Me in a nutshell

[OICU812]

I just returned from a 2 hour workout. 3.5 miles on the treadmill, 1.5 miles on the bike, 1 mile uphill on the recumbent bike, and some weight lifting exercising. There is no way I could have done this a few monthes ago. When I got home the show "Inside Brookhaven Obesity Clinic" was on and for the first time I watched a it. What an eye opener. All I could think of was "But for the grace of God, there go I". Some of the people on the show were not as heavy as I was a few short monthes ago. 6 monthes ago, I was 375 lbs. This morning I was 260 lbs. This is working, and it is making a difference in my life.

I don't know how my weight got so out of hand. I used to be a monster in the gym. I played football, wrestled, practiced martial arts, and stayed busy all the time. Somewhere along the way, I guess life got too easy for me and laying around did too. I am so fortunate that I never developed any diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or any of the obesity related illnesses. My wife says I am starting to look like the muscled up guy she married 26 years ago and I appreciate the support she has given me. By the way, she has lost over 20 lbs during this period also, and I am proud of her.

Something opens everybody's eyes about their weight and I can remember when mine was opened in a very harsh way. In January, I had 2 disks rupture in my neck. The vertibrae were crushing a nerve that ran from my neck to the left hand and 1 was pressing against my spinal cord. The pain was excruciating and I was taking so much pain medicine, I was in a stuper for several weeks until I had surgery to remove the disks and fuse the vertibrae in my neck. I have never felt anything so painful, and hope I never will. The surgery was very successful, and the pain was gone. My neurosurgeon said that obesity was a factor in the disks failing and suggested that I needed to do something soon because I had 2 more disks that were in danger. I looked on his chart and read that he had listed "Morbid Obesity" as a description of my conditions. "Morbit Obesity", damn, that means I am too fat to live. That was my eye opening experience and that was when my wife and I started researching weight loss and surgery, and was kept being led to the OCC. I don't know if this has saved my life or extended it, because I can't see the future, but I know today was better than yesterday and that was better than the day before.

Well that's my story. I don't write too much on this board, and when I do, maybe I try to add a little humor, because that's me, but I read everything that is written on here, and try to digest all of it. It has been very helpful to me to find out that there are many more of me out there.

I know that my wife reads this forum every once in a while, and I just would like to publicly say thank you to her for all the support that she has given me. (I thanked her privately, several times).

[PAMMIE]

VERY INSPIRATIONAL!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[JazzyJude]

Oh this touches me so! Thank you sooooo much for posting this. And having spousal/family support really makes a difference too as you all are on this together ~ fantastic!

I know some of the feelings you are going through and yes, it's the reality of it all. Oh, all I can say is a am applauding you for your consistent in keep going forward. You are driven because you've hit a realization in your life and you are making a a huge difference. Isn't the band wonderful? It is paying off Kiddo! You've lost 115 pounds! WAY TO GO!!! You should be PROUD of yourself ~ I am! You are inspiring me! I am interesting to see what types of foods you are eating. I see you are exercising quite a bit in one day, how much calories are you eating?

Keep up the good work and keep on focusing your newer goals as you've reached your old ones. You are doing AWESOME!

[tnm75]

Dude... yes, you are hilarious! It was so great meeting you and your daughter last month. What a great post! You are doing amazing!

Kristy

[jhawkchick75]

Thank you for posting that. You are making wonderful progress and with your mindset i'm sure it will continue! and you are very lucky to have a wonderful supportive wife. It is always tough to go this alone so you are very fortunate.

Congratulations on your success thus far!!!

[chopper]

Thanks for sharing your story with us OICU812. Sounds like you are doing great! Like you I'm not sure if this surgery has added years to my life but I can already attest to it adding LIFE to my years. Keep up the good work dude,

[MyNewLife]

Thanks for sharing your story with us OICU812. Sounds like you are doing great! Like you I'm not sure if this surgery has added years to my life but I can already attest to it adding LIFE to my years. Keep up the good work dude,

OICU812,

You are doing great and this post is very inspiring. I have a supportive hubby and yes it makes such a difference and thanks to her you are working Im sure even harder to be where you want to be!!!!

Again congrats and keep up the good work! Please Keep us posted!

[vangirl]

What a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing.