orthopedist that I shouldn't ice skate anymore, it would be rough on my rebuilt knee. (He was the team physician for an NHL franchise, and he said that my injury would have ended the career of an NHL player!) Of course, he was not telling me to give up physical activity entirely, but my addled brain interpreted it that way.
I went into self-pity mode. Since the things I had always done were leg oriented (like hockey and mountain biking) I just ended up doing nothing at all. My activity went to nothing, and the amount of junk food I was eating started to creep upward. It did not change drastically, but along with my new inactivity and the fact that my metabolism slowed down as my twenties went along, my weight climbed.
I was never that worried about it really. I never dieted or tried to change my WOE. I was tall and big-framed, so I guess I carried the extra weight fairly well up to a certain point. People were never able to guess my weight, and still are not. Even today at the massive size I am, if people try to guess my weight they usually say something like 275, 280.
So now its a decade+ later. I am 32 years old. I got married along the way to a wonderful 125lb. woman and proceeded to bring her into my lifestyle and now she is up to 210lbs.
I went to the doctor the other day and was told I have high blood pressure and the doc said he might want to put me on medication for that. I am going for a full cardiac workup and stress test this week to make sure everything is OK. I weighed in at 382 pounds, the heaviest I have ever been (or will be). I have migraines, unexplained chest pains, sleep apnea that requires me to wear a mask to sleep, and in general I just feel like crap.
I went to the bookstore and picked up the Paleodiet book, Protien Power, and Atkins. My wife and I both were intrigued by the Paleo thing most, and we are doing it together. We bought a stationary bike so we could get some exercise during these Michigan winters. We know it will be a slow process, but the rewards will be wonderful. We want to have kids in a year or two and we want to be healthy for them and each other. I have roughly 150 to lose and she has about 70 to lose.
It's only been 8 days since we got started, and it has been tough. Not so much physically, but mentally. You never realize just how powerful an influence junk food and fast food are until you consciously give them up. I don't really have any physical cravings, but the mental cravings are there for all those things I gave up. I used to sometimes eat 3 or even 4 McDonalds double cheeseburgers at one sitting, and wash them down with a large coke. In retrospect, it probably is not even that good tasting when you really think about it, but man, even as I sit here and type this I think of how easy (and cheap) it would be to go through that drive through and do it again.
But, I am not going to do that. I am strong. I have a decade+ of abuse to correct, and I know that even after I do that this healthier WOL is going to have to be a permanent change. I have lost 9 lbs. so far, a small step on a long journey. Thanks to all the posters here for helping me get going!