One year, 150 pounds.

You read that correctly. On November 1st, it was the one year anniversary for my weight loss journey. On November 1, 2016 I weighed in at 399.7 pounds; speed ahead to November 1, 2017, and I’m down 150 pounds at 249.5 pounds. My name is John, I work in IT, and have been overweight all of my life. My story…

Why?

Why go through this transformation you ask? This was accomplished due to a health scare (burst diverticula) and requiring a colostomy while my intestine healed post emergency surgery. This was an open procedure that required quite a scar due to my size up my abdomen. In order to have the colostomy reversed via laparoscopic surgery (thus avoid having to reopen the large scar and possibly make more), I found myself needing to lose weight. And so I set on my journey.

How?

Needless to say, it has been quite a year for my family not just myself. Our lifestyle has changed, cooking and eating habits have changed, downtime activities have changed and much more! Plenty has been written about the difficulties with habit changes when dieting and I can honestly say they are for the most part right on. You must change your habits, lifestyle, activities, mindset and tastes to some extent in order to be successful. There are no quick fixes regardless of what you read on the web or see on late night infomercials.

Although a difficult pressure to be under, I’m happy that I put my mind and body in a place where I consider myself “fit” and I did it without any surgery or quick fixes. Exercise, clean eating (and Weight Watchers) and the right mindset with my goal in mind is what drove me. It can be what drives you too. More information on my triumphs and failures can be found on the posts on this site so check back often!

The Future…

I’m happy to say that my weight loss journey is not over–I intend to keep losing.  It is not always an easy endeavor, but it is an important one that can be taken one step at a time. Above all things mentioned herein, a paramount factor to success is the support of family and friends. Many hugs and kisses to my beautiful wife Cathy, son Jason and even our dog Vino (he got a LOT of walks out of this!). I’d also like to thank my mother. She’s looking down on me from heaven, happy to see that I’m at a place that I know she always hoped I could be. Love you all!

So in short, yes you can do it, and remember…

fit: a state of mind, not just a physical attribute