One year ago a quarter ton man decided...

Finally there is a connection to the net in my home! Apparently we live far enough out in the boonies that they had to connect us to a remote box to get our signal to us and the box was full so no room for Mister Meatball, too bad they were not just honest from the get go about the whole thing I could have been less annoyed with the whole process. Anyways onto the post and I warn you in advance, I have a feeling it will be lengthy, It has been an entire year since I started on this path to a healthier me and I am astonished with the results. When I began eating and exercising last January, I weighed 534 pounds, thats more than a quarter of a ton! My shirt size was 6XL and I was starting to make those look like they were too small and my pants size was a stout 56 at the waist which is slightly less than 5 feet around! insane, I know, but facts are facts and that was me just 365 days ago. I could not walk for more than 5 minutes or so without excruciating pain in my lower back from an injury that I suffered years ago and being red faced and out of breath, walking to my car was far enough for me and sitting activities out was the norm.

Here is a look at me at my largest size, actually this was taken in the beginning of Jan 2008.


Another of my finest moments and the picture that started it all, this is August 2007.

Here we are just one year later, lets look at those measurements now, As of this morning I weighed 369 pounds which is 6 pounds higher than my lowest weight which was 363 pounds just before Thanksgiving and I have to admit that with the new home and all of whats been going on and toss in the holidaze I have been less than strict with my intake and the only exercise has been house work so maintaining is possible it would appear. My pants size is somewhere in the 44-46 area currently, I know that I would fit into a 44 but since I have no jeans in that size its only an assumption going off of how the 46's fit so 10-12 whole inches difference there. My shirts are no longer a "on the big side" of 6XL pushing a 7XL but rather on the small side of a 4XL and actually my Wify bought me a nice new hoodie for Christmas that is a 3XLT that fits just about perfectly so I am down three whole shirt sizes as well. For exercise I now walk for 30-40 minutes and that takes me between 1.6 and 2 miles on average with me stopping only because of the time and not the distance. To say that the differences are extraordinary simply does not describe it.

Here is a shot of me in that 3XLT hoodie

Here is a comparison that shows last Dec up to today, thats the 3XLT hoodie again in the second shot.

This past year has taught me a lot, I have learned that food is not for entertainment but in fact it is simply nutrition and fuel for my body. The most important lesson of the year that was learned is that I am responsible for what goes into my body, I am the one that decides whether I will put that bacon double cheeseburger down my pie hole or not, nobody else makes that decision. In 2008 I have lost a Grand total of 165 pounds as of this morning and I did it simply by watching what I ate and exercising often but not as often as you would think I have to to drop that kind of weight. As I sit here typing this out I can remember writing my first post and thinking about how it would be great if I could stick to this for a couple weeks and thinking about how great losing 100 pounds in 2008 would be and all the while in the back of my mind thinking about how far fetched that idea felt yet feeling driven beyond anything I have ever known before.

Then there is this pint of Ben & Jerry's that started it all in a way, a lot of you that read this blog regularly know of my pint that has waited an entire year to be eaten, It now has become an empty pint and I had some of it, I split it into 4 portions and it was shared between myself, wify and the kiddos. That statement alone speaks volumes, "some of it" last year it would have been ALL of it had I not decided that enough was enough and changed my life for the better. I have actually thought about how if Wify had not bought those two pints of Ben & Jerry's goodness 365 days ago I may not have even made that decision last year, I might have had a few drinks and woke up Jan 1st 2008 and went right back into auto pilot fork in hand and ate until there was no more. Sitting on the couch as Wify walked through the door with the ice cream seemed just plain old lazy and nasty to me and add that to the actual fear that I had about the possibility of death and here we are 165 pounds healthier than I was last year at this time. I must say for year old ice cream it was pretty good!

Last year the plan was to stick to the program and try to lose 100 pounds and that was not a resolution, it was simply just the breaking point for me to realize that I had to do something. This year I am going to hit my goal of weighing 275 pounds and I hope all of you fine people that have been following along and cheering me on will continue to do so and hopefully we can get a few more readers this year because support is something that there will never be in surplus. So a whole year has past and a lot of weight was lost, I have learned a lot about myself and about my body and 2009 can only be better. This appears to be my last post of 2008 but I have my internet back so there will be a post tomorrow at some point I am sure, I hope everyone has a great New Year's eve and heres to another great year of losing weight and getting healthy.

As always if you have made it through this post, which was especially long tonight, you deserve a big Ol glass of water so get on up and grab one before the alcohol starts a flowing for the evening, you will need it! Thank you for following along and thanks for the support. Lastly, if I can drop 165 pounds in a years time you can too, it is a matter of determination and drive with a splash of discipline added for good measure so start right now if you have not already begun to get healthy and if you have begun then stay the course.

As Ever
Me