On the Weigh Down…again

I am 58 years old and I have been fighting my weight for my entire adult life. And by fighting I mean you are reading the words of the only two time winner of the Winchester, Kentucky Weigh Down, a local version of The Biggest Loser. A TWO TIME WINNER! In addition to both of those 40+ pound loses, I have lost and gained 30-50 pounds more times than I can count and that alone is not healthy. It would have been better for me to remain obese than to bounce around like I have.

Yet here I am again, in the midst of what in my mind is one last attempt to get to a weight better fitting my height and body style. I am 5′ 11” by the way, and have some muscle. So my ideal weight would be to simply get under 200 pounds, and use that 200 pound threshold as the marker for me to kick it back into gear before I end up where I have been for 35 years, somewhere in the realm of 250 pounds, usually more.

It wasn’t always like this. When I was young I was an elite athlete. At 13 I was the overall national gold medal winner in a Jaycee sponsored Junior Olympics. I competed it what amounted to a pentathlon, and I won the local event, the state-wide event, and then the national competition. In 8th grade I had the longest long jump in the state of New Jersey that year (18′ 4 3/4”) and I started on our school basketball team. I was even able to dunk a volleyball with some authority at that age, my hands were just too small to palm a basketball. I scaled things back in high school and just played baseball and soccer where I had a Division 1 arm, glove and speed in baseball, and I had over 40 letters from various college coaches to play soccer at their schools. With grades not what they needed to be, I went into the Army for a couple of years during which time I boxed and won a Brigade Smoker (I have no idea why they called it a Smoker), and then played baseball on the Fort Carson baseball team.

When I returned home at the age of 20, I stopped running, and playing, and I paid very little attention to what I ate. Where my boxing weight was 168, I was 215 within a year or so of leaving the Army. At 27 I found myself at 237 pounds and that was the first time, of many, I decided to lose weight and stay in shape. I ate once a day, a hoagie from Pizza Di Roma in Atlantic City near where I worked. I’d eat half the sandwich at the beginning of my shift, half at the end. And then I walked the beach with my dog, on the beach sand, 3-5 miles a day. In 39 days I went from 237 lbs to 175 lbs. Within a year I was 215 again. I moved to Kentucky a year later at 215 pounds, and by the next year I was up into the 240s. Since moving to Kentucky, I have been as high as 276, and as low as 207. It was, at 276 pounds, when I started, what I hope to be, the final chapter in this long and frustrating story.

Early last summer I went to a naturopath and she ordered a blood test to check all of my levels. Many vitamins and minerals were low, some depleted altogether, and other markers were heading in a bad direction. My AIC was 6.1, my fasting sugar levels were pre-diabetic, I was developing neuropathy in my feet, my testosterone was low and so was my energy and strength levels, and there were other issues. My weight was causing extremely loud snoring that caused me to wake up 4-5 times a night, which meant I wasn’t getting the sleep I needed to function. I was getting constant headaches from lack of solid sleep, which, once I finally stopped being stubborn and took a sleep test, showed extremely bad sleep apnea. I had become so sleep deprived, that I was having memory issues and mood swings, and to top it off, I found myself on the highest level of one of the stronger blood pressure medicines out there. This was not a direction that points to a long and healthy life.

So, I’ve decided to try, one last time, to get the weight off and keep it off. I’m “On the Weight Down… Again!” But this time, I’m not trying to take it off fast, that never works, never. I am simply being smart. No simple carbohydrates, like cake or candy, or a soda. Perhaps when I get where I am going, I can allow myself a slice of cake one day, and then get back into the routine of eating smart, exercising, and making the best choices I can regarding my body. Our life, and our bodies, are a gift from God. Both should be treated with the care one should give such a special gift.

Today is July 4th, 2024 and I weigh 248.7 pounds. I am down well over 20 pounds in the last few months with about 50 pounds to go. Follow along with me and keep me accountable, let’s keep each other accountable. I will create a new post in the Health and Wellness section of this site on Mondays. I’ll update my weight, share what I accomplished last week, and what I have planned for the coming week. I’m on the weight down, again. Care to join me?