My name is Chris, I didn't think I would ever join a forum like this, but as someone in recovery from alcoholism I have definitely learned the power of a support group! So here I go…

I am in the military, used to be quite active. Came back from overseas late 2007 a happy, active 215 pounds.

Fast forward a few years to 2010, spending more time behind a desk in a leadership role, and most of my spare time starting to have the "other" problem listed above. Now I'm 245 lbs.

Then it gets interesting, I get a massive career opportunity, return to years of high level (but sedentary) training which owns me for about 100 hours per week, combined with even more progression of the alcohol problem, and over a couple years I have ballooned to 280 lbs and the health is suffering.

This year: finally realized I was on a path of self-destruction, asked for help, took some time off (with generous military support) to get treatment, straighten my life out, and now finally getting back to the career training to finish what I started… but as good as news that is realized this week as my "fat" pants are continuing to get tighter and the shoes more difficult to slip on that I really want to get myself back into my happy physical place as well. And holy crap the scale is 309 lbs! (2 days ago)!

Mind, body and soul, right? The mind and soul I've been working hard on, I'm here for support with the body.

I have started re-devoting myself to being more active (regular exercise), and started using myfitnesspal… what a great app, so shockingly eye opening as to how much I am eating! No wonder about the weight gain...

Anyway, here I am, look forward to the journey. I used to be in great shape, I am confident I can get there again.

(if anyone wants to join my progress on myfitnesspal I could use some friends as I start this journey…. merstopher is the handle)

Thanks so much!

You will find lots of support here. It has helped me in the past and I just recently came back.

Much luck to you!

Welcome Chris! Great intro post, very insightful.

All the effort and discipline you have put into your mind/soul efforts will stand you in good stead as you tackle the "body" portion! Because our bodies often want to do things their own way and ignore what the mind tells them to do, like disobedient children.

But I have absolutely NO DOUBT you will conquer this part of your journey.

I'm not on myfitnesspal, but there are GREAT people on this site, in all the forums. Seriously, people with lots of life-experience in losing and managing weight and great advice & support to give, so I hope you stick around and give us all a shot!

Welcome! I don't know why I find the nickname merstopher really funny, but I do :-) In a good way funny.

If the mind and soul have been healed, then the body will definitely follow. Although I think it's good to always try to maintain a humble attitude and remember that even the healed minds and souls require love and care and the ego needs to be kept in check. I'm pretty sure that what ever you've learned on that journey of yours is extremely helpful in reaching your physical goals.

I pretty much owe Lyle McDonald everything I know about dieting, nutrition and training. Well, not everything, but I have acquired a lot of knowledge on how fat loss and muscle building works and why. He has plenty of articles on his website: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/articles and I highly recommend reading them. There's no specific dogma, just reflection on scientific studies and the reality of weight loss. I now find weight loss to be extremely easy. It's the pleasure seeking lazy mind and body I have problems with :-)

Best of luck to you!

Thanks all, looking forward to the journey.

"Merstopher".... A play on my first and last names . That way my handle is always unique... So far.

I wouldn't say mind and soul are healed, I'm just on the right healing path now, and want to bring the body into the picture.

Day 4, feeling good!

The path to healing can be excruciatingly painful, but the good thing is that after such journey, anything else in life is like a walk in the park. Nothing else can hurt us as much as the things we've decided to carry within. Face those demons and after that you can take on anything :-)

Welcome! It's my first day back on the forums and have to say there is a wealth of support here! As you can see from the forums there is a lot of different groups which makes it nice if you're looking to team up with certain age groups, people with similar weight goals, different challenges.

I'm still poking around reading some posts. Had to update mine. Had a 19 lb weight gain since I was last here I lost 20 lbs prior to rejoining though so I still look at myself as a work in progress!

So glad you joined! It's a really great group here! That's why I came back!

Hi Chris! Thank you for your military service and congrats on taking your life back! You'll find lots of support and great advice here. Glad to have you join us! Good luck!