I’ve always been a fatso.

I’ve never truly been ‘fit’. Looking back, I was never ever happy with my shape or my abilities. I was a reasonably good hockey player for most of my childhood through high school, but I could never run fast or even jog for any amount of time. I only ever kept my weight down by doing training for hockey or doing boxing and kickboxing, but my diet was a disaster. I ate tons of carbs and drank barrels of soda, beer and alcohol. At my worst, I was 325lbs (147kg, 23st). At about 6’3″, I carried my weight reasonably well. When I told people that I was 300+ they always replied “Wow, really? You don’t look it.” That was the best compliment I could receive.

The truth is I’m pretty fat. I’ve got a huge gut, a FUPA and big man titties… it sucks. Running remains difficult simply due to the pendular motion of my boobs. I’ve got fat upper thighs that rub together a bit when I walk. The only thing I’m lucky to have avoided is a loose turkey neck and flabby underarms. Right now I weigh about 295lbs though, my doctor’s scale says I weigh 285. I don’t have that in my house to check constantly, so I’ll have to go with my home scale which says 295.

My health problems have varied over the years. I’m currently on 2.5mg of Lisinopril for my high blood pressure. I’m lucky that I only need that one medication, but I do suffer from multiple other health issues: joint pain, occasional hemorrhoids, asthma, psoriasis, eczema, and a bunch of other things that I’m forgetting. The high blood pressure is the show stopper though. I’ve had high blood pressure since about 1996. I’ve tried controlling it with many different medications. Propranalol was the beginning of the end for my healthy weight. As a beta blocker, it made me very lethargic and lazy. Once I finished high school, I stopped playing sports and my weight just ballooned from about 225 to 260. At one point, I started seeing a nutritionist and got involved with boxing and cardio kickboxing and my weight dropped to about 230. Though, as fate would have it, my gym closed after the owner died of a sudden heart attack and I was sidelined again. At this point, my weight slowly barreled into the 300s.

I have a pretty sedentary job. I sit behind a desk all day. I leave my house around 7am, walk a mile to the train, commute for an hour, get to work, leave around 615pm, walk back to the train and get home around 730pm every night. I’ve had a sedentary job pretty much always. My current work has free lunch, a stocked pantry and all the crap food your heart could desire. Wanna sit down and eat a gallon bucket of Goldfish? We’ve got about 5 of them. Want to eat 40 granola bars? Go right ahead, there’s plenty for everyone. Now, on the plus side of things they do offer HEALTHY alternatives. Mixed nuts (no peanuts), fresh fruit every morning, greek yogurt, tons of water choices and a salad option at nearly every meal. However, with all the chips and candy around, it can be difficult to keep your hands out of it when you’re feeling run down, depressed or just having a craving.

My family life is in a constant state of health changes and dietary trials. My wife has also been battling with weight for some time, but that’s her story. But she’s one to try nearly anything to lose weight. She was even featured on the Martha Stewart Show while taking one of their cleanses. She’s had some success in weight loss, but continues to deal with plateaus. I try to go with whatever she is doing for weight loss stuff. We even tried one of those apple juice cleanses where all we got to eat was apple juice and some sort of powder for 2 weeks. I honestly can’t even remember all the different things we’ve tried because it’s all just a blur of “eat this, not that”. We’ve tried Weight Watchers, calorie counting, no-fat, all-fat, certain carbs, no carbs, all carbs… you name it, I’m pretty sure we’ve tried it with little to no lasting results. We want to lose weight and be healthy so that our 3 year old isn’t running circles around us. We’re raising a kid the way we wish we were raised. He drinks water, he eats most of his vegetables, he eats some meat and he still breastfeeds occasionally.

I’m of the mind set that as long as you eat somewhat right and exercise, you’ll lose weight. Unfortunately, my exercise could use a boost. I walk between 1 and 5 miles a day depending on the weather and what time I get out of the house or work. I have a hard time finding time to exercise. I prefer doing it in the morning, but so does my wife, so sometimes we were at odds for who goes when. I’ve lately been interested in running and jogging. I’m getting better at it, but my weight still holds me back.

Now we’re going to try the Primal Blueprint. I’m enjoying the idea of eating this way. I’m sure there will be some challenges.

I think that’s where I should leave off with this. I hope to start the 21 day challenge soon and update this ‘about me’ section.

-Jared

Starting Weight – 300lbs (5/28/12)

Stomach – 54″

Pant size – 44-46″

Chest – 53″

Total circumference at widest point – 60″

May 31, 2012