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| 1997 - 185 lbs |
Well, it doesn't take long before bad habits set in and I was back to over 200 in short order. This time I took up Muay Thai and gained a ton of muscle and dropped to my lowest in 10 years - 176 lbs. I loved the work out, loved the self defense and loved the way I looked. I still had some fat on me and still only had a "four pack" but I was stronger and healthier than I had ever been.
Complacency
Enter girlfriend(s). It's funny how playing with your significant other is way more entertaining than working out. Exercise went by the wayside, and eating habits became lax. I had dropped all pretense of being healthy thinking that I could get back to it whenever I wanted and it would be no problem to lose the weight. Well, no surprise here, but I put back on the weight again plus a little extra. I think 2001 was the last time my waist was a 34 and I was below the 200 lb mark.
For the next while I hovered around 210 but I managed to keep active and played a lot of squash and even managed to visit the gym a few times too. Eating habits never really fell in line though. Every once in a while I would make a push to lose 10 pounds so that I could keep from buying new clothes. In 2005 I had hit my peak weight of 230 lbs and decided to lose some weight again. I made a big push in Jan 2008 to lose 20 lbs and made it to 210. Then in March of 2006 I had a heart attack. BAM!
Life Changer #1
Talk about a wake up call. Ironically I had been losing weight before my heart attack. I also had a physical the week before my event and checked out with a clean bill of health. Low cholesterol, no diabetes, no irregularities on the ECG, good blood pressure - the works! It was all good, and yet I still had the heart attack. Doctors are saying it was likely due to genetics (my Dad had a heart attack only 2 years before). So they told me to keep eating right, keep exercising and stay on the drugs they would give me to manage my health. For 2 years I was pretty good.
By 2008, my new median weight seemed to be 220lbs though. When I met Monique I was probably closer to 215 and starting to get buff again. However, the same thing happened that always happens when I get a new girlfriend, and that is incremental weight gain. 4 months into our relationship I was back over 220. *sigh* The battle will always be ongoing. It had been 2 years since my heart attack, I felt pretty good and the doctors had no concerns over my health. I was still exercising even though my diet wasn't really where it should have been.
The Big 3
Ring in 2009. 3 events happened in this year that have changed my life permanently. In January my dad passed away from his second heart attack. I was absolutely crushed. I knew that my dad's health wasn't the greatest but I guess I just kept denying to myself that he was in a precarious position with his health. The loss of my dad hit me pretty hard - harder than I even realized at the time. Depression starts to set in.
Then BAM! 2 months later, the company I worked for downsized me due to economic hardships. So in March I started a long lay off, looking for work. My self esteem was tied fairly closely to my employment and when I lost my job, a little bit of self confidence went with it. I didn't see all the skills I had to offer, but rather, I valued myself based on the education I had (or lack there of). This time of my life was pretty difficult for me. I was having a hard time staying positive (but not for lack of effort). My inspiration to stay fit and keep the weight of was waning. I didn't really want to think about it too much.
Ka-BLAM #3!! The writing was on the wall but I chose to ignore it and maybe I was too stubborn to let go but in June/July of 2009 my girlfriend decided she'd had enough. I think it must have been pretty hard to be in love with a guy that was reeling from 2 big events that it must have leaked out in our relationship. So I think she cut her losses and decided to forge her own path. I can't really blame her though, I'm sure I wasn't exactly "party guy" when we were together for those last 6 months.
Loosing those 3 things just kinda took the wind out of my sails. Workouts and eating habits were not on my radar. I started increasing in weight from 225 all the way up to my new peak of 251.
Zoom to Present Day
2011 - 2 years later. So at the beginning of May I decided enough was enough. I needed to get do something about my health, my weight and my self esteem. First thing I would need to do is make sure I that it would be safe for me to exercise again so I booked an appt with my cardiologist. He advised me NOT to exercise until I had completed my tests and we had a chance to go over the results. So I had blood work done, a thallium stress test and an ultra sound done. I have my follow up appointment with my Doctor on June 27th to go over the results. His assistant tells me if there were really bad news, that I'd be called in right away to sort things out. Since I've finished up the tests over 3 weeks ago, I can only assume that my health isn't in critical condition. I'm actually looking forward to getting the OK to resume exercise and start working out again.
The Plan
In the meantime, I've started dieting. I've gone through a lot of health books on dieting in the last 5 or so years and this week the flavor of the month is "The 4 Hour Body - by Tim Ferris". It basically promotes eating lean protein combined with veggies. I'm to stay away from refined carbs and starches and basically eat meat and veggies for a while. I am allowed 1 cheat day a week though and I really thoroughly look forward to my Saturdays now!
Once I get the greenlight to exercise I will be doing elliptical cardio at least 3 days a week as well as weight lifting for 3 days a week. I plan on getting a kettle bell or two as well. Hopefully the workouts will increase my muscle density and combined with the diet, I should be able to lose all the weight I want.
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| June 2011 - 251.8 lbs |
Lets hope I stay disciplined! This time, no women in my personal life till I reach my goals!! Ok, maybe 1 woman but only if she keeps me on the straight and narrow! :o)
Wish me luck!
Oh by the way, see that picture that is up there on right hand side of my blog? I weighed about 205-210 in that photo, and it was taken about 4 - 4.5 years ago. The very first photo in this particular post was taken sometime around 1997. In that photo (showing my back), I weighed approximately 185lbs. The one just about this paragraph (me hugging a palm tree) was taken on June 1st this year. I weighed in at my max at 251.8 lbs.
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