My Weight Loss Journey
I’ve always struggled with my weight and body image. As a kid, I was always a little chubby, despite being pretty active. In elementary school I dealt with my share of bullying and teasing because of the way that I looked and dressed. My clothes were always overly big and baggy because I didn’t want my awkward body shape showing. Middle school was the worst for me, with some classmates reducing me to tears.
Eventually things changed once I entered high school. I’d started watching more of what I ate (reading labels and such) and my metabolism decided to finally kick itself into overdrive after a couple of years. From the start of junior year to senior year I went from 150 lbs. to 135 lbs. Bear in mind, I was (and still am) only 5’-6” tall. I wasn’t really doing anything out of the ordinary activity-wise. It was mostly just my body that did all of the changes. With the loss of that weight came a renewed sense of self confidence, the likes of which I hadn’t ever felt before.
Once I joined the military shortly after high school, things changed a bit more. Despite having lost some weight and feeling better about myself, I was still awkwardly shy about people seeing my naked body. I had no choice but to get over that mindset quickly as I was thrust into the showers my first night in basic training. I was naked in front of over 30 complete strangers and nobody cared how I looked (we were all too overwhelmed with the whole situation and all of the yelling). I was subjected to no bullying or comments about my body and those kinds of feelings went away quickly.
I found myself much more active in basic training, moreso than I’d ever been on a daily basis in my life. As a result, at the time of Air Force graduation I was down to 122 lbs. I was about the only person in my training flight that had actually LOST weight in basic. This is my high school and Air Force graduation photos to show how much thinner my face had gotten at the time. Pay no attention to that HORRIBLE hair cut I had in high school. Even now, 15+ years removed from the military, I still cut my hair short (so much less maintenance). Oh, and I must say, I looked GOOD in my dress uniform back then.
After trips to two technical schools, I found myself at my first duty station in Alaska near the end of 1996. By this time I had gained back all of the weight I’d lost in basic training and I was at 135 lbs. again. I wasn’t upset or feeling bad about it at all. It was simply the fact that I starting eating a bit more after I got out of basic training. There wasn’t much time to scarf down what little food we were provided in basic, let alone trying to get any snacks.
Not much changed for the remaining three years in Alaska. Come the end of 1999, I was at my second duty station in Maryland. After a few months there I was forced to move out of the dormitories and into my own apartment. This began the slow trend of me gaining weight over the remaining years of my military service. Despite having annual physical training tests, my level of physical activity was almost nil. The only exercise I got was from the annual PT tests, or the occasional trip to a local basketball court to shoot some hoops by myself (not exactly cardiovascular activity). By the time of my separation in 2005 I was between 155-160 lbs.
Despite the weight gain, I frankly didn’t care how my body looked at this point. I was finally with my girlfriend of three years, Lisa, and she loved me no matter how many pounds I’d gained since we first met. Her constant companionship gave me all of the self-confidence I would ever need.
For the next few years I would continue to put on the pounds. A lot of it was simply not exercising, but a lot of it was my diet. I always ate breakfast (I’m a real grump when I don’t have breakfast), and I tended to skip lunch. I would then start snacking as soon as I got home from work, have dinner, and then usually snack more later in the evening (and these weren’t healthy snacks).
Once 2010 came around, I was beginning to get put under a lot of stress, which only added to my weight gain. I was growing increasingly unhappy at work. I was a computer hardware technician and the environment in which we worked and some of the customers really started to get to me. In addition to this, I was dealing with the fact that my dad was in and out of the hospital recovering from a cancer scare.
The whole next year was filled will more stress after my dad passed away from a recurrence of his cancer. Lisa and I decided to move to Florida to help out my mom and the whole ordeal of selling our house and trying to get jobs straightened out was almost too much for me to handle. Eventually we moved to Florida and the job situation was worked out.
My stress ramped up even more once my mom started having more health problems. Coupled with the growing unhappiness with my new job (again, the work environment), my body had finally had enough and I had a full-blown MS relapse (although unknown at the time).
During my first visit to my neurologist in early 2013, they weighed me in at 173 lbs. I’d put on close to 15 lbs. since I’d left the military. This trend of weight gain would continue throughout the next three years.
Once diagnosed with MS, most of my stress levels went way down and that didn’t contribute to my weight gain anymore (at least not much). Instead, it was simply my total lack of exercise and dietary mismanagement.
