16 September 2010
End of Week 4
Today was the end of week 4 of my lifestyle change, by the end of week 4 I have increased my exercise level (still working out every other day) to level 4. I also had some days where I cheated on the carbs, like Labor Day weekend. The first two weeks of the change were the easy ones in some ways, you’re all pumped up about what you’re are doing and you haven’t gotten to the day to day drudgery yet. The support level the first two weeks is also different, you’re just starting out and everyone is there to help you and maybe even join you, but by week three the supporters are all giving excuses as to why they are sliding back, not working out as much, cheating on the diet more. This was when it was hard to be strong.
I started my journey at 407 lbs (yes, you read that correctly), after 1 month I am down to 370. My weight loss from weeks 2 – 4 was 16 lbs. Not as much as the first 2 weeks, but significant none the less. And considering I had some weakness over Labor Day, I am proud of that.
People have asked me how I let myself get this way, since when I was in the service most of my career I weighed 185. My last couple of years in the USAF were rough, I had some knee injuries which made exercise difficult and then I quit smoking with caused me to gain some weight. I was in the process of losing the weight, and on a descent schedule when I received a new supervisor who did not like me(for those who knew me then his initials are RT), he flat out told me that it was his goal in life to get me kicked out of the service. None of my immediate chain of command (Msgt. TC and Msgt. MW) would believe a Tsgt. Would act that way, like being an NCO makes you lose are petty behavior. What a laugh, anyway, he succeeded by constantly badgering me until I just gave up. I didn’t hurt that he seems to have lost a medical eval request that I filed, which if it had gone through would have probably caused me to be medically retired at about 40%. So this drove me into a depression which caused me to eat more, exercise less and gain weight. A few years later a friend of mine from the USAF, Kathy, suggested I file a VA claim for my knees and back, I may be able to get something out of my years in the military. So I did and with the help of the DAV my claim was evaluated and I found out I was eligible for some pension, 60% in fact (the sleep apnea that everyone in the AF ignored was a bigger problem than they thought). This validated my time in service in my heart and I felt the depression lifting. Then one day I was walking and having problems breathing and this scared me. So that day I decided to go back on the low carb diet and start losing the weight.
So that is the beginning of the story, my goal is 200 lbs, half my starting weight, my reward for making my goals? My knees with hurt less, I should be able to bowl, play paintball, softball, play with my kids again. Maybe go on a rollercoaster. The big reward will be my health. This should help my diabetes get under complete control, allow me control of my blood pressure, I hope my knees with stop hurting as much (with the meniscus partially removed from one knee, the pain will never completely go away), hopefully the edema and circulation in my legs with improve greatly (this is what I have been told will happen). So the rewards should be great.
KS
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