Half way there...

[Suited hippy]

Hello,

I came across this site a few days ago, and in true nerd fashion spent an obscene amount of time reading through the articles over the last few days.

My story is one of woe, despair, and stepping up like a Champ.

I'm 28, 5'11, I work for an environmental non-profit as an building science adviser and lobbyist. I'm intelligent, articulate, well liked...and recently Divorced...

I was a fat teen, around 250lbs through high school and college, played sports, but was more of a social person in them than actually working out or trying to compete. After graduating college I moved to the west coast to find my destiny. The west coast was great for me, fell deeply in love, started being more active, hiked all over the beautiful coast, even started getting fitter, I was down to 230 for a time and felt pretty good about it and the future.

I asked the Woman I loved to marry me, and she said yes! We planned a beautiful wedding, and had an incredible honeymoon. 3 days after our return to normal life she had a spasm in her sciatic nerve that left her crippled, in chronic pain. The joke at the time was that I got a real lemon and should take her back to the lot. That joke quickly became not funny as it seemed like no doctor could figure out how to fix her.

Over time she became very depressed, and I watched as a bright smiley person slowly filled with hate for the world. I had to take over all domestic duties, not that I did not do about half before, but doing everything wears you down. I spent countless hours researching medical texts, contacting different doctors, eventually even getting into homeopathy dispite my Science background when you are out of hope any option seems worth looking into. After 2.5 years of chronic pain the doctors she was dealing with said there was no other options to explore....

This was the most heartbreaking moment of my life. Hope was dead. Over the years of taking care of her my diet had suffered, stress eating, stress drinking, no time for exercise, everything in my life was in the shambles. I was depressed, 279lbs, full on depression beard, and there were dark thoughts in my head about the only honorable way out.

In May of this year Doctors tried a variation of acupuncture and for some medically unknown reason she was without pain for the first time in nearly 3 years she was pain free. I was very cautious not to get over excited, told her to keep taking it easy, let her body feel it out. But inside all I wanted to do was jump for joy, I thought finally, after 3 years she is fixed, we can put this behind us. I thought I had months of, pardon my french, blow jobs and steak in bed coming to me.

A week later she said she was leaving me, and wanted a divorce because she could never be happy with me. She took my dog, my car, and walked away.

Floored by this I took a few days to get very very drunk.

A friend came over and saw what a mess I was, a fat, drunk, mess. He said to me some nerdy word's that I will never forget: "Dude, pull yourself together, don't you get it, you are getting a second life here. Step up, Man up, and change the world."

So you know what I did? I Stepped up, Manned up, and got on the path to changing the world.

It was a slow start at 279lbs, but I live on the coast and it was the summer so I got a cheap cruiser bike from a second hand store. I rode every day, EVERY DAY. Rain, shine, wind, I rode. I was sore to the point of hobbling to work, but I rode. A month in I was down 10 lbs, I was up to riding about 20KM a day, and even took long treks on weekends up to 32km.

I kept that up for 3 months, down to 245, I started running, which at the start was crazy embarrassing. I could only go about 100M with out needed to stop and walk. But I did that every day till I could go further. Over the next few weeks I was able to run a full KM, and then 2!

5 months, and in the best shape of my life at 229lbs in I bought my first real pair of running shoes, and ran a 5k in 31:11, I nearly puked crossing the finish line, but it was the best feeling of my life. I ran 5k, without stopping, and the world was mine!

I kept it up and now am up to running 7k, with a 10k race in March that I am going to do in under 1 hour.

It's 6 months now, I am 218 lbs, I get compliments almost every day about how great I look, and I even saw the ex while wearing a new suit I bought because all of my others look like clown suits. Her jaw dropped, and I gave her the hard cold shoulder.

I just joined a commercial gym last week, it's too cold to run outside now, and I feel so out of place there, and like I have no idea what I am doing. I really don't like it, and will go back to outdoor stuff once the spring hits, but for now I need to keep the momentum going.

I figured I would join this site get some great resources, and check out some of these fitness challenges.

Half way there, feeling great about it, and looking for methods to push the rest of the way to greatness!

[Laureleye]

Give your friend a big hug, and one for yourself for seizing your second life with both hands. If you don't like the gym atmosphere, there are lots of workouts you can do at home using not much more than your body, at least to start with. Then you can just use the cardio machines at the gym. Check out the beginners body, angry birds, or hotel room workouts here. If you're interested in the next challenge, you'll need to join a guild. Good luck and welcome.

[Avalonna]

Wow - you have had a tough road. Give yourself a pat on the back for not wallowing in misery and instead deciding to shape your own life. This is a fun community with tons of good information. Feel free to ask anything!

[labingo]

Wow! That's an amazing story. It's good to know that life does give second chances. Good luck with everything, and welcome to the rebellion!

[20mb13]

you sir are officially amazing! and i have to admit i am quite jealous, i'm about 170 healthy and fit, but running a 5k in a half an hour cjbsgcsx can not do it for the life of me haha. a mile in under ten minutes sure, but i'd so quit after that. running was never quite my thing sadly.

well one thing i did when running just got to be too boring for me was, went out and bought some adjustable dumbbells and some heavy weights!!! weights that were almost too much but just bearable. as well as lighter weights of course. it's easy to do squats and curls and all sorts of different things with a pair of adjustable dumbbells. and then take some weight off and use them for crunches and even push-ups xD so much fun and so much pain!!!

i love walking as well so i try to be at home as little as possible and usually i will go walk around a mall for an hour or two just so i can stay active while having fun shopping. so that's an option as well.

lastly if you don't take any supplements maybe it's time you consider trying some out? SOME and i mean SOME really help you cut weight and get you to where you want to be faster. not that fast is always a good thing!!!

[Porkchop]

Good on you brother. I like the part where you referenced stress eating (and drinking). I can relate to how hard it is to stay vigilant about diet and excercise when under that amount of stress. It also sucks that one impulsive diet decision can undo a whole day of dieting. Keep up the good work and stay on track

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Awesome story. Glad to have you in the rebellion. You sound like a scout to me, you may want to consider that guild for the next challenge.

[Suited hippy]

Thanks for the welcome everyone.

Been reading more of Steve's awesome articles... They are so helpful. Seems like every day I have a new question, and at the end of the day I start poking through and find an answer.

Found that just going to the gym with a mission is helping the awkwardness. Get in, change, head phones on, run, row, free weights, stretch, and leave. In and out in an 90 minutes. I know Steve does say it should be limited to an hour, or you are not working hard enough, but I am pouring it out full tilt the entire time I am there, have to peal my shirt off due to sweat.

Looking forward to joining a challenge in the new year when the next round starts up.

I am going to start a battle log to keep me going, get some feedback on my routine, and heck have some fun telling people what I could only imagine I could do 6 months ago.