The Original Fat BOY!

Out with the kids on the river

So this goes back aways.  About 1998 I went to a physical and my doctor told me to lose weight ’cause if Ididn’t die from a heart attack I would die harpooned by someone confusing me with a Belluga.

I went on a vacation with the family and found myself on the wrong end of a photograph.  Interestingly enough I didn’t feel “fat”, I was mountain biking consistently, playing basketball weekly and going to the gym regularly.  The problem was and has always been diet for me.  That and the fact that I sit at my desk all day.  But mostly diet.  It’s not that I don’t know how to eat, it’s that many times when you’re on a deadline and you’re working late at night and the team brings in pizza and pop, well there you are doing pizza and pop.

But staring at the possibility of major health issues got me started.  I tried all the “sensible” stuff, and some of the not-so-sensible along with it.  I did manage to stay away from the fad stuff, so when Phen-Phen hit I saw a lot of my friends get thin super fast, many with bad effects.  My wife bought a book about that time by a guy named Dr. Atkins — which she strategically placed in our home.  I read the book, it seemed to make sense, although the diet seemed pretty harsh to me.

Atkins

The Atkins phase lasted for almost a year — I started at around 220 lbs., which is huge for a guy that’s only 5’8″ and with a small body frame.   I started induction at around 100 grams of carbs per day, but it was tough so I spent almost all of 1998 doing false starts and into 1999.  I was so sick of all the meat and fat!  Seriously, I love breads and pasta and fruits and veggies … but they’re all so high in carbs.  I bit the bullet, worked myself down to 100 carbs per day … my metabolism fought me.  I would sit there and watch the ketosis sticks get to a slight pink — very discouraging.  It seemed my wife would cheat and go back into ketosis in just 2 or 3 days; if I cheated it was a month.  Not fair.

But after 18 months of hard workouts (look at my resources) — pay day.  Click on the thumbnail to get a quick peek at the slideshow to show the first set of progress pictures.  After 18 months I had dropped to 168 lbs. and 10% body fat.  My knees were no longer hurting, my joints were in good shape.  Although I have to be honest, I got suckered into working out with some of the big boys preparing for the World’s Strongest Man competition — big mistake.   These boys are behemoths!  They are large — they pump 500 lb. bench presses for warmups; so here’s this little brown dot trying to keep up with the giants.  I loved it though — it resulted in a number of stupid injuries, but it was fun just to say I did it.

Life Happens

Then my little one got diagnosed with a life-threatening cancer!  It’s not an excuse at all, however, psychologically something happens when all of a sudden you realize that there are few thing in life under your control.  Long days and nights watching this little guy live life unaware of this impending doom; boy you get to cherish each hug and smile.   The blessing of each breath you take becomes so obvious and apparent.   I would sit there and watch him peacefully sleep; wondering how something could be wrong with this little one.  The upshot is the kid (4 back then) is now a 15 yr. old video game menace minus an eye that was traded for his life.

His mother did not fare as well though.  She could not accept that life just happens — this horrible curse had to be brought upon by something someone did or didn’t do.  She started with checking out on her faith, ’cause God can’t do that to a little child; then she checked out on me, because I should have been able to protect him, what kind of father will allow such harm to come to his child? Finally she checked out on life … not physically … but mentally.  She blamed herself and could not bring herself to see anything but darkness and gloom.  Once a thriving woman, she withdrew into her own world and asked me to leave her alone.  That was a tough thing to do.

Life moves on

2002 found me still working out hard, but as you can see (by clicking on the thumbnail) starting to build and put on more fat. As we dealt with all the family and health issues the diet went south. It was hard to keep on top of the diet — I continued to workout hard, but with so many changes happening I couldn’t spend as much time as I had previously. The kids needed my attention trying to deal with life. So I decided that I would have to take a step back from the fit lifestyle and settle back into being good ole’ dad.I left my job of 14 years and ventured on my own. I landed contracts that took me all over the world — so the love of food took hold.

I don’t know that it was a conscious choice as much as a gradual return to old habits.  And with a new life it became harder and harder to spend the time necessary to cook the right meals.   No matter what the excuse is, the end result is a renewed interest in getting back to my old health before I start going over the hump.

I’m starting over at 47 yrs. old, 200 lbs.  I’ve been doing my normal false-starts since October 2009.  With the worst flu season in years the kids have been bringing constant sinus infections, colds, and bugs that we struggled to shake till about 2 weeks ago.  So, having those excuses gone, I’ve picked up my p90x videos and after two weeks I’m slowly making my way back.  The body is older, and it seems to feel soreness more intensely than I remember it, but it feels good to have two consistent weeks of progress.  The slideshow below is to show you that no matter how well you do, you can always sink back.  So come join me, it doesn’t matter how much you need to lose or gain — this is real.  I work for a living, my motivation is my health and my family.

Peace,

Fatboy