codon2004
New member
I've decided to start my own diary... I've been posting on here for a bit, but not in this section. Here's my story...
I was always overweight growing up. My dad is overweight, my mom is somewhat overweight. I have 3 older brothers, and none of them are overweight, though one was as a child, like me. Growing up, I always played sports and was a pretty active kid, but the diet was so bad that I always kept some extra weight on. I mean, even as a teenager, I didn't give any thought to downing half a dozen Cokes a day. But then high school came, and I got interested in track and field, and girls. With the combination of the two, the weight came off. I was a competitive runner in the 1600 meter distance, while also competing in discus and shotput. An odd combination of events if you're familiar with track and field. I was able to do it because, even at my skinniest, I was still 6-2, and about 200 pounds. Some people claim to be big-boned, but I really am. When I was 200 pounds, my mother was threatening to bring me to a hospital because I was so skinny (she was overreacting really though). The crazy thing is, I never changed my diet. I obtained that physical fitness because I was working out like a madman training for track and field, but my diet was still pretty bad. Then I went to college. I stopped working out because I was too busy with partying and drinking. Now that I'm health-conscious, I shudder to think what my daily caloric intake was like then. How much is in 8 beers, a large pizza, and 10 buffalo wings... because that was an average dinner. And this continued through college and into young bachelor life. A few years ago, I met my fiance, and she tried to clean me up, but she's had her own weight issues, and we only ended up gaining more weight together. This February I went to the doctor, and was 411 pounds.
I decided to change my life at the beginning of this June. My fiance and I had both been looking into getting lapband surgery during the early part of this year. Because of some medical complications, she was able to get it done before me. She had the surgery a couple months ago. Between pre-surgery dieting and post-surgery life, she has gone from a high of 221 pounds to a current weight of 181 and is still dropping. But I have her beat.
When my fiance went on her pre-surgery diet at the beginning of June, I decided to join her in a lifestyle change. It's not the same to pig out by yourself. I started playing basketball daily, and more recently I've been going to the gym everyday. At the end of March, I was laid off from my job. I still intended to get lapband, but as the medical bills started piling up I decided this was stupid. If I want to do this right I have to do it myself. I've recently cancelled all my appointments and I will not be getting surgery. I don't need a safety net. I'm dominating this on my own. Over the past two months, I've felt so much better. I can feel my old self reemerging. I plan to be looking pretty good for our wedding in May of 2010.
I've been losing weight pretty fast... maybe faster than would be recommended. But when you're 411 pounds, it's impossible to keep that weight on while living a reasonable lifestyle. If I ate 3500 calories a day, I'd be back to living to eat rather than eating to live. I can't find a way to take in that many calories without eating foods that would provide too much fat, sodium, etc. I'm not worrying about it though... as I go down, I know this is going to get harder, the weight loss will slow down and I'll need to make adjustments. When I put my mind to it, there's nothing I can't do. That's why I intend to run the Boston Marathon for my 30th birthday, in April of 2012. That gives me about another year and a half to get the rest of the weight off, and the remainder of the time to get back into top end running shape. I'm going to get there.
I've kept a daily log of my weight on my computer, I won't post the whole thing but here's a summary to get started.
6/10/09: 389.2
6/17/09: 380.8
6/24/09: 379.4
7/1/09: 373.6
7/11/09: 364.2
718/09: 358.0
7/25/09: 352.2
8/1/09: 346.0
8/8/09: 339.0
I was always overweight growing up. My dad is overweight, my mom is somewhat overweight. I have 3 older brothers, and none of them are overweight, though one was as a child, like me. Growing up, I always played sports and was a pretty active kid, but the diet was so bad that I always kept some extra weight on. I mean, even as a teenager, I didn't give any thought to downing half a dozen Cokes a day. But then high school came, and I got interested in track and field, and girls. With the combination of the two, the weight came off. I was a competitive runner in the 1600 meter distance, while also competing in discus and shotput. An odd combination of events if you're familiar with track and field. I was able to do it because, even at my skinniest, I was still 6-2, and about 200 pounds. Some people claim to be big-boned, but I really am. When I was 200 pounds, my mother was threatening to bring me to a hospital because I was so skinny (she was overreacting really though). The crazy thing is, I never changed my diet. I obtained that physical fitness because I was working out like a madman training for track and field, but my diet was still pretty bad. Then I went to college. I stopped working out because I was too busy with partying and drinking. Now that I'm health-conscious, I shudder to think what my daily caloric intake was like then. How much is in 8 beers, a large pizza, and 10 buffalo wings... because that was an average dinner. And this continued through college and into young bachelor life. A few years ago, I met my fiance, and she tried to clean me up, but she's had her own weight issues, and we only ended up gaining more weight together. This February I went to the doctor, and was 411 pounds.
I decided to change my life at the beginning of this June. My fiance and I had both been looking into getting lapband surgery during the early part of this year. Because of some medical complications, she was able to get it done before me. She had the surgery a couple months ago. Between pre-surgery dieting and post-surgery life, she has gone from a high of 221 pounds to a current weight of 181 and is still dropping. But I have her beat.
When my fiance went on her pre-surgery diet at the beginning of June, I decided to join her in a lifestyle change. It's not the same to pig out by yourself. I started playing basketball daily, and more recently I've been going to the gym everyday. At the end of March, I was laid off from my job. I still intended to get lapband, but as the medical bills started piling up I decided this was stupid. If I want to do this right I have to do it myself. I've recently cancelled all my appointments and I will not be getting surgery. I don't need a safety net. I'm dominating this on my own. Over the past two months, I've felt so much better. I can feel my old self reemerging. I plan to be looking pretty good for our wedding in May of 2010.
I've been losing weight pretty fast... maybe faster than would be recommended. But when you're 411 pounds, it's impossible to keep that weight on while living a reasonable lifestyle. If I ate 3500 calories a day, I'd be back to living to eat rather than eating to live. I can't find a way to take in that many calories without eating foods that would provide too much fat, sodium, etc. I'm not worrying about it though... as I go down, I know this is going to get harder, the weight loss will slow down and I'll need to make adjustments. When I put my mind to it, there's nothing I can't do. That's why I intend to run the Boston Marathon for my 30th birthday, in April of 2012. That gives me about another year and a half to get the rest of the weight off, and the remainder of the time to get back into top end running shape. I'm going to get there.
I've kept a daily log of my weight on my computer, I won't post the whole thing but here's a summary to get started.
6/10/09: 389.2
6/17/09: 380.8
6/24/09: 379.4
7/1/09: 373.6
7/11/09: 364.2
718/09: 358.0
7/25/09: 352.2
8/1/09: 346.0
8/8/09: 339.0
