From Morbidly Obese to Very Healthy.....What a Journey!!!

Yes, the title says it all..... and it is the absolute truth!  Just two years and three months ago, I was exactly that....morbidly obese!  Sounds gross.  Sounds sad.  Sounds wrong.  Sounds hard to believe today!  Back in January of 2009, I weighed an astonishing 295lbs, with a body fat percentage of somewhere around the 35% range.  I was morbidly obese, very unhealthy, very unhappy, had no energy, and made excuses to my two most precious gifts from God (Evan and Sierra) to no play with them, simply because I had no energy or stamina to do the things they wanted to do with me.  It was sad, and heart-breaking, and down right wrong!  My heart was breaking because of it, and yet I was in a downward spiral at the time, and couldn't figure out how to change it..........

Thankfully, God stepped in and intervened on my behalf.  One day, after making yet another excuse and promise to Evan when he came to me to ask me to play with him, I watched him walk away, defeated, with his head hanging sadly.  My heart broke as I stood there and realized at what I was doing to my kids, and as I saw the sadness on Evan's face because he couldn't get his daddy to come outside and play with him!  At that moment, I believe God grabbed a hold of me and shook me to the core for a moment, because right then I broke down inside.   I couldn't believe that I was being this way to my kids.  I couldn't believe that I was allowing myself to be in such a state that I couldn't, or wouldn't, enjoy life with my kids to the fullest.  Two precious gifts from God, here as my children, and I wasn't being the daddy to them, or for them, that I had planned to be or wanted to be!  I was so upset with myself, and as I became rocked with emotions as I stood and watched Evan go outside alone, looking defeated, I went to the bathroom and looked at what I had become in the mirror.  And I didn't like at all what I saw!!!  I was disgusted, angry, sad and depressed at how I had allowed myself to get to this point.  I couldn't believe how fat I had become, and how unhealthy I looked.  I was actually embarrassed of myself!!!  Enough was enough..... it was time to change..... time to change my life, my health, my body, and my relationship with my children!!!

I started my journey towards changing my life forever for the positive on January 8th, 2009.  To date, I have lost a full 100lbs, and dropped a huge percentage of body fat.  In fact, when I had my last body composition done a several months ago, I was at 11.9% body fat!!!  I have gone from a size 42 waist in jeans, down to a size 32 today.  That is awesome, and I am so very pleased with it.  I am so very close to my final goal weight and body fat percent now, and I am so excited with my new health, new body and new lease on life!!!  It is simply awesome!!!  Awesome to feel good about myself.....awesome to feel alive and healthy...awesome to not be embarrassed of myself or self-conscious of my appearance anymore......awesome to be so very active in my kids' lives now!!!  :-)  I am physically, spiritually and emotionally so much healthier than I have been for so very many years now.  I absolutely love my new lease on life, and love just how amazingly good and healthy I feel now each and every day!!!

My goal weight that I am working to achieve is 190lbs, and my goal for body fat percentage is 10%.  When I went to my fire department physical last week, I weighed in at 193.5lbs, so I am getting very close!!!  My time frame for reaching my goal is on or before August 11, 2011.  Why?  Well, that is my Bellingham Fire Department hire date, and will mark the completion of my 20th year on the job!!!  It will be absolutely awesome to mark my 20th year with being as healthy or even healthier than I was when I came on the job at 23 years of age!!!  :-)

So, that is my story!  Today, I had the second part of my BFD annual physical, where I met with the doctor.  We went over my labs, EKG, etc...... and the results were fantastic!  I am healthy inside and out, and good to go!!!  The doc was floored by my story, and my transformation (new doc who hadn't seen me before).  I love the new me, and love being healthy...... I am confident that I am never going back to being obese, grossly obese, or morbidly obese ever again!!!  I am too busy these days playing with my kids!!!  Playing soccer, playing baseball, riding bikes, going for runs, jumping on the trampoline, and whatever else we can come up with to do!!!  Life is so good, God is so good, and a healthy lifestyle filled with fitness is so good....

cardio, but also some form of weight training.  It is really as simple as that..... though it doesn't seem that simple when you first start out!  But, it absolutely works.... I can guarantee it from my own journey.... and I have a personal witness who can also attest to this truth.  My brother Brad has followed the same routine as me, and has lost over 140+lbs in just over a year and a half!!!!  :-)

So, there it is..... my journey back to health story.  Some of you already knew it, but I keep finding more and more people who don't, so I just wanted to share it. 

Have an awesome day, rest of the week, and weekend!!!