A 3 year old child, a border collie, a microwave, a 15-foot canoe, or my oldest child’s left leg. What do all of these things have in common? Well according to Google, they all weigh at or around 40 pounds each. This is also the amount of weight I’ve lost since March.
Last year I developed a severe herniated disk in my back. Several, and I mean SEVERAL, chiropractor visits, physical therapy, 3 rounds of steroid shots, and a year later, it was still there. Still is there too.
So back in March, Monica and I went to see a surgeon about fixing it, and they said no. Basically, I was too fat, and the location of the disk, mixed with the fatness, kept him from being able to do the surgery. So this surgeon sent me to a different surgeon who wanted me to get a sleeve put on my stomach. I was currently sitting at 398 pounds, and early last year I had been diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
I fought this idea. I know people who have had weight loss surgery to great a effect. I also know 2 people who have died from having weight loss surgery. I didn’t want to risk falling into the latter statistic. So I started slow by quitting pop for a couple month. It’s easy for me to go without pop for long periods of time. Problem is I always fall back off when something stressful comes up. And Jesus Christ work this summer was stressful.
None the less over the span of 4 months I was able to drop 15 pounds. Then nothing. I was at 384/385 for two months. Then, in August, I started walking. A park a couple of blocks from my house had a .25 mile track around the outside of the park. I started just doing 1 mile every couple days. Once or twice with the family. Then, I started doing it more regularly and increased the length and time.
Near the end of October, I was down to 375 pounds.
I had contemplated doing Keto for about a year, but could never find the drive. Then, a friend/customer of mine who said she was struggling with her own weight loss, told me she was going into Keto head first. We sat and talk about it off and on for a couple of days, finally agreeing to do it together, and help hold each other accountable. I started making small changes the week of October 22nd, and then, like idiots, we started the week of Halloween lol.
Two and a half weeks later, I am weighing 357 pounds. Between the 22nd and 5th, I lost almost 14 pounds, and another 3 pounds in the last week.
I’ll be honest, other than noticing my jeans fitting looser (and getting close to needing a new belt), I still feel fat and ugly. It’s doesn’t look like anything has changed. Having said that, I’ve been told by several people that my face is looking slimmer and my clothes baggier.
My goal weight is 245. I’m almost 100 pounds away from that. Right now, I have my eyes set on 300. Once I hit 300, I want to try and just switch to a standard low-calorie diet. Keep limiting the carbs but not to the extreme I am at now. As I lose more weight and feel more comfortable with my body, I’ll increase my walking amount, and add in other exercises into the rotation.
I want to honestly thank anyone on my social media accounts who have been following me along as I do my walks, as your good wishes and positive comments have helped keep me motivated. You guys rock.
To my Keto partner, S, you have been a huge factor in this whole thing. You’ve been an eXtreme help to me and I appreciate how Our friendship has grown from this. I love that you push me to keep it up and help me with finding the right foods to eat. I am also proud of all the hard work you are doing and happy that it’s paying off. I hope we can keep this up together. You’ve been awesome!
To Monica and the boys…. You guys are my world. You’ve done awesome adapting to my changing eating habits. You’re supporting me to no end and are doing awesome at not trying to make me feel bad about eating things you know I want. Except for Logan. Yes son, I fucking want a candy bar and all the bread too… but STOP IT! I love you guys so much.
So, while I may have another blog post before then, I’ll give my next update on my weight when I hit 300. Hoping for February.