I knew I was continuing to put on the pounds with each visit to my neurologist. Not only that, I could feel my pants constantly getting tighter with every pound I’d gain. My solution was to simply buy better fitting pants instead of addressing the real problem. I was also constantly sucking in my stomach whenever we went out anywhere so as not to let my expanding gut show through my shirts. I was like an ostrich with my head in the sand.
Then, in February 2016, I’d finally had enough. Again, my pants kept getting tighter, to the point where when I squatted my nuts would start to get crushed (not a good feeling, let me tell you). Worst of all was I could feel all of that extra weight I was carrying around. My feet, knees, and back would scream at me whenever I was doing anything remotely strenuous. I stepped onto the scale we had at home and I was aghast at the number I saw...180 lbs. That number was only wearing my underwear and having just gotten up in the morning. I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror, and that was the final straw.
I decided, then and there, that I was going to make some big changes in my lifestyle. I needed to start a regular exercise regimen, but I couldn’t do too much too fast as I would likely injure myself. I also wanted to track my fitness and dietary progress so I did a little research and stumbled on the My Fitness Pal and Map My Fitness apps. These were exactly what I wanted and I could put in the amount of weight I wanted to lose and the app would give me a count for the amount of calories I needed for the day to begin losing weight. These apps have been indispensable, and I still use them to this day.
For cardio I was restricted to walking. I’ve got a balky right knee that I’ve had since high school, and my 10 years in the Air Force didn’t help that out a whole lot. I also wanted to start working out for the first time in my life. I had no idea what I was doing so, again, it was to the Internet for a ton of research. I finally found a plan that worked for me, and with a small investment in some of my own equipment (I didn’t want to pay for a gym membership), I was on my way. I went with a small adjustable bench, a set of adjustable free weights, and some exercise bands should I do any traveling.
As for my diet, I kept track of EVERY calorie I consumed with the My Fitness Pal app. I wasn’t really restricting WHAT I was eating, just being careful with HOW MUCH I was eating. I didn’t want to do without my favorite foods, but I just had to be careful with how much of them I ate. I also began consuming a lot more protein, especially after my workouts. Having all of the extra protein really helped me recover quickly from any strenuous workouts, plus it was good for helping build a little bit of muscle mass.
Three months into my new fitness journey, I was down 12 lbs. It was great to actually see some progress. After a few more months, another 10+ pounds shed. My pants were fitting WAY better than they had in a while, to the point where I could take them off without unbuttoning them. My joints weren’t aching anymore, and I just felt so much better overall. By the end of 2016, I was down to 152 lbs. I’d lost nearly 30 lbs. and a few inches off my waistline. I felt like a new man.
My beginning goal was to get down to 150 lbs, but I was happy once I got to under 155 lbs. I kept up my exercise regimen through the next year-and-a-half, but I eased up a little bit on my diet. I wasn’t needing to lose much weight anymore, but I still wanted to be careful that I wasn’t overeating. Once we moved from our rental house here in Florida to our new house, all of my weight training gear has been all but abandoned. I continue on my walks, but I haven’t worked out since October 2017.
It is now late October 2021, and I’m proud to say that I currently weigh in at 152 lbs. I’ve been able to keep off all of the weight I lost. My weight usually hovers between 150-155 lbs. on a regular basis. Occasionally it will dip under 150 lbs.
I’ve been thinking about getting back into a workout routine again for quite a few months. I sometimes get the feeling my pants are getting a little tight (the same pairs of pants I’ve had for a few years now), and I’d like to tone up my body a bit. I especially would like to lose a bit around the mid-section (like most guys often do). I’d like to lose another 5-10 lbs, to get my body in a better position as I get older. My bloodwork for my annual physicals has been great overall the past few years, and I’d like to keep it that way.
Despite my yearning to get back into the home gym, I’ve struggled with getting myself into it again. For the longest time I was dealing with an elbow and shoulder issue, but that has since been resolved. The thing that spurred me on the most was a picture a friend of mine shared of their own fitness progress dating back to the beginning of this year. That was the final piece of motivation I needed to get my ass back in shape.
I don’t have a definitive timetable, yet, as to when I’m going to start my newest fitness journey, but it will be very soon (in the next couple of weeks, I hope). To keep myself accountable, I’m going to share my progress here on my website and on Instagram. This will be in the form of measurements of my arms, legs, waist, etc., as well as pictures. I’m definitely still not a fan of taking off my shirt in front of people, but I’m going to push past that mental roadblock to hold myself accountable to myself and everyone else who chooses to follow along with me on this next stage in my life.
