Becoming Twice The Man I Was While Becoming Half The Man I Am

I'm posting this story on my weight loss hoping that my experience will help someone because I know how much it sucks being overweight... aww screw that, it sucks being FAT! The best part about my weight loss is that I didn't have to buy any weight loss products, it's free (unless you include sneakers and sweats which I'm sure everyone has).

What a difference between then & now.

Since I was about 15 I was always an exercise enthusiast. There were times when I'd get up very early just to start the day with a 10 mile run. Then I started developing problems with my health, blood sugar and pains in my heart, thigh, legs and feet...none of which were diagnosable. These pains wouldn't let me jog and I started getting fat... fast. I rapidly started gaining weight. I swear I watched my whole wardrobe pass before my eyes and I started feeling horrible physically and emotionally. I tried walking, swimming and weight lifting but nothing took. Over the decades I watched myself turn into what resembled a pregnant orangutan. People would joke at my gut asking me when I was due. I wasn't even walking half the time, I was wobbling. Oh, and to make my life even more interesting, I started having a real hard time with my bladder AND bowels. Oh crap... so to speak.

So there you have it, a pregnant orangutan in a diaper. All I needed was to be called Coco and have a zoologist feed me with a bottle. I had such low energy that I was behaving older than people who were much older than I was. Suffice to say my self image was shot. I wanted so much to work off all this excess weight I had put on but couldn't. So I resigned myself to the inevitable and miserably accepted it.

Twenty years and a ninety pounds later most of my problems disappeared. They came out of nowhere and that's where they returned to. God willing, they'll stay there. But I still couldn't exercise. My legs still swelled whenever I stood up. It was very painful. My bladder was still weak and my bowels were looser than what they should be.

 

I eat a predominantly vegan diet and do my own cooking. I found that curry and broccoli are diuretics and that I had better bladder control when I didn't eat them a lot. Okay, my problems were a little bit better but still present.

Cut to about two years down the road. A friend of mine who's always studying the human body told me that water cycles itself from our heads to our feet and back again. Also that the water has a hard time moving back up from our legs into the torso in fat people, that it stops at the gut and settles in the legs. I was also told that if I do side bends with a weight it would help. It did to an extent.

Cut to about one more year down the road. Now I'm talking with a fellow vegetarian. I tell him about how I've been loose for a while and he recommends to stop eating apples & pears. I do and ALL my symptoms go away. I couldn't believe what was happening so I tested the waters and ate apples & pears again to see if it's true and sure enough it is. I've developed allergic reactions to the high fiber content in apples & pears.

I spoke to other health-oriented friends about this. One told me that she would eat a pear before going to bed whenever she's backed up. And by the time morning comes, she's no longer constipated.

I swear as soon as I stopped eating them in the early spring of 2008 I stopped feeling lethargic all the time, my legs no longer swell like they use to and I've been able to walk a far greater distance than I have in the past twenty years. I've hardly had ANY problems with my bladder and my bowels are WELL under control. Screw Depends!!!

Immediately I started investing in myself again and started jogging. Henceforth the weight has been plateauing off. Of course I'm not jogging 10 to 12 miles a day like I use to. I'm still overweight and have a ways to go. Besides, I'm much older and have to take it easier, so I'm doing approximately 5 miles at least three times a week.

People who didn't know me 20 years ago are completely blown away. And I can't get enough of the compliments. Yay!

I had been holding on to pants and workout gear for two decades now in hopes that I could fit into them again. In 2006 I was sorting through some things. It didn't make any sense for me to keep them any longer as all hope of regaining even a semblance of what I once had seemed futile at best but still, something told me to hold on to them just a little longer and man, I'm glad I did. I have the pants stacked from the smallest sizes to the largest. I've gotten to the point where I can fit the largest one's around my waist. I don't bother with scales or anything like that because muscles weigh more than fat anyway.

This is my routine

1 – I drink about a liter & a half of water (within a 10-15 min time period) at least an hour before breakfast. Among other things it flushes out my system and sucks up my hanging flesh.

2 – I take about 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in some water. According to earthclinic.com it 'breaks down fat and is widely used to lose weight'. It's an old time remedy that's suppose to help out with a bunch of things.

3 – Vitamins! Vitamins! Vitamins!

4 – Mainly vegan diet.

5 – Aerobic exercise.

6 – Plenty of rest.

Also right now I'm putting myself on a 21 day bread fast. I'm breaking the habit of eating sliced bread with my meals. Between August 7 & 27, I'm not eating ANYTHING with bread in it, muffins, sandwiches, pizza, nothing, I've gone cold turkey for 21 days. After that I'll have sandwiches & stuff but no more bread with my meals. Wish me luck.

This is what it feels like when you take care of yourself.

Be good to yourself cause nobody else has the power to make you happy. - George Michael