Monday, December 28, 2009

A new man two years in the making.

Two years ago at this time I was afraid that I would not have much longer here on this planet because of weighing way more than I should have. I had no clue what I weighed but my best guess was close to 600 pounds as I had not found a scale that could give me a straight answer at the time unless I wanted to go to a stone yard and hop on the scale that they weigh the trucks with. It had been days that I was online looking into what it took to get a weight loss surgery and I was as close as I have ever been to deciding on getting one of those surgery's and then I saw that death could be a side effect of having it and something clicked inside me an a decision was made, I have to do something before the choice is made for me in the way of a heart attack.


I was 534 pounds at my highest weight and today I am more than 200 pounds lighter just 726 days later and most of that weight was lost in the first year. Seven hundred twenty six days, that sounds like a long time if you look at it that way but really its not long at all and besides death lasts a lot longer than that so what was the alternative really? This time of year seems to get people all fired up to make a resolution and lose some weight "This is gonna be my year!" but 2 years ago was my year to mean it. I have re-learned how to fuel my body or should I say that I have learned how because what I was doing was not what I would call anything more than gorging myself at every meal just because I could. Contrasting my life back then to who I am now, how I live now and the latter is much more fun I have to admit because right now even at around 330 pounds I am not limited in any way that I notice. I run, I ride a bike, I walk, I go to the gym almost on a daily basis and things where my health are concerned are all where it should be and getting better daily and all because I decided to make a change in what I was doing.

I hate thinking about where I might be if I had not decided to get my shit together and the answer can scare me if I think about it for too long. At 534 pounds how much of that can a persons body really take? how long can a body last as it pumps blood through a huge body that is literally more than twice as big as it should be? I didn't want to find out. Today for whatever reason I was thinking back to those days where it took a plan to get upstairs to use the bathroom, I literally had to time it so that I would go upstairs the bare minimum amount of times because of the fact that my heart felt like it would explode on any given trip up the 13 stairs in my house and I am honestly happy that I got my arse in gear and did this.

I am glad that I can still remember how it felt back then at more than 500 pounds because some day I know that it will fade away and whatever weight I level off at will be my weight and be what I know and remember but right now it makes me grateful for what I have done. Some day I will show my Daughter a photo of me at 500 plus pounds and she will not believe that it was me and I can thank her for her role in me doing this. Some day I will meet someone that has never seen me heavy and I may show them a photo of me at 500 plus pounds and they will not believe it and some day hopefully I will get to walk my daughter down the isle because I made the decision to get healthy and change the way that I think about food and my health.

I am stronger than I have ever been in my life and I do not mean physically, We all owe it to ourselves and to the ones that we love to take care of our health.

As Ever
Me

4 comments:

  1. I've only just started to read your blogs, but I must say you have certainly acheived a huge turnaround in your life. I hope you enjoy a brilliant and prosperous New Year!

    Greg

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  2. I'm glad you remember because that will keep you on track. I have a friend whose best friend from high school dropped dead on Christmas day. She was 44 and was around 100 lbs. overweight. My boss died on Halloween at the age of 65. He had been a heavy smoker for 35 years and was 50 lbs. overweight. He was quite wealthy and should have been enjoying retirement, traveling and enjoying all he worked for. None of it - age, money - life mean anything if you don't have your health. I look forward to following your continuing journey in 2010 Tony!

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  3. Thank you for taking the time to comment guys ;) and Andrew I don't know about a Legend lol but thanks for the smile.

    As Ever
    Me

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