I'm SO proud of her!

Please allow me a few minutes to brag about the most wonderful woman in the world. With apologies to anyone who may have their own opinion on that subject, I would be referring to my incredible wife, Christine. She has proven that whatever she sets her mind to do, she can accomplish.

Tonight, she earned her lifetime Weight Watchers status by completing her 6th week of maintenance. 15 months and 1 day from the day we began this journey and we are both now lifetime Weight Watchers! How amazing. I view her own accomplishment as even more than my own, because of some of the challenges she has had to face, including intollerance for non-nutrative sweeteners and some health problems that prevented any kind of consistent exercise program, yet even still, she has managed to lose over 80 lbs in that short time.

So, in this blog entry, I would like to offer a huge CONGRATULATIONS to that wonderful wife of mine. You did it, Christine! YOU DID IT!

5K, Take 1

Staff Writer

Stony Brook, NY - It was merely a 5 kilometer run through the roads around the SUNY Stony Brook campus on a chilly Sunday morning, but for one runner, it was that and so much more. To understand why, we need to understand the longer race that this runner has been running.

Obesity had plagued Jim for years, who had long struggled in the battle of the bulge on his own. Battles were won and lost but the war was always tilted towards the heavier side of the scale. That is, until September of 2005, when all that changed. Jim got help.

"I'm not certain that I can pinpoint an event that triggered my need for help, outside of my wife finally saying, 'Enough!' and making the call to go to the nearest Weight Watchers center," said Jim, sitting down after the race. "It was exactly what I needed."

With the weight dropping by the fistful last fall, a long-hidden love resurfaced in Jim's life. Running was coming back in dribs and drabs. First, a tenth of a mile, then 2, then a quarter, and so on. "By mid-January, I had run 2.5 miles non-stop. It was unbelievable." He progressed from there, extending the distance all the way to 8+ miles by summer, all the while improving on pace and continuing his march towards his weight-loss goal.

Once the weight was all lost, he felt the need to test his running in a real race, so when a co-worker informed him of the SUNY 5K event, there was no turning back. Not only was he going to run, he wanted to beat this long-time runner who invited him.

"When the race started, I think I was a bit over-zealous and got out a bit fast. By the time we had climbed the first hill, I was sucking wind and getting passed by my co-worker before the 1-mile mark. But I held it together." Throughout the first two-thirds of the course, much of which was steadily uphill, Jim maintained a good solid pace. In the back-stretch, however, he faded a bit, but still managed a 64th place finish with a more-than-respectable 23:10 time, just 40 seconds behind his co-worker.

"It was only 15 seconds off my all-time best practice run at that distance, and I practice on a very flat course, so I'm quite pleased, " said Jim. "It was only my first run, so how could I be disappointed?"

When asked about future race plans, Jim smiled broadly and said, "Well, I'd love a rematch with (his co-worker) in a 5K, but my sights are really set on the spring and a longer run. At least a half-marathon in May."

5 kilometers? How hard can that be for someone who has already run the race that Jim has? Can he do better? I wouldn't bet against it.

Another visit to the Doc

So, last night I had another visit with my doctor. I had gone for blood tests about a week ago and scheduled this apointment at that time to discuss the results. One of his staff-members brought me into one of the treatment room and "interviewed" me about my visit and then said, "The Doctor will be in shortly."

So I was waiting. The door was open and my doctor passed by, made eye-contact with me, and kept walking, which is actually unusual for him...he usually gives me a jovial greeting, but I figured he was just busy. A few minutes later, he came to the door, again unusually quiet, grabbed my chart, the started to chuckle. He said, "You want a funny compliment? I thought you were a new patient. I didn't recognize you." Fun stuff.

Anyway, we talked and he said that my blood results were EXACTLY what doctors look for in their patients. He was pleased, but then saddened that I was requesting to come off the 1/2 dose of cholesterol medicines I was still on. The way he saw it, the results were too perfect to mess with. But I begged him to give me 3 months off the meds, and he relented. So, I "dropped" the blood-pressure meds last spring and now, at least for 3 months, I dropped the cholesterol meds. I'm hoping that my results will be similar in February as they were now and I won't need to go back on them.

