I have been inspired by many people in my life. Many including my wife are close family. Others are friends or coworkers. For this blog however, I am largely inspired by a guy I recently saw on the news. He is a Personal Trainer at a place here in Salt Lake and over time, he has heard many people comment"you can't say that 'cuz you don't know what it is like to be fat." What he determined to do for other reasons as well, was to take six months and take his ripped muscular frame and get fat, eating all kinds of junk that he doesn't need to gain weight. After six months he then reverses course and loses it again.
He writes a weekly blog article about all of the effects it has had on his life and what he does. Interesting right? Good I recommend you check his site out as well. However, I have a different twist on it.
I am thirty-five years old. I have been fat since I was ten. I have varied over time from overweight, to obese to morbidly obese. I lost some weight at times depending on the ease of access to food as well as my activity level. While serving an LDS mission, I lost over 50 pounds due to the large amounts of walking, I did. However I gained it right back and since I have been married, I have gained nearly eighty pounds!
I am tired of it now. I have been tired of it for years but I am starting to see some serious health effects from it. First, I have lost what stamina I had over the years and I am often easily winded. Second, I have been unable to do any of some of the basics of calisthenics such as push ups, sit ups, pull ups, chin ups etc. as I am basically a giant human medicine ball. I work hard, even physically but it is usually just the things a big guy like me can do while throwing my weight around. I am certain I have big muscles in there. After all, it has to carry me around.
Last, I feel like I am walking around wearing a 150 pound fat suit that I can't zip off. I get up in the morning feeling low on energy. Until recently I often felt drugged and would often woke up with headaches. Now I have a CPAP machine to alleviate my snoring which also has only gotten louder over the years. Yet another side affect of my being overweight. I was as a result of this, mildly hypertensive, and though with the CPAP it has gotten better, I want it to get even better.
I want to be able to handle things more physically and I want to feel better about myself. I love food of all kinds I just eat way too much of it, even good foods like fruits and vegis. So it has now come to a crossroads.
Through portion control. eating good foods, better water intake, a few supplements, daily exercise and support from those I love and who love me, I hope to become more fit, not necessarily ripped, just fit. For me, my, wife, my children, and everyone else who has to deal with me.
My next post will give the measurements of the mass of human flesh you see posted here below: (I left my shirt on because I saw the alternative and well, hey, I want this to be a family site) I will strive to wear similar shirts for each succeeding picture so they will compare well.
