Holland1945
New member
Hello!
I've been lurking around here for a week or so and thought I'd finally deliver the obligatory clever newcomer monologue.
I'm 20 years old, male and a college student in Southern California. In November, I played tennis with my girlfriend for the first time and proceeded to thoroughly snap a crucial bone in my foot and was basically on my back for about 3 months during the holiday season, and proceeded to live it up by eating everything I could just because it was something to do. Admittedly, however, I have been slowly accumulating my own wealth of fat since senior year of high school when I was afflicted with another injury spinal in nature.
By the end of finals just a few weeks ago, I had achieved the dubious honor of upgrading my status from "overweight" to "obese" according to the BMI. At that time I was 6'1" and 236 pounds. Let me tell you-it was glorious! I would eat the equivalent of perhaps 5 full meals every day between snacking and proper meals-most days snacking more than I ate at the three generally accepted meal times. I knew that my bold eating habits were the reason for my "obesity", but with a full schedule of school and work, and a beautiful, lovely girlfriend to support me, I never felt the need to diet or lose weight, even though I knew that eventually I would have to.
Discovering I was classified as “obese”, however, changed things. I was angry. I could not believe that I had let myself go so horribly and didn’t even care about what I was doing to my body. I knew it was time for a change. Fortunately, I was blessed with a rather odd and unforeseen miracle. As I was going through finals, I started a dental program called Invisalign for my teeth which is a series of plastic molds that slowly align your teeth but can be taken out for eating and brushing. Whenever you eat, however, you must take out your molds, Or “trays”, and then brush both the trays and your teeth when you are done with the meal and return them to renovation duty in your mouth. When they are in throughout the day, you can only drink water. Anything else and you risk staining your trays and making them more visible. The work that goes into eating makes you think very hard whether it is worth the effort afterwards. In my case, I went from snacking and eating all the time to 3 square meals a day and nothing more. My treatment started 3 weeks ago and I’ve yet to “snack” on anything since. Oddly, I find I’m almost never overwhelmed with feelings of hunger and if I am its very close to meal time.
When I realized the positive impact this would have on my well-being, I decided to augment it with some exercise. For some reason, cycling popped into my head and I went out and bought a mountain bike. I’ve started riding 4 or 5 times a week, usually 50-70 miles a week and I’ve never been happier. As of right now, I’m at about 225 give or take, and I think this summer will be a life changing experience. Having already been downgraded from obese to overweight makes me feel like I’ve already accomplished something, even if it’s only a few pounds. The BMI says I should be somewhere around 190 and I guess that’s my goal. I’ve got a long road ahead of me, but reading the posts on this site has excited me for the wonders of weight loss.
I have found that as I have become more focused on what I eat, I am making healthier choices overall. This way when I am forced into a fast food situation, I am making better choices than the Six Dollar Western Combo-large size-with criss cut fries and a coke (maybe only California people will drool at that one…). The biking is also making me feel like I’m being almost athletic, something I’ve never been accused of before in my life.
In short, I wanted to thank this community for being so motivational and I look forward to (less and less of me) spending the summer here.
Holland1945
I've been lurking around here for a week or so and thought I'd finally deliver the obligatory clever newcomer monologue.
I'm 20 years old, male and a college student in Southern California. In November, I played tennis with my girlfriend for the first time and proceeded to thoroughly snap a crucial bone in my foot and was basically on my back for about 3 months during the holiday season, and proceeded to live it up by eating everything I could just because it was something to do. Admittedly, however, I have been slowly accumulating my own wealth of fat since senior year of high school when I was afflicted with another injury spinal in nature.
By the end of finals just a few weeks ago, I had achieved the dubious honor of upgrading my status from "overweight" to "obese" according to the BMI. At that time I was 6'1" and 236 pounds. Let me tell you-it was glorious! I would eat the equivalent of perhaps 5 full meals every day between snacking and proper meals-most days snacking more than I ate at the three generally accepted meal times. I knew that my bold eating habits were the reason for my "obesity", but with a full schedule of school and work, and a beautiful, lovely girlfriend to support me, I never felt the need to diet or lose weight, even though I knew that eventually I would have to.
Discovering I was classified as “obese”, however, changed things. I was angry. I could not believe that I had let myself go so horribly and didn’t even care about what I was doing to my body. I knew it was time for a change. Fortunately, I was blessed with a rather odd and unforeseen miracle. As I was going through finals, I started a dental program called Invisalign for my teeth which is a series of plastic molds that slowly align your teeth but can be taken out for eating and brushing. Whenever you eat, however, you must take out your molds, Or “trays”, and then brush both the trays and your teeth when you are done with the meal and return them to renovation duty in your mouth. When they are in throughout the day, you can only drink water. Anything else and you risk staining your trays and making them more visible. The work that goes into eating makes you think very hard whether it is worth the effort afterwards. In my case, I went from snacking and eating all the time to 3 square meals a day and nothing more. My treatment started 3 weeks ago and I’ve yet to “snack” on anything since. Oddly, I find I’m almost never overwhelmed with feelings of hunger and if I am its very close to meal time.
When I realized the positive impact this would have on my well-being, I decided to augment it with some exercise. For some reason, cycling popped into my head and I went out and bought a mountain bike. I’ve started riding 4 or 5 times a week, usually 50-70 miles a week and I’ve never been happier. As of right now, I’m at about 225 give or take, and I think this summer will be a life changing experience. Having already been downgraded from obese to overweight makes me feel like I’ve already accomplished something, even if it’s only a few pounds. The BMI says I should be somewhere around 190 and I guess that’s my goal. I’ve got a long road ahead of me, but reading the posts on this site has excited me for the wonders of weight loss.
I have found that as I have become more focused on what I eat, I am making healthier choices overall. This way when I am forced into a fast food situation, I am making better choices than the Six Dollar Western Combo-large size-with criss cut fries and a coke (maybe only California people will drool at that one…). The biking is also making me feel like I’m being almost athletic, something I’ve never been accused of before in my life.
In short, I wanted to thank this community for being so motivational and I look forward to (less and less of me) spending the summer here.
Holland1945