Yesterday was the 30th day of my family's pledge to healthier eating and exercising. This is the first time as a family we have committed to a new lifestyle. Usually we would adopt a diet, follow it for a few days or weeks and then fall off the wagon. I just wish that I would have committed to living a healthy new life years ago. Fortunately, we as a family are doing it now and loving every day of it!
At my heaviest last year I was around 413 pounds. Somehow though I was numb to my weight and just carried on as normal. But things were and are not normal. Being considered morbidly obese is not even close to normal. To get winded tying shoes or picking up dropped change is not normal. Eating three loaded plates at a buffet is not normal. Finishing off 10 hot wings, 6 slices of pizza and washing it down with a diet soda is not normal. Watching Food Network and salivating over the foods is not normal. Yes, I have been in my own world of denial off and on for many years. Thank God my head is clear and I still have time to fix things.
The reasons why I wanted and needed to lose weight have always been plentiful, yet never strong enough to keep me on course. My family medical history tells me that if I stay obese I face heart disease, cancer, hypertension and diabetes. Being a pallbearer at my Aunt's funeral years back found me wheezing and fighting for air, along with the reminder that at my weight there are no pallbearers if I die due to my casket would be way to heavy. In fact they actually use a small bulldozer and chains to move king size caskets. (Yes that is morbid, but it is also a fact). Our kids are 14 and 12 years old, and I have never been able to fit an amusement park ride with them or been confident enough to get in a pool at a water park with them. Then there is the anxiety of if I will fit in the booths or plastic chairs when we walk into a new restaurant. I could go on and on....but you get the point.
Thirty days ago all of these thoughts weighed on my mind, and chest pains in the middle of the night helped hammer them home. My 12 year old son didn't like weighing more than his mom. Chloe wanted to lose her weight before the best of her teenage years. My wife wanted to get healthy, as she never has had a weight problem, but she knows her choice in foods hasn't been good. I just want to live life normally and without restrictions that my gut has placed on me.
So after 30 days, here are the results:
Mike - 27 pounds lost and can walk over 2 miles at about 4 mph and even jog a bit and quit drinking pop
Chloe - 18 pounds lost and can now jog longer during 2 mile walks, almost cut out pop
Austin - 4 pounds lost and can run and walk longer than he ever has, almost cut out pop
Crystal - 2 pounds lost, has doubled her miles walked a day and quit drinking pop
I know I have a long way to go to hit my goal weight. I also know that changing our lifestyle from crappy habits to being healthy will get me to what I need to weigh. My life no longer revolves around the next meal I eat or the awesome deal on candy I find. Instead it revolves around my family and all the things I will one day be able to do with them and hopefully the added years I will have to spend with them.
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