Slevin1
New member
Hello,
I thought I'd join and contribute, since I really enjoy reading about other people's stories and struggles here. I never had a weight problem until I was in my mid-30's; high levels of activity and a high metabolism allowed me to eat and drink as much as I wanted and still weigh the same as I did in high school. I'm 6'1" and I was about 165 lbs. I remember many nights eating a whole package of salisbury steaks, a half a loaf of white bread, a six pack of beer or Pepsi, and a whole box of Reese's peanut butter cup minis! That was just my evening meal and the rest of my day was similarly decadent (and awesome?). Around age 35 I got a desk job and the pounds started to creep on. By the time I was 40 I was in the 225 lbs. range and I had to watch what I ate much more carefully. Now here I am at 52 years old, and I sometimes wonder where all the years have gone.
In October, 2012 I reached my heaviest weight ever and I was a whopping 315 lbs. I felt horrible and tired all the time and my eyesight started to fail; I was a mess. I decided that I wanted to stay around for awhile and by simply cutting down on sodas and beer and not pigging out at every meal I got down to about 270 lbs. Then around new years 2014 I'd finally had enough and I started actually using my Planet Fitness membership and I strictly limited myself to 1000 calories per day. For the last 4 months I pretty much have been at the gym every single day working out. Day before yesterday I stepped on the balance at PF and I was finally able to use the 180 lbs. setting on the scale! That's right, I was a buck ninety eight and damned proud of myself. People that haven't seen me in awhile don't even recognize me and I'm elated with my success. Hard work and determination have gotten me this far and my goal is 185 lbs., so I am practically there. I'm actually happy where I am now, but my job requires me to be in the health coaching program if I'm "overweight" according to their BMI chart and I'm going to go down to 185, so I don't have to mess with that crap anymore. Anyway, that's my story, and I'm over-the-moon with joy and feel better than I have in more than a decade. So far it has been more than worth the sacrifice and effort.
I thought I'd join and contribute, since I really enjoy reading about other people's stories and struggles here. I never had a weight problem until I was in my mid-30's; high levels of activity and a high metabolism allowed me to eat and drink as much as I wanted and still weigh the same as I did in high school. I'm 6'1" and I was about 165 lbs. I remember many nights eating a whole package of salisbury steaks, a half a loaf of white bread, a six pack of beer or Pepsi, and a whole box of Reese's peanut butter cup minis! That was just my evening meal and the rest of my day was similarly decadent (and awesome?). Around age 35 I got a desk job and the pounds started to creep on. By the time I was 40 I was in the 225 lbs. range and I had to watch what I ate much more carefully. Now here I am at 52 years old, and I sometimes wonder where all the years have gone.
In October, 2012 I reached my heaviest weight ever and I was a whopping 315 lbs. I felt horrible and tired all the time and my eyesight started to fail; I was a mess. I decided that I wanted to stay around for awhile and by simply cutting down on sodas and beer and not pigging out at every meal I got down to about 270 lbs. Then around new years 2014 I'd finally had enough and I started actually using my Planet Fitness membership and I strictly limited myself to 1000 calories per day. For the last 4 months I pretty much have been at the gym every single day working out. Day before yesterday I stepped on the balance at PF and I was finally able to use the 180 lbs. setting on the scale! That's right, I was a buck ninety eight and damned proud of myself. People that haven't seen me in awhile don't even recognize me and I'm elated with my success. Hard work and determination have gotten me this far and my goal is 185 lbs., so I am practically there. I'm actually happy where I am now, but my job requires me to be in the health coaching program if I'm "overweight" according to their BMI chart and I'm going to go down to 185, so I don't have to mess with that crap anymore. Anyway, that's my story, and I'm over-the-moon with joy and feel better than I have in more than a decade. So far it has been more than worth the sacrifice and effort.