Lifetime

Before I get into the subject that the title of this post eludes to, I need to say a word about what my incredible wife has accomplished. In just under 14 months, she has managed to inspire me to lose all of the weight I have lost and, oh by the way, toss aside 77+ pounds of her own for good measure. She reached her goal weight tonight, losing 5.2 lbs in the last two weeks to get there.

What makes this more special is that she, because of some physical problems, did this without the benefit of any of the extreme exercise I have availed myself of. She did this without being able to use any artificial sweeteners, which her body cannot tolerate. She did this with true grit and determination. Can you tell that I'm not just a little proud of this amazing woman God has blessed me with?

And to boot, she did this on the very same night which I finished my 6-week maintenance period with Weight Watchers.


For those who may not know, when you attain your goal weight with Weight Watchers, you begin a 6-week period during which you need to strictly maintain your weight within 2 lbs of your goal. Once those 6 weeks are over, you receive "Lifetime" status with Weight Watchers, granting you a free seat at any meeting for life, with the stipulation of weighing in at least monthly at or no more than 5 lbs above your goal weight.

So, tonight was my 6th weigh-in for my maintenance period, and I was granted "Lifetime" status. I really like this title. I think it is incredibly appropriate, really. Some weight-loss plans consider what I have done as being "completed" or "finished." Some would say that I'm on my own now. Some might say that my journey to my goal weight is complete in and of itself.

But instead, I like the "lifetime" status much better. To me, this has so many meanings. Sure, it means that I can now attend meetings free for life, and I certainly won't sneeze at that. But there's more, at least to me.

There's a whole LIFETIME ahead of me. Far more LIFETIME than I would have had any right to expect at nearly 300 lbs. There's a whole LIFETIME with my wife and daughter. There's a whole LIFETIME with family and friends.

There's the fact that there's more LIFE in my TIME as well. I can now do things that before were merely wishes and wants. I can run. I can run far and fast. I can ride a bicycle. I can roller-blade. I can fit on Stormrunner in Hershey Park. There's just so much more LIFE in my TIME now!

And lastly, my journey is not complete. It will never be complete. It is a journey for a LIFETIME. It is a journey that has no destination. The journey IS the destination.

LIFETIME. Yeah, I like the sound of that!

GOAL MET!

My goal weight: 180 lbs.
My weight as of tonight's weigh-in: 180 lbs.

I did it! I have now lost 115.6 lbs and have officially arrived at my weight-loss goal! One week later than I had hoped, but that's ok. I still made it!

I have to give a HUGE thank you to my amazing wife, without whom I could never have even dreamed of accomplishing this. She has been by my side through the entire journey and is almost to her own goal herself. The encouragement and support I have received from her has helped me in so many ways.

Another huge thank you goes out to my wonderful daughter, who has supported me, assisted me, and yes, at times even chastized me.

I love you, girls!

Yet another thank you must go to my Weight Watchers meeting leader, Alice, who has meant so much to our journey, and to the entire group we have grown so close with through the last year.

Also, to the family, friends and co-workers who have been so uplifting and supportive, even if it did take losing the first 40 lbs before ANY of you noticed (except you, Steve K! :) )

Lastly, but certainly by no means least, I must thank my Lord Jesus, who has taken my heart-felt efforts in this process and blessed them ten-fold, granting success to my journey. I can do nothing apart from Him and through Him, I can do all things!

Now begins the next phase of my journey - maintenance. To be quite honest, I am more than just a bit nervous about tomorrow, when I add some more points to my plan. This will take some getting-used-to, to be sure, but I think I'm up for the challenge.

I did it. I really did it. How amazing is that?

What a difference a year makes!

September 6th, 2005. It was the first day of 2nd grade for my daughter. It was the first day of change for my wife and I.

We put her on the bus and sent her off to school. Then we went to our local Weight Watchers center and joined the program for the first time ever. We were obese. That's a rough statement, but it's true. I weighed in at 295.6 lbs, which was probably not quite my "all-time" highest weight. I knew I had well over 100 lbs to lose. My wife, who had already lost about 10-15 lbs over the summer on her own, was not quite that bad, but we were both in need of serious weight loss.

