Monday, August 29, 2016

My Journey To Losing 100 Pounds.

When we last spoke, I left you with a cliffhanger concerning watermelons. And then, like a fleeting phantom in the night...

I was gone.

It's been approximately two and a half months since I published a blog article. Many of my dedicated readers probably wondered where I got off to. What happened? Well, here's the story.

Nearly all of my life, I have been overweight. Food became a coping mechanism for stress early in my youth. When I was sad, I ate. When I was angry, I ate. When I was depressed, I ate even more! Entering first grade as a child, I ballooned up and got husky (a term that just oozes 1980's nostalgia). During my middle school years, I weighed in the ballpark of 250 pounds. I started high school at 275 pounds. By the time I graduated in June of 2000, I was a whopping 303 pounds.

Over the course of the following decade, I continued to eat myself to death. Between 2011 and 2012, I topped out at an astounding 343 pounds. My late teens and twenties were an emotionally tumultuous period, and it showed in a very tangible way. I wore my emotions on my sleeve... and on my gut, back, shoulders, arms, legs and ass.


In August of 2013, I decided enough was enough and began a journey to better health. There's no coincidence that my physical health began to improve parallel with my mental health. I started writing this blog to heal emotionally and spiritually. As I let go of the internal baggage holding me back, so too did I relinquish the very physical baggage weighing me down.

Over the past three years, I've transformed myself on the inside and on the outside. Today, I write to you a healthier man, a happier man...

a man that weighs 100 pounds lighter.

When I first started my weight loss, I never even imagined I'd lose this much weight. I thought I'd get twenty or thirty pounds off and call it a day. I just assumed I was meant to be a big guy the rest of my life. Just getting to 300 pounds was an achievement in my book.

But... I kept going. I'm not sure why, but I just kept going. I developed a sense of willpower which I didn't have ever before. Luckily, I also had a partner in Crystal who supported me at every step of the way. When I was weak, she was there to carry me along. I can't thank her enough.

These past few months, I pushed extra hard to hit my goal -- lose 100 pounds by the end of August. To focus on that goal, I stepped away from writing. Very literally, I needed some me time.

Today, I weigh 243 pounds.



Thankfully, I don't have a lot of extra skin sagging and drooping all over me. I contribute this to losing the weight responsibly and at a reasonable pace. I didn't take any weight loss supplements or magic pills. No surgery was involved, nor any fad diets. I didn't follow the silly rapid weight loss plans that you see on The Biggest Loser (which is why so many of those contestants put the weight right back on).


I feel deflated.

Unfortunately, I still have a big head... but that's something I was blessed with at birth... probably not going anywhere.


I ate right. I controlled my portions. I exercised. I used my willpower to know what not to eat. It's as simple as that.


I know I'm still overweight, but at least I'm able to live a somewhat normal life. I can climb mountains. I can hike trails. I can run without passing out. Heck, I'm moderately cute and attractive (okay, that's a slight stretch). Most importantly, I'm not going to stop. I'd like to get to 220 pounds and see how I look. If I still have some extra pudge, maybe 200 pounds is my finish line. I just don't know yet. Either way, I've done something most people can not say they have ever done. For once, I'm proud of myself.

So what's the takeaway from all of this?

If a schmuck like me can lose a ton of weight, so can you. Just let it go.