Health Turnaround Progress
I've been wanting to post this for a while, but I guess on some level I feel weird posting anything about my "real" self that breaks the suspension of disbelief of my being a twinky little five-foot red fox person. But then, since on an intellectual level, people know that's not what I really am, I guess it doesn't hurt.
Back in Spring of 2010, I needed to get a lithotripsy. When I was brought in for the surgery, though, my blood pressure was so high that the anesthesiologist had to call the whole thing off, because of the high chance of my having a stroke if I were to be put under (while I was waiting to get wheeled into the operating room, my blood pressure was at something like 210/130, if I recall correctly).
At this point, I needed to drop my blood pressure, and fast, because I needed this surgery, too. Thankfully I got myself a good doctor and got put on medication that worked so well that I had the actual surgery a mere two weeks later. But I remember sitting there, waiting for my friend to pick me up after my cancelled surgery, thinking about how this was the wake-up call, this was where I was going to turn things around and get healthy.
In reality, aside from the blood pressure meds, I was pretty lazy about it. Oh sure, I went and bought myself a bicycle that very day, but I never really took it out much because it was just too much effort, and the medicine was already working so I didn't feel like it was something that needed doing.
Here's something that I think most overweight people experience that a lot of other people probably don't consider: for the vast majority of us, we literally do not know what it's like to not be fat. For me, it's been a lifelong thing. As long as I've been old enough to have a conscious self, I've been overweight. Growing up heavy builds thick skin pretty quickly, too, because if there's one thing kids love to make fun of more than anything else, it's fat kids.
So yeah, overweight folks, for the most part, don't get that way by accident, but what I think a lot of people don't realize is that the motivation to NOT be overweight is so hard to come by because, to us, it literally seems impossible that we could ever be anything else. I've lost weight before, but I've never been thin or even average weight. I've always still been really big.
Well, after a year or so of being bolstered by good checkups at the doctor, seeing how my blood pressure and cholesterol were improving, I finally found something to give me the motivation to take more active steps. This time, I was determined to do something and stick with it, because I'm 32 years old and I want to know what it's like, for once in my life, to not be fat.
I lost a lot of weight just naturally after a year or so because I pulled myself out of my unemployment depression (you know, the kind where you'll cook a whole box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for lunch and eat the whole fucking thing right then and there?). But I decided to actively go back to a weight loss plan.
I don't want to get into details about what I'm doing, mostly because when it comes to weight loss, everyone has pretty strong opinions on what does and does not work, and the reality is that everybody's body is different and I've found something that works for me and so that should be all anyone else needs to know.
My grand master plan, as it were, is to lose 100 pounds between Halloween 2011 and Halloween 2012. An ambitious goal, but one I'm absolutely serious about. And heck, even if I fall short, I'll know that I can keep going.
Here's where things were and where they are now:
Blood pressure before lithotripsy: 190/120
Cholesterol in late 2010: 220
Current blood pressure: 115/75
Cholesterol in late 2011: 133
Weight lost since lithotripsy: 40 lbs
Weight lost since Halloween 2011: 15 lbs
So yeah, that first 25 pounds I lost doesn't "count" towards the 100 I'm going for. It's tempting to cheat, but no. I won't do that.
Oh, and I'm also big into getting exercise now, too. At least five days a week (six or seven if I can fit it in), I make sure to walk three miles a day, or otherwise get in some form of exercise (like dancing or something). After New Year's I'm going to start sprinkling in some jogging and cycling a few days a week, too (I already randomly break into sprints at certain points during my walks, and it feels good to have tangible feedback on what doesn't get me winded anymore).
And that's where I am. BP and cholesterol are looking good. Now I just need to lose another 85 pounds and the rest of me will be looking good, too.
Back in Spring of 2010, I needed to get a lithotripsy. When I was brought in for the surgery, though, my blood pressure was so high that the anesthesiologist had to call the whole thing off, because of the high chance of my having a stroke if I were to be put under (while I was waiting to get wheeled into the operating room, my blood pressure was at something like 210/130, if I recall correctly).
At this point, I needed to drop my blood pressure, and fast, because I needed this surgery, too. Thankfully I got myself a good doctor and got put on medication that worked so well that I had the actual surgery a mere two weeks later. But I remember sitting there, waiting for my friend to pick me up after my cancelled surgery, thinking about how this was the wake-up call, this was where I was going to turn things around and get healthy.
In reality, aside from the blood pressure meds, I was pretty lazy about it. Oh sure, I went and bought myself a bicycle that very day, but I never really took it out much because it was just too much effort, and the medicine was already working so I didn't feel like it was something that needed doing.
Here's something that I think most overweight people experience that a lot of other people probably don't consider: for the vast majority of us, we literally do not know what it's like to not be fat. For me, it's been a lifelong thing. As long as I've been old enough to have a conscious self, I've been overweight. Growing up heavy builds thick skin pretty quickly, too, because if there's one thing kids love to make fun of more than anything else, it's fat kids.
So yeah, overweight folks, for the most part, don't get that way by accident, but what I think a lot of people don't realize is that the motivation to NOT be overweight is so hard to come by because, to us, it literally seems impossible that we could ever be anything else. I've lost weight before, but I've never been thin or even average weight. I've always still been really big.
Well, after a year or so of being bolstered by good checkups at the doctor, seeing how my blood pressure and cholesterol were improving, I finally found something to give me the motivation to take more active steps. This time, I was determined to do something and stick with it, because I'm 32 years old and I want to know what it's like, for once in my life, to not be fat.
I lost a lot of weight just naturally after a year or so because I pulled myself out of my unemployment depression (you know, the kind where you'll cook a whole box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese for lunch and eat the whole fucking thing right then and there?). But I decided to actively go back to a weight loss plan.
I don't want to get into details about what I'm doing, mostly because when it comes to weight loss, everyone has pretty strong opinions on what does and does not work, and the reality is that everybody's body is different and I've found something that works for me and so that should be all anyone else needs to know.
My grand master plan, as it were, is to lose 100 pounds between Halloween 2011 and Halloween 2012. An ambitious goal, but one I'm absolutely serious about. And heck, even if I fall short, I'll know that I can keep going.
Here's where things were and where they are now:
Blood pressure before lithotripsy: 190/120
Cholesterol in late 2010: 220
Current blood pressure: 115/75
Cholesterol in late 2011: 133
Weight lost since lithotripsy: 40 lbs
Weight lost since Halloween 2011: 15 lbs
So yeah, that first 25 pounds I lost doesn't "count" towards the 100 I'm going for. It's tempting to cheat, but no. I won't do that.
Oh, and I'm also big into getting exercise now, too. At least five days a week (six or seven if I can fit it in), I make sure to walk three miles a day, or otherwise get in some form of exercise (like dancing or something). After New Year's I'm going to start sprinkling in some jogging and cycling a few days a week, too (I already randomly break into sprints at certain points during my walks, and it feels good to have tangible feedback on what doesn't get me winded anymore).
And that's where I am. BP and cholesterol are looking good. Now I just need to lose another 85 pounds and the rest of me will be looking good, too.