My expectations were that, maybe, perhaps, within one year, I might lose about 50 lbs. My wife was a bit more modest, hoping for about 25 lbs over the course of a year. My expectations were drastically altered the very first week when I lost 13 lbs! My wife did well, losing over 4 lbs. We've never looked back since!

By Christmas, I had already lost over 50 lbs and my wife was well on her way, too. By late spring, I had lost 100 lbs, which is when I made it a goal to get to my goal weight by my "anniversary" weigh-in, which will be tomorrow night. It's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride since then, with some vacation time and bad eating time cutting in to my progress, but I've still managed to lose some more over the last few months and I'm SOOOOOOO close. I would have to come in with a 2.8 lb loss to get to my 180lb goal weight, which is not likely, but I'm ok with that. It's not like it's never gonna happen...it will, and soon! If it happens tomorrow, all the better. My wife is within 7 lbs of her goal as well and has lost over 70lbs in the last year. What an amazing job she has done!

Can a year make a difference? You bet! I will NEVER return to my old self. I like the "thin and healthy" me much better! Here's hoping the next year will bring successes different in nature!

Now *THAT* feels better!

You may wonder what the most annoying part of my weight-loss has been. Then again, you may not wonder that at all. Be that as it may, if you keep reading this blog entry, you're going to find out.

When my wife and I got married in 1993, I weighed approximately 225 lbs. My wedding band was a size 11.5, if memory serves. About 7 years later, I had the ring sized up to match the "upsizing" that my body had done...this time to a size 13. When I hit 295, even that was getting pretty tight.

Then came my weight loss. By the time I got back to my wedding weight, I had to switch the ring from my normal ring finger to my middle finger, because it was constantly falling off while showering, washing my hands or just "rough-housing" with my daughter. That really took some getting used-to, although I'm not sure I ever really did "get used-to" it completely. It annoyed me pretty much all the time.

But I kept losing and my fingers kept shrinking, to the point that it started falling off my middle finger, too. Nearing my goal weight now (3.8 lbs left as of last week), I figured my hands had probably shrunk all they would and I could safely have the ring sized down. So I took it to a jeweler this weekend. They were able to "shrink" it back down to a size 11 without having to cut the ring, which was a plus, although the final "pattern" on the ring isn't quite "exactly" what it used to be, it's still my ring. And it FITS without feeling like it's about to fall off, too. I like that. A lot!

You may wonder what the best thing about my weight loss is, and then again, you may not. Anyway, the best thing....hmmmmm. Running? Better fitting / new / smaller clothes? Feeling great? Substantially less medications? Compliments? All great things to feel great about, to be sure. But the best? The best is getting to go through this with the woman who gave me that wedding band on May 1, 1993. The best is sharing this experience with her. The best is giving her that ring again and allowing her to slip it back on my ring finger where it belongs.

She's the best! By far!

I FIT !!!

My family has been vacationing almost annually (we missed last year) for the past 4 years at Hershey Park in Pennsylvania. It is a wonderful park, with rides for kids of all ages...even my age! In any case, I'm a roller-coaster enthusiaste and Hershey Park has a great variety of excellent roller coasters. In 2004, they added a new launch-style roller coaster named Storm Runner, which I desperately wanted to ride that year. We went in late June of 2004, and I got to the line entrance for the coaster, where they have a sample seat, next to a sign stating that due to the nature of the restraint system, "larger" individuals may not be able to be accomodated on this ride. I tried, but I simply did not fit. I was extremely disappointed. They also opened another ride that year (The Claw) which I tried to get on but had to do the "walk-of-shame" off of for the same reason...I was too fat!

So I was really looking forward to our trip to Hershey this year, not just because we skipped it last year, but because I knew I would get on rides I've never been on before. We went last weekend, which, if you watched the news concerning the weather in the North-east during that time, you would know was not exactly prime amusement-park-weather, but we went anyway. We did get about a good 1/2 day in the park, and I did get on to Storm Runner. I FIT! I sat right down and had absolutely no issue with the restraint system. I FIT! And I've got to say, it was absolutely the BEST roller-coaster I've ever been on in my life!

