My wife loves watching Dr. Phil and over the years, I've picked up a few things. The biggest thing I've taken away from the many years of my wife watching his show is that *you can't change what you don't acknowledge. *
I'm very much aware of my being overweight but I'm having a really hard time holding myself accountable.
My thought is that if I confess my weight to all of you and share my plans for weight loss, as well as my goals, perhaps this might help me to remain motivated.
Here's the deal and the absolute humiliating truth. I weigh about 318 lbs. I carry it well but the weight is a huge problem for me. It all began after I suffered a major, career ending back injury back in 2000.
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I was a fitness freak and weight trained six or seven days a week for years. I was built like a tank and weighted about 220 lbs. I was in peak shape at that time but after I hurt my back, physical limitations and depression really hit me hard.
I've talked about my cholesterol in the past because it was borderline and that was concerning.
Despite that, my health is good. Currently, my cholesterol is back down and my blood pressure is within the normal range (most of the time).
I would really like to get down into the 250 lbs range. My doctor would be super happy with that and so would I. My problem is that depression still tosses me around the ragdoll at times and my life is consumed with lots and lots of stress.
I tend to stress eat and that's a large part of my problem. I also don't drink nearly enough water either.
My doctor wants me to lose 30 lbs by next May, which is very reasonable.
I want to lose weight very slowly and do so in a sustainable way. I want to shake up my daily routine (as much as being a Dad to three with Autism allows) and develop healthier habits.
This is something that I not only want to do for myself but also for my wife and kids.
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If I could get back to my *playing weight, *life would be so much easier for me. I'm feeling really inspired because Lizze and I have been watching *My 600 lb life *on TLC. Some people may harshly judge the people on this show but to me, they're incredibly inspiring.
I'm nowhere near their weight and I don't have any of the problems they have to contend with as a result.
Despite all they're up against, they work so hard to change their lives and I have nothing but respect for them. Watching the show every night is also helping me to stave off most of my stress eating as well.
Okay... That's it for now. That was a lot of information and I'm going to let that soak in before following up. It's not easy to share this publicly but I hope to inspire others to make positive changes in their lives also.
When I figure out some of the logistics of my plan, I'll share my routine, my diet changes, weekly weigh-ins and any equipment or technology I'm using to help reach my goals.
I'm very motivated by technology so I will employ what I can, where I can because it helps to keep me moving forward.
So that's my big confession. I feel better having opened up about that and I'm excited to get started in the morning.
