The Struggle Within

I have been struggling with obesity for a long time. A long time?...heck, most of my life. I have seen pictures of me as a child, kindergarten age, when I was skinny, fit, thin…normal. But I do not remember ever being normal.

There are a lot more photos of me obese. I remember very well in the sixth grade when everyone got in line to get weighed and measured. I tipped the scale at 206lbs. By the time I was in high school, I was wearing the size jeans I currently have hanging in my closet. I have never worn a t-shirt as an outer garment due to the unflattering curves of my body.

I am like most overweight folks I guess. Just about everybody that is overweight knows what needs to happen to lose it; they just don’t have enough desire to do what is needed. I have tried many, many diets. A couple of folks at work about ten years ago were on Weight Watchers and I followed along for a few months. I got down to my lowest weight of around 275 and was loving it. Slowly over time I started to introduce the old lifestyle back in and gained it all back and then some. You know, the old yo-yo effect. The heaviest I remember being was in the 330lb range. I could still tie my own shoe laces and wipe my ass but I felt bad; physically and emotionally.

When I came to the conclusion that I wanted to make a permanent change to my body, I started looking really hard on the internet. I feel that most of the programs out there will work. The question is, will they work for me? Everyone is different. Everyone’s body reacts differently to certain foods and exercise. Everyone’s priorities are different. You just have to find the program that will work for you. And you have to realize that a diet is not the solution. A diet is a quick fix that will not give you the results that you are looking for. You have to make a lifestyle change.

A lifestyle change. That is easier said than done. I had to come to the conclusion, I had to realize, that I had been eating wrong for thirty-six years. And that if I wanted to change me, I had to change my lifestyle. And to permanently change my body meant that I had to permanently change my lifestyle. I also realized that it would be a two step approach. The first stage was weight lose. I wanted to get down to my desired weight and then stage two was to maintain that weight. Again, easier said than down right?

There is no secret to weight lose. It is one of the most simplest things to understand. Calories in must be lower than calories out to lose weight. Calories in equaling calories out will maintain your current weight. And more calories coming in than your are burning will result in weight gain. No magic here. Again, like I said, everyone knows what they need to do; it’s the desire that holds them back. Do you want to eat what you want to or do you want to be healthy? It all boils down to what you want more. I finally decided which one I wanted. I started following a program and asked God's help along the way...and still do.

The particular program I am following is called the Diet Solution. You can find it on the internet and read all the reviews. Basically, it utilizes the glycemic index. This is the same type of program that a diabetic would use. Atkins banned all carbs which is not healthy and impossible to sustain for the rest of your life. That is the whole lifestyle change I was talking about. You must do something that you can use for the rest of your life or you will fall right back where you are currently.

This programs explains that not all carbs are created equal. You must have carbs daily to maintain balance. You just need to have the right ones and not to many of them. For example, I am losing weight eating McDonald’s every morning. I do not get hot cakes and sausage though. I eat one of two different meals. Either I get two orders of scrambled eggs and a hash brown or an egg, ham, cheese McMuffin. I do not put ketchup on the hash brown which is full of sugars and only get one McMuffin where as in the past a minimum of two was ordered.

There are a couple of things you can do to increase your success rate in weight lose. One-do it with a partner or group. It has been proven many, many times that those who have a friend or family member participate with them loose more. Two-accountability. Keep a daily log of what you eat. Log every single thing you eat and you will be surprised of what you put in your body. I keep track of my progress online with my fitness pal. It is great and it is free.

Luckily for me, my best friend (aka wife) is also eating healthier. She is the main reason I started eating this way. She started eating a low carb diet and I followed alongside her to make it easier on her. Another inspiration is my brother. He and I have had a couple of good talks about what is working for him and what is required to maintain the new me. Thanks Cheryl and Ray. I really appreciate the help.

I weighed this morning and I am down to 266.4lbs. Over 30lbs since I really started keeping track of it. My goal is to be down to 250 or less by the end of next month. An 1/8 of a ton. Funny isn’t it? Think about it. An eighth of a ton is an improvment! From there I don’t know yet. I’m thinking 220 would be an ideal weight. At that point I won’t be hung up on my actual weight as much as my appearance. What I mean is I also want to be physically in shape. Currently, I am doing more cardio than I am weight training to lose the fat. Later on, I plan on replacing some of that lost fat with muscle.

As bad as it sounds, another milestone I am shooting for is the ability to do a pull-up. That is something I have never done in my life. When I do, you can better believe you will hear about it. I’ll probably post pictures. LOL. I currently can do a mile on foot in 12:20. I would like to get that number down to single digits. Still a little heavy to be running/jogging to often. I do not want to do damage to myself.

And that’s about it. Find a program you can follow not only until you lose the weight but a program to follow for the rest of your life. A lifestyle change. Eating healthier and exercise works for me. And I promise it will work for you. Later.

Later.

Size does matter

Here is a link to an article explaining the correlation between a man's right hand 2ND and 4Th fingers and his private member's size. Basically, the shorter the pointer finger (2ND) finger is in comparison to the ring finger (4TH), the larger the man's "lil buddy" will be. Just in case any of you were wondering, I attached a picture of my right hand I took this morning. I can only imagine how many men will be looking at not only their right hand after reading this but also looking at other men's hands all day long. It is okay guys; you can pick up a pair of mittens. Later.