Beginnings

I have to start somewhere, but before I begin, I need to rant about how difficult they make it to create a blog.

You punch in names or ideas and then you have to type in the stupid squiggly letters, and of course they meld into one-another so it is always wrong and you have to keep doing it. By the time you get it right, they then tell you the title or web address is taken.

Shouldn't they tell you that first?

Enough...

This blog will, I hope, track my weight loss. I am not at the start of this quest, but about 1/3 through it. I have repeatedly been told that keeping a journal helps, so I decided to keep a public one. If anyone views it great....if no one views it, that is fine too.

So for those just stopping in, let me tell you who I am.

I am 45+ male, married, overweight, 2 kids, and a very stressful job. Added to the stress is that I work for myself. So by this description I have probably described about 25% of the adult male population.

If you name the diet fad, I have tried it. Weight Watchers multiple times, Diet Center multiple times, Overeaters Anonymous, liquid diets (many different kinds), NutriSystem, Slimfast plan, various forms of medication and pills, nutritionists, dietitians, and a whole slew of others that I can't remember. I have been battling this beast since the 5th grade, as far back as I can remember, and for the most of my life, it has been winning.

When the lap band was being tested for FDA approval, I volunteered for a study at Columbia Presbyterian. I went through the testing and they drew blood and never called me back.

Many years later, I went to another bariatric surgery evaluation and began the testing, and told I had to lose some weight before they could perform the by pass surgery. Well I lost too much weight and the Doctor told me I had to put some weight back on so that my insurance would pay for the procedure. This was by far the dumbest thing that I ever heard so I told him that I would try to do this on my own.

I lost about 100 pounds in about a year and a half, I got down to 275, which I thought was great. Then I lost the battle between the ears. I started listening to people telling me that I looked great, and lost my edge. That was almost 3 years ago.

About 1 year after I lost the weight, I noticed that weight was creeping back on, and I regained about 25 pounds, bringing me back to 300+/-. I got scared at how quickly and silently the weight would creep back on and went back to a R.D that I had gone to before. It didn't work, I was given too many easy choices, like replacement bars, which sated my hunger, but gave me little nutrition and little help.

So I stopped seeing her and did what I do best.....NOTHING.

Then after my last physical, my doctor suggested some counseling, which I agreed to do.

Now I fought everything that the counselor suggested, I would not track my foods, I would not exercise, I would go there talk and on my way home stop at McD's for something to eat, then have dinner when I got home.

This went on for about a year, and my weight hovered around 300.

Now, since July, I have added another component. I am going to a gym that gives personal training WITH nutritional counseling. In five weeks, I have lost inches and about 5 pounds. I am logging my food. I try to go to the gym 3 days per week, 2 training sessions and once on my own. I hope I can keep this up. My goal is to run a 5K race next summer.

I still see the therapist in conjunction with the gym. I think that this is probably the way to go. With one I will hopefully discover why I abuse food, why it is my drug of choice, and with the other I will get my body fit and healthy.

Now if this works, I will hopefully get off all of the drugs that I am taking. Including some supplements, I take 15 pills a night. That is just too much.

But you know what is the ironic thing. If the gym & counseling is successful, then I will get off of these medications, and my insurance company will not have to pay for them and all the future health problems that I will undoubtedly experience in the future if I stay and do nothing, but of course they will not pay for any of my current treatment. This makes no sense.

I understand that they don't want to just pay for a gym and have people not use it. However, they should monitor my progress. If I use it and am getting some results; that I am getting healthier, then they should pay towards it. Maybe they should focus on avoiding diabetes, heart disease, strokes rather than curing them after they happen.

You think that I would have gotten a hint earlier in my life....like the time when I turned 30 and spent Christmas in the emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack (it was just a bad combination of sudafed and robitusin pe), or when I couldn't fit in the seat at the Hershey Park roller coaster about 10 years ago, or when I couldn't get into the virtual roller coaster at disney about 8 years ago, or when I was in the hospital 2 years ago with a heart rate of 210 (due to a genetic condition). Maybe I will share thses fun stories in the future...who knows.

So that is where I am at the moment, enough ranting, I should get back to work.

I'll try to post again before the end of the week, if I can figure out how to get back here.....