I got on The Claw without a problem, too. I FIT!

It's funny, though...the first ride that my daughter (8 yrs old) and I went on was the Comet (a classic wooden coaster) and out of habit, when the lap-bar was coming down, I sucked in my belly...but I didn't need to! I FIT!

And I got on the Wave Swinger and got back off without the swing seat sticking to my butt. I FIT!

I was able to comfortably sit in the seat of any ride I wanted to. I FIT! I really fit!

It was really an amazing experience! Due to the weather, we cut the vacation short and we will be heading back there in a few more weeks for more "fitting" fun! I can't wait!

Sure, I gained a pound or two while I was there, but that was expected...sometimes the scale isn't the only measure of success on Weight Watchers. Sometimes it's fitting in the seat of a 180-foot-tall roller coaster! 

Creating Habits

You know...One of the things that has been absolutely key in my successful weight loss so far has been the ability to add some new habits to my life. I have made it a habit to exercise almost every day. When I get up on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, there's no question I will be exercising. These days that most likely means going for a run. At first, it was a difficult chore to do the exercising, but after a pretty short while, not only did it become second-nature, but I began to LOVE IT. I absolutely LOVE to exercise now.

When I'm grabbing something to eat, it's absolutely a habit for me to immediately figure out how many points it is and how many I have left for the day. It's a habit for me to go to my WW meeting every Thursday evening. All new habits, formed because they are helping to accomplish something that I really want in my life. Things I don't have to even think about anymore, really.

I just read today's selection from "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, which seems incredibly pertinent. (here's a link: http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php?month=06&day=15&year=06 )

Here's the thing, though. That has really confronted me with the fact that I have still not been able to "form" new habits in my Christian walk as well as I would like to. I have yet to make real prayer and scripture reading a daily habit, even though I know how absolutely critical it is to my success as a Christian man in this world. The reading above, along with my physical success in weight-loss has made it absolutely clear that it IS possible for me to make these things a habit, and yes, even begin to LOVE doing it. But I've got to be willing to put in the effort it will take to get through the "adding" and "forming" part, in order to get to the "habit" and "love it" parts. That much is up to me, but the cool thing is, I know that if I'll do my part, He will meet me halfway with arms open wide and grace flowing!

Now, similar to the fact that I didn't start my exercise program with a 5 mile run every morning, and I didn't change my whole diet all in one day, I'm not going to start this "forming" of new habits by promising to do 3 hours of Bible study and prayer every day. I'm going to take this a little bit at a time, doing some small study work and prayer each day and then add to it little by little.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you lose 100+ pounds? One pound at a time. How do you read the whole Bible? One chapter at a time. I'm making a commitment to do just that, starting today!

I wonder no more...

Not that I really ever wondered why it was that I was so fat in the first place...I sort-of had a pretty good idea...I ate too much. But several times over the past few months I took note of some specific foods that I used to eat and had a chance to figure out how many points they were. Boy was I surprised!

My typical meal at Wendy's? 45-60 points.
McDonalds breakfast (2 SEC McGriddles, 2 Hashbrowns, 2 Milks)? 46 points!
A slice of my favorite cheesecake? 14 points, but who can have just one slice?
Lloyd's BBQ Pork Ribs? 9 points for 2 ribs...I've polished off a whole rack myself, along with some side-dishes!

Those are just some of the examples. I am sure that there were MANY days where my daily point total well-exceeded 100 (not that I was counting!) When I see the way I used to eat, it makes it entirely obvious why my belt was getting tight at 56 inches and my 300-lb scale was pushing it's limits!

In actuality, I still did have my cheesecake on my birthday. Just one slice. It was WELL-worth it, as it is the BEST cheesecake I've ever tasted! (Jonathan Lord Cheesecakes) But that kind of treat is now just that...a TREAT. No longer a staple in my diet!

Visit to the Doc

Here are some more before-and-after pictures. The "fat" pictures were from the summer of 2005 and the "current" pictures were taken just today.

