Saved By a Belle

"Wait! Did you really just say that?" That was my first thought when I suddenly realized that I wasn't being looked at as the fat guy. Others often see changes in us that we can't see for ourselves. In my mind I was still the ogre, not worthy of a second glance from such a beauty. 

I'd made it over the Smokey Mountains and across the Great Plains only to find yet more mountains in my path. Progress was slow and motivation subsiding. The urge to settle was great. My original purpose of ensuring I didn't die young and miss out on tomorrow had been met. What I needed -- and now had -- was a reason to climb for a better today.

Find your reason, it doesn't have to be a big thing. Long-term goals are great, but the short-term ones are what keep you from settling for the first comfortable resting spot along the way. It helps if that goal is more than just a number. Numbers are too easy to give up on. How do you want to feel? What do you want to look like? What do you want to be able to do? Numbers aren't important; it's how achieving your goal makes you feel that counts. Imagine your destination and keep going until you get there.

You can do it!

Yes, that was me...

...less than two years ago. I was at my highest (known) weight of a frightening 520 pounds. I'd actually been near (possibly above) that weight for a year or more at that point. Now that I've seen the light at the end of the tunnel -- and confirmed that it's most likely not an oncoming train -- I've decided to share my experiences. I've waited until now to share much of this in detail because, it seems to me, explaining the sausage making process can be even more difficult that watching it; especially when you're the sausage.

So what happened two years ago? Why did a 29 year old man (who'd been fat since preschool) suddenly decide to fix something that had been broken for a quarter-century? In a word: love. For those who know me and know the situation, you'll understand. For the rest, sorry but it's not entirely my story to tell. Suffice it to say that knowing that I would likely die young took on a new significance when I found a reason to live.

Extraordinary accomplishment requires extraordinary motivation. I had been killing myself (slowly) for decades. Fixing the damage was going to either require many years of slow weight loss, requiring steady motivation year after year, or an even more concerted effort for a shorter period. Frankly, I think the former would have been harder.

Fortunately, most people don't need to lose more than half their body weight. Those of you who do, I hope you're able to find sufficient motivation to do what's necessary. In either case, I am here to testify that it can be done; no surgery, no starvation. It isn't easy, but it is possible.

I'll detail the choices I made along my journey in future posts. To get you started, here's where my research began: