Apologies if this is long, but I am sort of using this post as a reflection of the progress I have made.
My story is pretty classic. I was always a chubby kid and while going out to get fast food was not uncommon in my family, in hindsight, I would have to blame my constant snaking while not hungry as the main contributing factor in my steady weight gain. However, my parents would never really allow the snacks that you would think would be the worst into the house. No chips, sugary cereals, or anything like that. But anyone who has been/is in the position I was in knows that big kids can get creative.
One classic was a heated up tortilla with butter on it, rolled up with ham and string cheese slices (Did the math. Somewhere around 670 - 700 calories for a snack there). Sounds delicious, right? I would probably have three of those every other afternoon after school.
Truth be told, my whole family was big. In reflection, my mother and I have talked about how we lived in a constant cycle of enablement for almost my entire life. Tuesdays were Taco Tuesdays at Rubio's. Wednesdays were my short days at school, so I got to have Wendys for lunch. And you already know, Fridays were pizza nights. And exercise? Oh, please. I was not into sports. Not into moving my body in any strenuous way. I never had too, because my family was not into it either. And up until several months ago, I never had any desire to improve myself in that way.
I am going to get this out of the way right here. In my opinion, dudes, it is really easy for us to be fat. We rarely get ridiculed or treated differently because of our weight, which I see a lot with women. Honestly, no one, except for one old "friend" ever called me fat to my face. I was allowed to live in denial for so long and I think that a large reason why is because I was a guy.
Fast forward to around two years ago, I'm complacent with my weight, but my mother decides that she is not complacent with her own. She starts up weight watchers. Hear me out. I know weight watchers is kind of a controversial figure in the weight loss scene, but if you are going to take anything from this unorganized collection of thoughts, do whatever works. For my mom, weight watchers worked. She lost 80 pounds in a year while on it, she is the most fit she has ever been in her life.
So, now we've got one extremely fit person in the household. I should be eating super healthily now, right? Wrong. Around this time, I got my license and it was game on. In-N-Out every weekend with my friends. Didn't feel like making something for dinner? A Chick-fil-A sandwich AND eight-piece nuggets will do. If I wanted a "snack", I would drive down to the gas station, get a family-sized bag of cheese munchies, a sweet tea, and an entire pint of Ben and Jerrys (Easily over 2,000 calories, by the way). So, while my mom was living a healthy and fit life, I was diving into my most rapid period of weight gain.
That brings us to the holiday season of 2020-2021. I came back home to San Diego after my first semester of college in Chicago. The gloves came off and I went berzerk at Thanksgiving. Bonkers on Christmas eve. Unstoppable on Christmas morning. Almost exactly around New Years', something strange began happening to me. No matter how much or how little I ate, I was always hungry. This persisted for about a week straight before I finally decided to weigh myself. Two hundred and eighty pounds. Definitely my heaviest on record. That same night, I told my parents what was happening to me and my mother said four words that I will always remember. The four words that set me on a path to success, "You might have diabetes".
Quite honestly, in my head, the word "might" removed itself from the phrase and what I took from it was an unequivocal truth. If I didn't do something now, I would end up with diabetes. Which is very common in my genes. It just so happened to fall around New Years' too, which I didn't even notice till a few months later.
The next morning, I got up at 8 am and walked three miles. I came back home and cooked myself two eggs and a ham steak. I did it the next day and the next day. For other meals, I would have salads with chicken. My mother would make excellent, healthy dinners. I ended up watching what I eight and walking three miles each morning every day for a month. At the end of January, I went back to college. I was dreading what I would have to face in the Cafeteria. I would always ask myself "How are you going to lose weight when you don't even know what your next meal is?"
This is what became my schedule for the entire spring semester: I would wake up and grab some scrambled eggs from the cafeteria. Then, I would go to the gym. 25 minutes of cardio, 25 minutes of strength training. For lunch, I would have whatever protein and vegetable they were offering at the cafeteria. For dinner, the same. Friday night I would treat myself by going to blaze pizza (like Chipoltle but for Pizza) and getting a delicious thin crust pizza.
And I lost weight. Around three pounds a week for 15 weeks. I don't really have many friends at college yet (covid) so I never really had anyone point out a difference. Until my parents came and picked me up for our road trip back home (victory lap, if you will) and they were blown away. They took me out to get some new clothes. My jeans stopped fitting about three months prior, and by the time they arrived I had to hold them by my belt, through my jacket just to keep them up. I looked silly.
Advice/Things I learned:
Here, I thought I would list some of the things I learned about weight loss on my journey. Things I wish I could say to myself years ago. Of course, disclaimer, this stuff worked for me. It may not work for you.
- You know what it takes to be healthy. Before I even returned to college, I had a million excuses on why eating from a College Cafeteria was going to make it impossible to lose weight. But once I was able to avert my eyes from the burgers and fries, I saw that you can be healthy under almost any circumstances. Remember, even McDonalds has salads. They may not be great, but they are salads.
- Gym 7 days a week became non-negotiable for me. I know a lot of people who have succeeded in their fitness goals by not going every day. For me, however, going to the gym not only helped with my weight loss but also helped with some symptoms of depression I didn't even realize I had. I got to know the employees at the gym and knowing that someone expected me to show up every day is what got me out of the door on some days. I even trudged through a Chicago snowstorm once! A big part of my weight loss I attribute to the strict routine I set for myself.
- Find the things that you love about living healthier! Is it beating personal records in the gym? Is it cooking delicious and nutritious meals? Is it the community? Is it biking? Running? Swimming? Lifting? Whatever it is, I promise you will find something if you keep at it. And maybe, just maybe you'll start to like everything about fitness.
- Setbacks? Schmetbacks. It was early March. I was on the grind, feeling happy and healthy. One day, I decided that I wanted to go on an outdoor jog/run after I left the gym because I still had the energy. About five minutes in, I begin to feel a sharp pain in my right calf muscle every time I touch down. I powered through but it never went away. Every day when I would run at the gym, I would feel the same. I would later figure out that I had given myself posterior shin-splints. Whether the cause was bad running shoes or a bad gait, I still don't know but I became very discouraged very quickly. But the next day, I went to the gym and hopped on the elliptical. I still got my heart rate up while not having any pain in my shin. My shin healed around three weeks later and I ended up back on the treadmill (though I do still have the occasional affair with the elliptical). Every setback, save for a full-body cast, has a way around it.
In conclusion, as I stated earlier, do whatever works for you. But don't do it for anyone else. If it's setting an end goal, great, do that. If it's simply taking a short walk every day, great. If it's quietly whispering "I am a god' to yourself while on the treadmill so you can run for one minute longer, great. I've done all of these things and they work for me. For you, maybe none of them work. That's the great part about weight loss. It's specialized. You have to discover what works for you. Do something to improve yourself today, even if that’s brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Then tomorrow. Before you know it, creating a better you will be a habit. If you are here, browsing, this sub, you've already taken the first step.
P.S. Sorry I don't have any progress pics. I have a hard time with pictures, even now. When I look the best I ever have.
P.P.S I do not have diabetes, still not sure what was happening to me. But there is no doubt In my mind that I would've, had I continued in my old ways.
