Hi. My first post here, and I hope this is okay, but I wanted to share a little bit of what I've been doing, going through, and see if anyone had any advice or tips. First of all, I'm a middle-aged man, having just turned 53, although it seems surreal. I've struggled with weight nearly my entire life, after a series of surgeries on my feet and legs when I was young which prevented me from PE classes and most sports. I've also dealt with depression since at least 12, although I've never sought formal treatment.
My weight and activity level has fluctuated greatly over the years, but it really took a hit a number of years ago after a hiking accident--where I shattered my left ankle and broke both the tibia and fibula--followed by a botched surgery (mostly healed now but there are occasional complications). I gained quite a bit following that, and while I tried keeping somewhat active it wasn't enough. My biggest downfall, I believe, was a tendency to eat quite a bit at night, especially since my job entailed sitting at a computer every evening.
My wake up call to just how bad I had gotten came in May, 2018. I knew it was terrible, but I saw a photo of me from the back. I volunteer with a disaster relief organization, and a journalist took a photo of me on scene, and ouch. I also went to a doctor a little afterwards, got on the scale, which was 440lbs. So I really began working on dieting and getting in more exercise.
For the first few months it was a struggle with mixed results. I was trying a Mediterranean-style diet, but I was still a bit too tempted by pasta, deli meats, bread, potatoes, eating in the evening, and the like. (I live with people for whom these are staples). In October I tried Keto, as my sister has had success with it. I had okay results, but I felt physically and mentally terrible and had serious difficulty controlling my depression.
So in February I switched to a Mediterranean diet, but really went into it, along with meticulously writing down everything I ate and counting calories (staying under 1,000 a day which may be too limited). I've also limited meat. I've had fish or shrimp a couple times a week and some chicken maybe once a month. The results have been much more dramatic, my mood has improved, and with the weight loss I have been able to exercise more. Among general exercises, I often walk at a local park and/or ride a stationary bike each day. My current daily goal is three-mile walks or at least 30 continuous minutes on the bike. I'm now at 312lbs.
So where to go from here? I'm thinking of also joining a gym to use more equipment and have a place to exercise at odd hours and when weather's bad (I live in a rainy place with long winters), but I'm not sure if I'm still too large for the equipment. I've broken exercise bikes I've had in the past after extended use, especially since my left foot never fully straightened, so I twist it a bit. Hopefully gym-level machines would be more sturdy, but I don't want to damage them. And even with the "everyone's welcome" marketing of the one I'd likely join I don't know what the reality is.
So, hi. Thanks for reading that, and I hope this is acceptable, but I haven't spoken with anyone about this and wanted to share somewhere. As for goals, I was hoping to be under 300 by my birthday, but I missed it by 12lbs. I'd like to be under 250 by year's end.
tl;dr, Outrageously obese a little over a year ago, now quite obese, trying to get to not too bad.
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Anecdote while helping people after their house burned down. I tripped and almost fell.
Client: Careful! You're big. You fall down I don't know how we'll get you up. I mean, that's a lot of dead weight.
Me: Well, it's not all dead just yet.
Client: But damn, I doubt all of us could get you up.
Me: You could just hand me a rope and tie the other end to your SUV.
Client: Oh, well. We wouldn't do that.
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