Progress pics cause pictures are worth 1000 words or something like that:
https://ibb.co/VTs5sBN
http://imgur.com/gallery/dUQqaYx
http://imgur.com/gallery/EH6zhst
https://ibb.co/b3RFmYP
See, a little over 2 years ago, I couldn't do much. I couldn't fit in airplane seats without a seat belt extension, I couldn't read my students a story without running out of breath, I couldn't take my poor dogs for a walk, or even tie my shoes. My mom died while I was big. A year after she passed i was definitely north of 400. Most likely around 420 to 430 at my biggest, though a combination of my scale not going over 400 and complete fear of the actual number means I won't ever know how big I was in numerical terms. I was big enough to regularly receive frowns and concerned looks from strangers in public. I was big enough to greet every unfamiliar chair as a mortal enemy. I was big enough to be pre-diabetic, have regular heart palpitations, horrible back pain, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, stomach aches regularly, and a desperate need to take my rescue inhaler well over what the recommended use was. ( spoiler alert: most of those things have since resolved or greatly improved)
Well, after my mother passed, I went on vacation with my wife and our two sons to California. Not only was I unable to buckle my seat belt on the plane and had to ask for the extension, I was miserable from the walking we ended up doing in cali and was unable to fit into the rides.
Very shortly after returning home, I decided to take matters into my own hands and began my journey to a healthier me.
I could bore you with the methods I used, and go into the fine details about what steps I took,, but you've heard it all before. I did some keto, counted calories, intermittent fasting, started lifting just ten minutes a day, blah blah blah. All of that is part of it, but not the important stuff. The important stuff, is I played the long game. Hell, I'm still playing it. I lost 200 pounds in under two years and gained back 24. No worries though, it's only been a week. And I already dropped 5 pounds again because I have all the weaponry I need to win this war. For,, this war isn't just a few isolated battles, it's a lifelong battle that I'm not only winning, I know for certain I will win. I took my magic eightball of weight loss and learned how to make it say what I dictate. No longer "ask again later" when I shake it and ask if I can skip cake on my birthday it tells me " you can do whatever you want". It's been 34 years since I required babyfood, and I'm not about to lose control of picking what I eat at this point.
Well, actually I will.
Yeah, I will, but when I fall off the wagon filled with carrots, calorie counting apps, and lots of gallons of drinking water, it won't be for months, or years anymore. It's almost guaranteed that I will binge again. It's who I am. I'm certainly an addict when it comes to food. I once ate three chipotle burritos in a day and then ordered pizza. Unlike most other addictions that you can give up for good, it''s a little hard to go cold turkey on something that will result in starving to death.
I digress. The point is, I have no super power. I just learned to be patient and trust the process. In doing so, it's like my body WANTED to finally get to function the way it's supposed to. Slowly but surely, it's like systems started coming back online inside of me. Breathing better, I guess inhalers aren't needed regularly. Heart stopped racing. 30 steps became a mile, the mile became two the two became four. The four became six. Last week I walked ten miles. Ten. Two years ago, I decided against walking to the park with my son and drove. We bought that house because it was walking distance from the park. Ok, fine. It was right across the street from the park. I was in a rough place. But I did what every cheesy self help book in existence says, I took it one, lame, uneventful, boring, not there yet, day at a time.
After about a year, the wife joined in. She crushed it every bit as hard as me. She began making me tasty healthy deserts and going on walks with me. She at first tried a rip off weight loss clinic that was starving her. $1500 and 3 weeks of 500 calorie days and she was ready to do the work herself. At first I was in charge of all the meals for us both, but as soon as she knew what worked for her, I no longer needed to be husbandietician.
Now here we are 300 lbs lighter. Life is better. It's not perfect. We aren't super heroes. We argue still. We experience all the horrors or reality that dont magically dissappear with our body fat percentage, but it feels...better. The real awful parts of being big, of growing up bullied for really liking hot lunch or the shame associated with not sticking up for myself or being shamed by family members and friends never goes away. But maybe it's not supposed to, maybe it's all part of the journey.
I'm not quite sure why I'm writing this post actually. I just want people to know it's doable. You CAN succeed at what may seem like an insurmountable task. You don't have to throw in the towel because you gained weight when something horrible hits like a death, pandemic, or the writers of Game of Thrones ruining all the character arcs at the end. You can succeed. There will always be at least two people cheering for you. Yourself and this weird, less-fat-than-he-used-to-be, guy on reddit that you actually just spent way too long reading about.
Love you all,
Ethan
