Melancholy
New member
Alright, were to begin.
Male, 29, married, no kids, regular job, etc.
Height - 5' 9"
Weight (as of 08/04) - 219.9
Weight (as of today, 08/25) - 206.4
I was always a little chubby as a kid. Tons of fat pics from the time I was 11, till 15. At 15 years old, I joined the wrestling team at my high school. My coach was really adament, that if I was ever going to be really good, I need to lose a LOT of weight to be competitive with my muscle mass.
I took what he said to heart, and began jumping rope and only eating Fat Free items for desert, etc. There was no limit to how much I ate, just what I ate. I ended up losing about 40 pounds, down to 160 and stayed there for the rest of wrestling. I ended up winning my division a few years in a row, and stayed skinny.
In college I let some of the eating go, but I went to the gym a TON. Being in southern cali, there was a lot of drive to stay "fit", and the beach and everything were close by so I did okay.
I met my to-be wife the last year of college. Stayed healthy, was working as a bartender while in college so lots of hard work, lots of moving fast, still doing okay.
After school was over, moved back near home in so-cal, and started to eat a little less healthy, a little less working out, etc. Creeped up to about 190 from 175 in college. Clothes were not working quite as well.
I went on a mission. I started eating right, and lost about 15 pounds again, and stayed there from 2005-2007. I got a "real" job in 07, and that is where it all went downhill.
I gained about 10 pounds initially, but what really did it for me was the knee injury. I had a surgery in 2008, that put me up on crutches for a few weeks.
Crutches turned out to be the least of my concern. They put me on something called Tramadol/ Ultram for pain, and it turns out it has some anti-depressant properties with it as well. I was on it for about 6 months, and just stopped because the pain had subsided.
I had a Grand Mal siezure from stopping it abruptly, and tore the crap out of the same knee (it was pinned below me from the siezure).
I had another surgery, a major one in 2008 (end) and was on crutches for 3 months. I ended up getting up to about 215 last summer, and decided enough was enough.
About August last year, I started working out a ton and went on South Beach. Got down to 192 when my wife and I moved into my in-laws house. We were buying a home, and needed to save money for the 5 months the house was being built. I knew my mother in law, who thinks anything w/ chicken is healthy would not know what is going on. She made orange chicken one night, followed by light fried chicken w/ cream of mushroom soup... etc. (you get the idea).
I ended up hurting my knee again, and had another surgery in 2009, right at Thanksgiving. Well, about August 4th this year I weighed myself and was 220. I was devastated, but not suprised at all. I decided that I needed to take my time this time around, and not rush it like the year before. Instead of rushing to the gym, and burning myself out. I started to eat South Beach again, and have been exercising by walking, not running.
As of this morning I am 206.4 pounds, about 14 pounds lighter than I was 08/04.
I am encouraged by this result, and just stocked up with some South Beach essentials from Costco to keep the pattern going. Alright, that's enough writing for now. If someone else happens to read this they will be bored out of their mind!
-Mellon
EDIT:
(copy from mid-thread, for easy access and reminding myself)
What am I working towards:
I needed to write down some goals, to get myself in tune with some realistic goals, keep me motivated!
what I want:
To fit into my clothes - since I am a dude, I don't have a ton of clothes, but there was a period of time right after college about 4-5 years ago that I had some extra money from bartending, and bought a couple of pairs of designer jeans. I loved them for going to vegas, going out with the wife, etc. I would love to fit into those again, but they are waiting at my goal, they will not fit BEFORE my goal!
Not un-related are my work clothes. Before I gained the weight, I started the new job and got some sweet suits, some sweet ties and dress clothes. Most, if not all of what I wear right now is fat suits, and other clothes that I bought as I gained weight
Not be ashamed of my weight
I love to hang out with friends & family, and living in southern california, there is year-round outdoor activity. I have not even been comfortable in t-shirts, opting for sweats in many situations, no matter what the temperature is. This is big for me, because I hate being hot. But my personal comfort gets a back seat to embarassment, so it will be nice to wear t-shirts and shorts again.
My Knee
My doctor told me earlier this week that every pound overweight I am, it adds 8 pounds of pressure to my joint, so every 10 pounds is 80 less pounds on the joint during walking, etc. Since I have lost almost 20 pounds, that is already 160 pounds of force off the knee when I walk.
If I can lose the weight, almost 50 pounds, it's like taking 400 pounds of strain off the knee that I am using all the time.
I have a hidden agenda
... I LOVE snowboarding, and have been doing it for a long, long time. I have not been able to do it for a couple years because of surgeries, and my doctor is not happy with the extra weight, thinking it will mess up the knee.Lose the weight by this November/ early December, back on the board!
Pain: the knee is always sore, and losing that weight will really take some of the pain away from the arthritis. I have never been skinny again, since my first surgery so many of the operations have been deemed "moderately" instead of 'completely' successful, because of the pain. But we'll see what happens when I lose some weight!
Alright, I can hopefully look back and find this. Maybe I will copy it onto my opening to be able to locate easily!
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