Like most folks who are overweight, I occasionally find myself reading online articles and blogs that focus on weight loss strategies as well as telling success stories. A few years ago, I got hooked on a blog called 344Pounds.com which followed a young man named Tyler as he tried to lose an incredible amount of weight. I encourage you to use the link above to visit Tyler’s blog (which has grown into a full blown web community) and click around a little bit to read about how he was able to lose 140 pounds.
The reason why I bring up this particular weight loss website is because I used to comment on the blog entries from time to time. While I was browsing around that blog a few days ago, I found an old comment that I placed on 344Pounds.com about two years ago and I thought that I’d use this space to upload that comment. The comment is, in a shortened form, the story of my weight loss journey.
That's what it's all about - losing weight and ultimately reducing your health risks.
Here is the text of that old comment from 2009 which tells my story:
About 5.5 years ago I decided that I had enough of being overweight and tired. I was 385 pounds and 23 years old at the time. I dedicated myself to going to the gym, but not going crazy at the gym (an hour on the treadmill and some light lifting plus an hour swimming in the pool). I went at least 5 times per week. I’ve always had a good diet (no fast food, no soda, lots of water), but my portion sizes were obscene. So I lessened my portions and still ate the healthy food. I went from 385 pounds to 260 pounds in about a year. I felt great.
Then two things happened. First, my gall bladder went (the doctor said it was a result of losing too much weight too quickly). As such, my body had (and continues to have) a hard time processing fat out of my foods. Second, I graduated from graduate school and landed a great job an hour from my home. This means that I am out of the house from 7:30am until about 6:30pm and exhausted by the time I get home.
Slowly, the weight came back on. When I was in graduate school, even though I went to a school that was 45 minutes from my house, I had so much free time that going to the gym was easy. It’s extremely hard to lose weight when you’re out of the house in a sedentary office setting for 8 hours each day with an hour commute on either end of that work day.
Last winter I reached 380 pounds again. At that point, I was disgusted. I joined a gym down the street and went there every day for over a month. Maybe 10 pounds came off. So I stopped going to the gym.
However, due to an active summer and the dietary changes that I’ve made over the last few months (smaller portions), I dropped 50 pounds so that I’m weighing in at about 330 now. I’ve been at this weight for about a month and I’m confident that I can lose another 70 and sit at 260 (which is where I want to be in the short term).
The lesson that I’ve learned is that you have to get into shape when you have the freedom to do so. Because if you wait until you have an executive-type job and a lengthy commute, it’ll be harder than you could imagine.
The quick update is that I don’t weigh 330 pounds now nor do I weigh the 260 pounds (which is the goal weight that I have for myself before I really kick it into high gear). Instead, I’ve weighed between 350 and 365 pounds for the better part of the last year. Shortly after I wrote that entry, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. For two years, I’ve been on 10 pills each day and my doctor consistently monitors how the pills are working in my system. Two weeks ago, he upped my prescription to 11 pills each day. Last week he put me back to 10 pills a day and added a daily shot in the stomach (which I’m not pleased about). The shot is supposed to both help me control my blood sugar and lose weight. Go figure.
By the way, I weighed 364.2 pounds two weeks ago. This past Saturday, I weighed 354.2 pounds. A 10 pound drop in two weeks – a sign of things to come? Eh, who knows?
Everything I said in that entry holds true, though. There is still not a realistic diet and workout plan for people who have a long daily commute or who work two or three jobs. That diet and workout plan just doesn’t exist. And I’m tired of hearing people say, “You have to make the choice. You have to make that decision that you won’t take no for an answer.” I made that choice one hell of a long time ago and my mindset hasn’t changed. I’ve been eating mostly organic food for a decade, no fast food for a decade, no soda for a decade – I’ve got all of the hard stuff down. But, like many other working professionals – after I managed to achieve my major weight loss success I was slapped with the reality of the professional world and having financial and personal obligations to meet.
That’s just the way life works.
Don’t read this entry the wrong way, though. I’m certainly not bitter or angry or anything like that – not at all. However, I do think that along with all of the success stories, folks should be looking at the truth when it comes to those people who have lost weight and then gained it back.
I feel like my story is more typical than people would imagine.
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