It is a long road but a great journey :)
 

I just joined the website and wanted to say hello and introduce myself.

I started changing my lifestyle 19 months ago. At that time, I was up to 562.3 pounds. Last Monday I weighed in at 296. I have lost 266.3 pounds in the last 19 months using good nutrition and lots of exercise. At almost 600 pounds I had to start by just walking in the pool. I hit the gym 5 days a week now. I am on the home stretch of reaching my goal and starting maintenance for a lifetime of better health and improved physical fitness. I am 46 years old. I had to find my motivation to change 19 months ago. I did find it.... not sure what took me so long :)

My 7-year-old daughter, Katy, is what motivated me to change. I had always thought I would work on losing weight so that the other kids would not make fun of Katy because her dad was fat. I had the best intentions to do that. I tried several times.

In May of 2004, Katy was about to be in the 1st grade in a few months. Dad was topping out at 562.3 pounds. I never knew how much you could love someone until my daughter was born. Katy's mom is in very poor health as well. My parents are in their early 80's. At almost 600 pounds, I could not get any life insurance. My own health was going down fast. It hit me like a bolt of lighting that I was about to fail in the most important thing I would ever be tasked to do in this world: take care of my daughter. If I did not do something, I was going to eat myself into an early grave and leave my baby girl when she would need me the most. At that moment in time, it became unacceptable to me to continue to be morbidly obese.

Losing this much weight is a lifestyle change and a journey. You tend to discover many things along the path to your goals. Katy is, and will always be, a huge motivation for me. Initially, I was motivated to get healthy just to be alive to help her grow up. As I lost weight and could become more physically active, an entire vista of possibilities opened up. I could not only be alive – but as a healthy, active dad, Katy and I could go to amusement parks, play soccer, bike together, hike, run and play – a million and one things. I could give her not only a secure childhood, but one filled with fun memories.

I realized that I still had a few items on my life's "to do" list as well. I feel motivated to be a better, more complete person. I just signed up for beginning acting classes. It was something I always wanted to try but, you know, when you are morbidly obese, you tend to suppress most of the dreams you have.

Lastly, I am motivated by a burning desire to help others escape the clutches of morbid obesity. I don't live in the past and I know I can't go back and change the fact that I let a large part of my life go by while being morbidly obese. What I can do is dedicate myself to doing all that I can to help fight obesity in children and young adults. I can't change my own past, but maybe I can help some people have a present and future free from the heartbreak of morbid obesity.


I still have a ways to go on my own journey - but if I can do anything to help anyone here - I would be happy to do so. I think those of us with a lot of weight to lose face some special challenges. It can take a good bit of time to get that much weight off. I think you just get fatigued by the whole process if you don't keep looking for ways to motivate yourself. I love getting support and ideas from others and hope that I can help others as well. We are all fighting this battle together! I know we can all reach our goals!

I wish everyone the very best,

Welcome, Charles! I said "hi" over at another thread too, but in this case, more is probably better! Your story is very inspiring!

Wow Charles! What a trip you've been on. Congratulations on your succes thus far. Welcome to the group.

Wow, your weight loss is inspiring. I really wish I could do that.

You can. I know you can. It took me a long time to find out that I could. I get help and inspiration from others all the time. You just have to know that change is within your power. You can do it. :)

Thanks Charles,
I'm FORCING myself to know that I can. I don't really have a lot of support in my life so I have to support myself. It just gets hard from time to time. I try to stay positive. I guess like all things in life...it's an uphill battle right?

Welcome to the group Charles. Good to see another guy here. You are looking great.

It can be a battle for sure. It is one you can win. I know how it is to face adversity at home when you are trying to change. It makes it hard to keep focused on your goals and what you want to accomplish. I guess that is one reason I got to weekly meetings put on my a hospital in my town for others trying to lose weight and participate in weight loss forums. It helps me to be reminded that I am not going through this along. Others have taken the journey I am on and had success.

I had a behaviorist tell me one time "strive for progress, never perfection" That made a lot of sense to me.

If I can do anything to help - just let me know.

Hey man - you are looking great yourself! Congratulations on your new lifestyle! Wow, you are getting really close to your goal. That is great. Nice to meet you. I plan to be around this site for a good while. It looks like a great place for support.

Wow. You are a true inspiration!

Welcome! You have great motivation. :) Your story is an inspiration to us all.

Welcome to the board Charles. Wow what an inspiring story! Congrats on your awesome journey! :D

Charles, what a wonderful story... thank you for sharing it with us. :hug:

Thanks everyone - you all are super kind. :)

If my journey so far can help even one other person then it is worth having those really bad before pictures up there. :) While I have never been in AA - I read a few books about the one of the founders of the AA program. This is a paragraph from one of those books that really struck home with me.

Quote:

Bolstered by support from the Oxford group, he managed to start getting his life together again, albeit not without several relapses, and soon was taking his message to fellow drunks, whom he would often bring home to stay at the Clinton Street house. As he did this, Bill stumbled upon a truly keen insight: that helping others to deal with drinking kept HIM sober.

I want to reach my own weight goals - no doubt about it and I know that I will. Getting healthy and adopting a new lifestyle has made me realize how much I want to help others avoid the burden of morbid obesity.

That is phenomenal, Charles! Congratulations.