Speaking of today...I visited my doctor today, just to check out how he thinks I've been doing. I've been going to him since 1992. He has seen my weight go from about 215 at that time, all the way up to the 295+ I found myself at last summer.

Anyway, he is VERY pleased with my weight-loss so far. In fact, he's tickled pink. He bragged about me to one of his collegues in the office.

The good part of my visit, you ask? I've been on medication for my BP for several years now. Well, my blood pressure was 112/63. When I described to my doctor that I've been exerpiencing some minor dizziness when getting up quickly after sitting for a while, he was not surprised. He said that I should immediately discontinue the BP medications, as I no longer need them!

Pretty Unbelievable!

He also said that I should spread out my reflux medication further, taking it every THIRD day instead of every OTHER day. I used to take it EVERY day, so that's quite an improvement.

And hopefully, when I get my blood test results back, I'll be able to either discontinue or at least decrease my cholesterol medication as well.

One more piece of news...he took a good look at me and told me that my goal weight of 170 seems too low at this point. He would prefer that I stop, at least for now, at 180, so instead of 22.6 pounds from my goal, I'm now only 12.6 pounds away! Pretty cool!

When trying to find some new "before pictures", my wife and I went through some old photo albums...The one phrase that kept coming out of my mouth was..."Oh, my gosh!" Boy was I ever big! I didn't want to post pictures with my daughter in them, but I've gotta tell ya...I was HUGE! I simply MUST HAVE cracked 300lbs in some of those pictures, because, oh, my gosh...I was HUGE! It was fun and horrifying at the same time. It was quite encouraging, though.

Oh...one more thing. Last week, a friend loaned me some weight-lifting plates...90lbs worth, to be exact. I put them into 2 nap-sacks and added some additional weight to equal the then-101lb weight that I had lost to that point. I put one nap-sack on backwards (payload in front) and the other on normally (payload in back). So, at that moment, I was back at my 295lb weight. Oh my. It's hard to imagine what 101lbs actually feels like, but it's HEAVY, to say the least.

I walked up my stairs to the 2nd floor and back down, and man, was I winded...me...the guy who can jog 3 miles pretty easy these days, winded from going up and down 12 steps with the weight that I once carried everywhere with me. What an eye-opener.

I highly recommend, when you need some encouragement, putting your current "weight-loss-total" together in a bag/sack/whatever and really feeling what your lost weight feels like. You'd be surprised how heavy even 20lbs is...it's nothing to sneeze at!

101 Gone, 24.6 more to Go!

So, I went to my WeightWatchers meeting tonight, hoping for, but not really counting on reaching my 100 lb loss mark.

I got there! 101 to be exact! It's hard to believe that I'm actually 101 lbs lighter now than I was back in September, when I started this process. The changes in my life are astounding!

I run about 4-5 days per week, averaging about 3 miles per run, with my longest run to date being a 5-mile run done last month on my birthday!

My clothes have changed from having three 'X's in front of the 'L' to just a plain 'L' or sometimes even an 'M.'

The foods that I eat now are quite different, too, but I can honestly say that I enjoy food now FAR MORE than when I was gorging myself on the stuff I used to eat.

The picture included here was taken tonight. Comparing it to the picture from my last blog, it seems unreal that both of these pictures are the same person, much less that both of them are ME. 

Well, Here's a "before" picture. This picture was taken the weekend before we started on Weight Watchers at Jones' Beach. Shortly after this picture was taken, the Oceanic Rescue team showed up to push the whale back into the water, but were dissappointed to find that it was just me. :) 

First Blog Post

Well, this is my first-ever blog posting, so it'll probably be pretty lame! Really don't have much to say at this time, but I figured I should probably put SOMETHING up here.

Most people who know me know that I've been successfully losing a LOT of weight recently on the Weight Watchers plan. As of today, I've lost a total of 92 pounds! Only 33.6 more to lose until I get to my goal weight! It's been an amazing journey for me.

I've also taken up running over the past few months and as of today, my longest distance run has been 4.1 miles! Amazing, considering that 1 year ago, I probably couldn't have gone more than 4.1 HOUSES without collapsing.

Anyway, that's about it for now...I'll post up some BEFORE and DURING (not AFTER yet!) soon.