I remember as if it were yesterday. I went into the doctor's office to figure out why I was having these incredibly awful headaches. Well, when I made the appointment I was having these incredibly awful headaches . . . now, they were practically gone, but I felt that I should still see a doctor. The first thing they did was weigh me: 268. Two hundred and sixty-eight pounds. Wow.
Now, I had been over 290 at one point in my life - actually, that point was just a few years previously. A lot of hard work brought that number down to 220 . . . not "skinny," and probably not even "fit," but "acceptable" in my mind. I knew I had put on weight since then, but I thought it was relatively "ok," and nothing like 50 pounds above that low.
At first, I started making excuses. It was only fitting that I had gained a significant amount of weight. After moving to Carlisle, I spent three months commuting to Baltimore every single workday. Commuting one thousand miles a week (two hours, each way, each day) just plain messed with my system. After that hellish commute ended, I broke my elbow and couldn't do half of the things that I once loved. Stress enters the life, food enters the mouth. That's the way that I've always worked.
But, I didn't imagine that I was approaching 300 pounds again. I wasn't eating "poorly." At least, I didn't think I was. I would always buy the low-fat or fat-free option at the grocery store, if one were available, and it were on sale. I was pretty good at avoiding fast food. Those count for something, right?
My wonderful fiancee, Duffy, had been doing a GREAT job on Weight Watchers, and I admired what she had been able to do. After looking into it a little bit, I noticed that I could calculate the Weight Watchers "Winning Points" in my head. With that, I decided that I would start "eating healthier."
For a couple of months, I kept eating better, never actually defining what "better" was. However, at the beginning of September I went to a sleep clinic to battle nearly uncontrollable bouts of daytime sleepiness. Those bouts turned out to be Narcolepsy attacks (for which I was diagnosed and am currently receiving treatment for), but the office visit brought me back to the scale: 256.
"Eating better," was working - but not all that well. It had been well over three months since my fateful doctor's visit.
I decided to get serious.
We had a simple elliptical machine in the house, and Duffy had been very good about using it for half an hour in the morning. But, I never wanted to use it in the morning, as I wanted it to be available for Duffy. Then, in the afternoon, after taking the puppies for a walk, the idea of exercise never even entered my mind. A new Gold's Gym had just opened in town, however. Hopes that a combination of working out with Duffy and actually paying to use a gym would serve as proper motivation for working out entered my mind.
My real commitment to health began on September 8, when Duffy and I joined Gold's Gym together.
I have decided to work out at least once a day (twice a day, when both schedule and body permits), and if a day arises that I can't get the gym, I'll make my poor little doggies go for extra-long walks.
Since starting this, I've actually found a wealth of willpower that I never knew existed (probably through a lifetime of never using any). Because of this, I have decided to save myself the money and forego joining Weight Watchers, although I try to keep myself on a diet similar to their points system:
- Less than 1100 calories per day
- Less than 50 grams of fat per day
- At least 16 grams of fiber per day
- As much water as I can humanly drink
The work week has provided a much easier time for following the diet, where I basically have the same thing every day (information gathered from The Calorie Count Database when nutritional information is not available on packaging):
| Breakfast | Item | Serving Size | Calories | Fat (g) | Fiber (g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee (black) | 16 Oz | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Oatmeal (plain) | 1/2 cup oats, cooked in water | 140 | 2.5 | 4 | |
| Lunch | Diet Mt. Dew | 12 oz. | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Cucumber (peeled, raw) | 1 large | 34 | 0.4 | 2 | |
| Cherry Tomatoes (raw) | 8 medium | 27 | 0.3 | 1.8 | |
| Celery (raw) | 12 sticks | 6 | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| Baby Carrots (raw) | 10 medium | 40 | 0.0 | 2.0 | |
| Green Bell Pepper (raw) | 1 small | 15 | 0.1 | 1.3 | |
| Campbell's Soup At Hand | 10.75 ox. | 60 - 130 | 0.5 - 6 | 0.0 - 3.0 | |
| Totals: | 334 - 404 | 3.9 - 9.4 | 11.7 - 14.7 | ||
That leaves me (depending on which soup I have) with the Weight Watchers equivalent of 18 points, which makes for a comfortable dinner.
I've also set my target date at the Twenty-Seventh Day of December, 2003 . . . or, as many would put it, my wedding day. Obviously, I'm looking to change my lifestyle, but I'm also looking to look good in my wedding pictures! Hopefully, my wedding day will serve as a stepping stone to good, general, overall health.
Continue Onto my Weight Tracking and See How Good (or Bad) I've Been!