Friday, January 8, 2010

Fatman to Fitman: What inspired a sugar addict to change his life?

In February of 2009 I began a journey to change who I was. Within the first month I realized I was making a significant lifestyle change; I wanted to capture some of my emotional and mental motivations at that point in time. What follows is a description of why I was making these changes.

Tuesday March 24, 2009

When asked this question at first thought I don't have an answer; then upon second thought many reasons come to mind. While I am still in the early stages I feel it is important to put on paper a list of what does come to mind:

Larry H. Miller One of Utah's wealthiest and most successful citizens died a few weeks before I made the decision to see the doctor and commit to whatever "instructions" he gave me. All of his money and the best doctors in the world couldn't save Mr. Miller's legs, even his life--this was extremely impactful on me.

My Dad In the last few years my father was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, this never really impacted me until I realized that you really can die from the disease. The genetics suggested that I was a high risk for a similar fate--what an inheritance.

My Dad Several months prior my father had cornered me at a family event and "begged" me to get tested for diabetes. I had blown him off somewhat irritated because although I had gained some weight I didn't believe I was in that bad of shape. Also, despite his denial that he had approached me at the request of my wife I was certain that she asked him to engage in this “intervention” approach.

Jen My wife has "harassed" me our entire married life about my diet and activity level, she constantly reminded me that I was very unhealthy. It annoyed me.

Sex My wife was no longer attracted to me and refused to have any physical contact (basic affection or intercourse), simply put I was obese and she wanted nothing to do with me.

Energy I had reached a point where every single day of my life I felt sluggish and experienced an energy "crash" several times a day. The classic remedy: snickers, a soda and chips--maybe lunch.

Belt Bust'n One day my belt buckle suddenly snapped, I was simply too big to fit in a size 44 belt!

Clothing My clothes which I had bought the previous summer (and were bought as size 44, the largest I had ever been) no longer fit.

My Own Skin I just felt fat, obese really. I felt heavy, slow and awkward.

Appearance Looking in the mirror I practically didn't recognize myself, my face looked like a balloon about to burst. Also, my son didn't even recognize me in our wedding pictures or other photos of me from that time in my life.

Lifestyle I dream, practically fantasize about living an active adventure sport lifestyle. My fitness level just didn't align with those desires.

Search & Rescue I want to be able to fully participate in the Search & Rescue events and my fitness level would preclude me from many of those activities.

Skydiving Periodically I look into skydiving and I had recently discovered that I was over the weight limit of what would be allowed to even participate.

Thin Air I found myself out-of-breath after climbing the single flight of stairs to my office every day and often would notice myself breathing heavy while sitting at my desk….just sitting around took my breath away!!!

This isn't the full and complete list but as I look over the months, weeks and days leading up to my decision to commit fully to a new life (lifestyle, habits, activities, diet, etc) these are the core influences that have driven my commitment and so far (nearly 1 month on the wagon) success.

So far so good.

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