Update on "I Feel Good!"

This will be short.  I wondered last week after losing 7+ pounds if I could keep it up.

Today I went to a doctor's appointment for something unrelated .  Since it was my first visit, they had to collect all the biographical data, insurance, allergies ,medications, etc.  You also get weighed and get your blood pressure taken.

Unbelievable!!!  My blood pressure was 121/70.  Three weeks ago it was more like 135/89.  My resting pulse was 74, I think.  Kind of hard to read the machine over my shoulder.  And I now weigh 295.  I lost another almost seven pounds!!!!

I want to tell the world!

I Feel Good!

Something to Feed the Body, So the Body Can Feed the Soul

(it is true that Christian books do change lives!)

     If you had told me a month ago that I could do something so dramatic about my life, I would have scarcely believed you.  But I did do something so dramatic and so drastic, that I believe I will have to use this space to tell you.  My latest discovery is not a book, in fact has nothing to do with books, but I believe that it will impact my life in a way that is just as dramatic and in fact may very well prolong my life.

     I am a fat person.  In fact, by any definition I am a very fat person.  The medical term is morbidly obese.  And I feel stuck.  I have been feeling stuck since I realized that I was fat and that I didn’t have the will power to deal effectively with the issue of being very, very fat.  You see, I love (at least I did love) soda drinks like Coke and Pepsi and root beer.  My idea of a good nutritious snack was a handful of cookies and a nice, tall cool glass of milk, 2% of course.  I never saw a cookie that I could pass up; in fact on my breaks, I would wander over to the Safeway next door and pick up a couple of free cookies from the bakery counter.  I think they put them out because they were starting to become dated, but do you think I cared?  They were free and boy, were they good!

     When I met my wife, twenty nine years ago, I was in fighting trim, literally.  I had just graduated from Officer Candidate School and I weighed 185 pounds on graduation and was six feet tall.  She thought she was pledging her life and her future to a man who would always stay in good shape.   Was she ever mistaken!  I didn’t do it on purpose, but once I left the military and started civilian life, four years after we got married, I began to neglect my body.  Exercise became sporadic, eating became a good substitute for relieving tension, you know, all the same old excuses.

     Speaking of old, I am currently 56 years old.  I weigh, or did weigh, 308.8 pounds or thereabouts and I stand 5’ 11” tall.  I think my body shrunk an inch from all the weight it has been carrying.  And I had decided somewhere along the way that I was stuck.  I was never going to lose weight.  I was always going to be fat for the rest of my life.  If you are currently over weight or have recently been over weight, I think you know what I mean.

     Since I became aware that I was losing the battle of the Bulge, I have been trying to lose weight.  I joined Bally’s and went for a while.  I tried pushing a shopping cart, then two, then three shopping carts while I walked around the perimeter of our local Safeway.  I tried walking period, up hills or for timed periods.  Borrrrrring!  I tried Ultra Slimfast.  I lost some weight, but was a little disconcerted when I wondered what the green color was in the bottom of the glass.  I never tried personal training because that costs money which is somewhat scarce.  I’m sure I tried other things which I have forgotten.  I also recently joined L.A. Fitness and then dropped my membership about six months later when I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere.  I briefly considered re-enlisting so I could go back through basic training, but the Army doesn’t want you when you’re over 45.  I also thought about bariatric surgery, until my insurance company told me I wasn't a good candidate, yet.

     Nowhere in this list above do you see me limiting my intake of some very fattening foods.  I grew up on a dairy farm and I love milk!  My wife gave up getting me to limit my intake.  Just like you can be an alcoholic, I found out you can be a milkaholic.  I dropped down to 2% and thought I was doing good.  Of course, I still sometimes drank a gallon of milk a day, but not always.  You already know how I feel about cookies and sodas.  I also love donuts of course.  Who doesn’t?  And on and on and on.  Where does it stop?

     Then about six months ago I ran into a man who told me about Herbalife.  Now if you have heard of Herbalife, don’t tune me out yet.  I pre-judged this company because I thought it was pretty much like Amway.  And it wasn’t until I got desperate enough to listen that I realized that it might make a difference in my future.  But I wasn’t ready yet.  Every so often this guy would show up at my workplace and I would give Herbalife another 15 seconds of my consideration.  Then about two weeks ago, it happened.

     I decided I need to do something about my weight.  I think my wife had given up.  She loves me, but she well knows how stubborn I am, after almost 30 years of marriage.  I think she had decided she was going to have to make do with a fat husband.  I’m not sure.  All I can tell you for sure was how I felt.  I felt hopeless.  I decided that I was probably going to be fat, overweight, morbidly obese for the rest of my probably shortened life.  I avoided going to doctors because I didn’t want to hear about my cholesterol,  my blood pressure, my weight, etc.  Although I did attend one doctor’s weight loss seminar which was actually advertising their product, which is probably well and good but I didn’t see it working for me.  I have just plain given up.  I expected to be fat.

     What changed my mind was that I decided to meet this guy from Herbalife at his office and sign up to try the product.  It didn’t look too complicated.  I don’t have time for complicated.  I work long stressful hours, I take care of my wife, who is disabled and I am also the housekeeper/cleaner/cook whenever that gets done.  But when I decided to try the product I also decided if I am going to spend money to lose weight I am going to have to cut out certain types of food.  I think my Herbalife friend mentioned something about this, but however it happened, I decided to go “cold turkey” on Sodas, Cookies, Donuts, Cake and Candy.  And I did.  I have not touched one of these products, except to hand something to my wife in the last two weeks.  I walk past cookies and donuts at work and other than giving them a hungry glance…..nothing.  And I did one more rather large change.  I no longer drink milk wholesale.  I use 1% in my twice a day shakes, using Herbalife Formula 1 powder.  Each shake uses 8 oz. of milk.  A gallon lasts me a week now.

     For me…..the results have been life-changing and earth-shattering.  Something very simple happened that I have long ago decided was not possible.  I LOST WEIGHT!!!!  Seven pounds and seven ounces to be exact, in one week.  I was 308.8 when I started and when I weighed a week later, I was 301.1.  WOW!!!

     Now you might think that this is much ado about nothing.  But try telling that to a fat person.  Of course I know that I must keep this up and I can’t go back to my old habits.  But for the first time in a very long time, I have hope that I can.  I am no longer doomed to be fat forever.  My wife can have a husband that will love her and cherish her, and most importantly live long enough to take care of her.  I can have back my self-respect.  It feels so good!  I’ll try to remember this small triumph as I persevere on, to my goal of losing at least 100 pounds.

     And I will keep you posted.  Today is the middle of August.  Keep an eye on this space as I continue to lose weight, through September, through October, through November and December and beyond.