First Blog entry posted:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/995phil
How I got here a second time.
About 2 months ago, I woke myself up from a sound sleep... not by snoring, not by farting or any other thing that guys tend to do. I was WHEEZING. I was awakend because I sounded like a BROKEN KAZOO. Something had to change.
Now, I've done this before about 10 or years ago when I weighed 250lbs. About 12 years ago, I had major knee surgery from an injury I got playing a game of pick-up tackle football. I blew out my ACL and tore the lateral and medial meniscus of my right knee. That was in December of 2000. On February 4, 2001 I had the surgery and within a few months I was mobile again, and ready for physical therapy. My "doctor" hadn't done a great job in my knee...there was massive scar tissue, he used a screw in my knee that was far too big for me(I'm short, 5'3") which he sawed off the end of to force it to fit. This was going to make losing weight even more difficult because I could constantly feel the pain of the screw putting pressure on my bone. I knew I needed to lose weight to take the pressure off the knee. I cut my food intake drastically. I knew how to eat in order to be fat, so now it was time to eat in order to be thin. Breakfast was a bowl of cereal and 2 glasses of water. In between breakfast and lunch I would drink a diet coke and 2 more glasses of water. Before lunch, 2 more glasses of water. For lunch it was 1/3lb of pretty much whatever looked good and 2 20oz Diet Cokes. If I wanted pasta or some kind of meat, that's what I had...as long as I kept it limited to 1/3lb. I wouldn't eat ANY kind of snack or sweets except once a week...my "day off". 2 more glasses of water at about 3:30pm before I left work(at 5pm). When I got home...you guessed it...2 more glasses of water. Dinner was more of the same...1/3lb of something and 2 more Diet Cokes. Then came the exercise. 6 days a week of cardio for 1/2 hour. 3 days a week of lifting on my upper body, 2 days on my lower body. 6 days a week of abdominals(crunches, upper and lower). On the 7th day, I had my "day off". In 8 months I went from 250lbs to 175lbs. It was an amazing change and I decided it was time to play some sports again...I chose softball over pick-up tackle football.
With my lifting, I put back on about 5lbs of muscle, so for about 5 years I weighed 180lbs. I was pretty solid at that point. I was eating right(to maintain 180lbs) and still working out, and now, playing softball once a week.
Fast forward to now... it's been ROUGH 4 years since the end of my 5 year weight loss. I've moved 3 times, My mom got very sick and eventually passed away(2 years ago now, but was sick for many years beforehand). I'm a stress eater...when I get upset, I turn to food. Needless to say, it's 2012 and since 2008 I've been very stressed. 280lbs of stressed to be exact.
Then, all of a sudden...broken kazoo. Time to do it again.
There's a big difference now though. 10 years takes a huge toll on your body. I never would have admitted that, even when I was 32. I'm 35 now...and I realize how stupid I was. In my 20's, just like everyone else, I felt invincible...I could do anything, or lose any weight I may have gained. Then I met the ULTIMATE equalizer... my 30th birthday. It wasn't until I was 35 that I realized what I had been ignoring for the last 5+ years. 30 was a huge turning point for me. At 30, I developed allergies to things I had never been allergic to before...and it happend virtually OVERNIGHT. That should have been an indicator to me...but I was blinded by denial. Add on the 10 years of the pounding from softball and now both my knees hurt everyday. I wake up and my back is stiff. Both of my shoulders are in pain...my right shoulder has impingement syndrome(that's what comes before a torn rotator cuff) and now my left shoulder is showing the exact same symptoms as my right shoulder...wonderful.
I hate to admit it, but I've been in denial about my body aging. I know I'm not going to be able to lose weight the same way I did when I was 25, but the way I figure it, I don't need to lose 100lbs in 11 months. I would love to, mind you, and I'll give it my best shot to lose that kind of weight... but I know myself. I don't want to use knee pain as an excuse to not exercise. I don't want to use how my life has changed as an excuse either. It's not like when I was 25 and came home from work and all my responsibilities entailed were working out to lose weight and seeing if I could get my socks into the hamper instead of the floor. At 35, I have to cook dinner, clean the apartment, walk and feed the dogs...you know the drill. By 10pm I'm thinking, "Awesome, 1/2 hour before I get to go to sleep." Guess I'm going to have to make that 11pm if I want to put that hour's worth of working out in everyday.
We shall see.
