My epic battle against depression

[Roosh]

Greetings, fellow combatants! Today I have decided to share my story with you, in the hopes that it will have a positive effect on those who have either suffered from depression in the past, or are currently looking for a way out today. My fitness journey was a large part of how I got out of my rut, and I would like to give you tips on how I got started. Before I get there, I would like to provide some background on myself, and how I ended up in my rut.

 

My name is Chris. I'm 30 years old and am a true geek and nerd at heart! I've been a gamer since I was a wee lad in the 90s, and it's what got me into my career as a software engineer today. During my sophomore year of college, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. This was a scary time as an 18-year-old still trying to find his own way. Luckily, I had caught it early enough that no serious treatment was needed, recovery was speedy and I was back on my way! One year later, when I thought I was in the clear, the doctors found more foreign tissue during a routine scan. I was devastated, my parents dragged me out-of-state and took me to IUPUI Hospital in Indianapolis to have major surgery performed on my lymph nodes. Cool fact: one of my surgeons was also the surgeon that worked with Lance Armstrong! It was a very rough 6-week recovery and I had to take a semester off of school just to get back to normal. After this incident, I was clean and clear throughout the rest of my college years. I graduated and got started in my new career. What could go wrong?!

 

I guess I just couldn't catch a break. I was diagnosed with cancer again at the age of 23. What...the...helll?! Again, it was early stage and very treatable, but this time I had to go through radiation therapy 5 days a week, for 6 weeks (this was a small dose, I was lucky).

 

All things considered, I am very grateful that I caught onto my symptoms early, and am alive today. Seriously guys and gals, check your bits regularly, it could save your life! With my body going through all that stress, it had hit me like a truck. My energy levels were not what they used to be. I am now required to go through hormone replacement therapy for the rest of my life, since I am unable to produce my own testosterone. Very slowly, I started to slip into depression. I had noticed, 4 years after my radiation therapy, that my mood was worse now then it was during my treatment. If I were to count my blessings at this time, I was unhappy, without a reason to be. I was eating poorly, drinking alcohol excessively, and living a very inactive gamer life style. I started noticing irritable or hostile behavior towards others at work, no energy, and rapidly increasing weight. This was not normal for me. It was tough to admit that I needed help. I was using the hormone problem as an excuse and explanation for these behaviors. I needed to change that attitude! I had to ask the doctor that had been doing my cancer screenings to set an appointment up with a therapist, because I had no willpower of my own to make the move.

 

Here comes the turnaround in this story! I promise, it's all ponies and rainbows from here

 

I had known for awhile that exercising can be very therapeutic for depression. I had tried P90X in my early 20s and had seen great results even within the first 6 weeks. My goal was to simply get up and try to exercise a little every day. That was the focus during my therapy sessions, we simply discussed ways to get me into a routine that I could sustain. If you have been reading the blog posts on Nerd Fitness, this will just be review. The key is to make small (very small) changes over time! I had to set intermediate steps before I felt comfortable starting the P90X program again. Here's how I got through the hurdle.

 

1. Week 1 - Move the alarm clock 10-feet away to force yourself out of bed. Get up at the desired time and relax, drink coffee, surf the internet. No other changes.
2. Week 2 - Add max rep push-ups/crunch routine. Just get used to the idea of stretching and moving in the morning
3. Week 3-5 - I finally felt motivated enough to run on an elliptical at the gym at 6AM.
4. Week 6 - I noticed I wasn't shedding a single pound. Time to step it up! I started day 1 of the P90X lean routine. I also started tracking my food intake. Spoiler alert, turns out you can eat as much meat and veggies as you want and still be under your 2000 calorie mark for the day.
5. Week 7 - What? I'm starting to feel better! The glass-half-empty attitude was disappearing. My energy level is back. I felt great! This feeling became my motivation to crank through the whole program. It was at this point that I decided to learn how to cook. It's been a blast experimenting in the kitchen with ingredients I know I can eat without remorse.
6. Week 20 - I finished the P90X lean routine! Check that off the bucket list!  I had lost 18.5 pounds and went down 2 jean sizes.
7. Week 24 (today) - I have finished the first phase of the P90X3 classic routine. I've lost another 6 lb. My peak was 237lb, I weighed in at 212 today. I feel awesome!

 

I've got a long way to go in my fitness journey, but I am now confident that I can take care of myself. I have proven to myself that my pre-existing condition is not an excuse for living an unhealthy life style. Fitness and cooking is now fun for me. I continue to experiment with food and am really enjoying how it makes me feel. It's strange and awesome how much one can change in a very short time! I've written a novel and still don't feel like I've scratched the surface. I'm excited to talk with others in this community about their journey, and can't wait to progress further in mine!

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Thom Stépan]

Awesome work there bud. Fighting the old black dog takes a lot of time and effort. You have done well so far keep up the great work.

Woden uses ravens, I use an iphone.

[Happytin]

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for sharing your story so far. It's great to hear how far you've come and I'm excited to hear about where you develop now. Depression and testicular cancer are still two key things I just think we don't talk about enough, nor openly enough, so I love to read accounts like yours. I also really like the way you made some firm concrete changes that were a push but right for you at the right time. It's so easy to go for everything or nothing when you're depressed, it sounds like you hit the sweet spot for you!