First of all, I was offered a job last week. And, I took it. I will now be the North TX and OK rep for Medpro (a non-invasive cardiology device company). I have tried to break into medical sales for several years now and starting on March 15th, I'll get my chance.
My brother actually found the opportunity for me. An ex-colleague of his is now a Sales Manager for MedPro and, my brother, must have been a good reference, because I hardly had to interview for the position to get it. I am not going to question it, I'm just going to praise the Lord for it. I am so relieved to be out of the "Hi-Tech" world and into something that I hope to enjoy more. As I mentioned above, I start March 15th. I have almost 5 weeks to sit around before I begin. I'd like to find a job and make a little money before that, but I'm not sure what I'll be able to find. Also, as I sit here, I see a ton of house projects that need to be done, but with no paycheck, it makes it a bit difficult to actually do any of them.
OK, enough of that - let's get to the "Meat" of my blog. I'm fat! Yes, indeed. "Chubby" is now an understatement. Let me put it this way - if I was a 10 year old boy, my Mom would now be unable to buy "Husky" jeans. She'd now had to move to a specialty shop for "big" boys. For those who used to know me, it is probably more of a shock because, once upon a time, I was much more athletic looking (i.e. my chest was bigger than my waist). Now, I have "Furniture Disease", which means my chest has fallen to my drawers. I heard someone say to me, "Well Tim, at least I know you're on the level, because the bubbles in the middle". Good times!
My kids have always given me a hard time about my "chub". My daughter really love to poke my belly. Man, that's a lot of fun for her, I'm sure. Actually, I guess I could consider myself "Svelt". How? OK. Here's my reasoning: Svelt sounds like a Swedish word for "Swelt". Swelt sounds like a form of the word "Swolt", which is slang for "Swollen", hence Svelt.
I've been on diets off and on for the past 10 years or so. I've tried Adkins, Body for Life, Gluten Free... They all work fine for me - for about 8 weeks. I lose a ton of weight and start feeling good. Then, BAM! I start cheating a little and the next thing I know, I'm the old Tim (plus 5). This past year has been even tougher on me. Although I worked out regularly, I found out just how much I liked Popeye's Fried Chicken. They have this really neat "Tuesday Special" where you can get 2 pieces of dark meat (leg, thigh) for .89 cents. I thought that I was in heaven. I would order 2 "Tuesday Specials" for under $2. But, as my body "grew" accustomed to that, I decided to move it up a notch (no pun intended) and started getting 3 "specials". My brain was convinced that there was no problem as long as I'm working out and running 3-4 times a week. Well, 3 specials turned into 4 and things really started going down hill. My chicken addiction was born. They started running daily specials like "8 pieces for 5.99 or 10 pieces for 6.99. I was now able to feast on "Cajun Yard Bird" almost every day of the week. Awesome! I was out of control. My once, drug addiction, had a new face, and it was now spicy and fried. Anyway, I could go on about my love affair with chicken for a long time, but I want to get down the road a bit with my story.
I finally got another job that didn't allow Popeye's visits because I worked from home and there were no "chicken" outlets close to the house. And, I wouldn't be able to pull it off as well, because Cindy was home all day and I couldn't have hidden the Louisiana Hot Sauce breath from her. Anyway, my Chicken was just replaced with more bad foods. Hey, a junkie can find a fix anywhere. It ain't that hard when you want it bad enough (know what I'm sayin'?).
Just to give you an idea about my "figure" - I am 6 feet tall and have hovered between 230 and 240 pounds for the past several years. I could gain and lose 10 pounds over the course of a weekend depending on what I was eating. However, when I was laid off in December, I went into high gear looking for a job. I spent 8-10 hours a day at the computer looking for work. I know, I know, everyone says that you have to stay active and mix a little workout into the mix. And, I did (a little). But, I became a little depressed and lethargic about exercise and obsessed on finding work. I got on the scales about mid-January and had reached an all time high of 242 pounds. I started to feel horrible. I could feel my heart actually having to work to push the blood through my body. My arthritis was killing me. Not a joint in my body felt good. My stomach always hurt. I developed heartburn and my snoring had become unbearable (OK ladies, settle down. There's enough of me to go around). Pretty sexy picture, huh! That is only the tip of the iceberg regarding all of my "fat induced" aches and pains, but I'll spare you.
Well, since being offered the job on Friday, something snapped (besides the button on my pants). I realized that I was going to start a new job traveling around and doing a lot more physical activity by simply going in and out of hospitals and lugging around equipment. If I was going to do this job without having to take a nap every day, I had to do something. Also, I was eating my way out of all of the remaining clothes that I had and couldn't afford to buy new ones for the job. Although, this is a motivator, I started laying in bed at night thinking how my kids viewed me and how my wife sees me. I couldn't imagine her ever wanting to walk in on me naked (unless it was just morbid curiosity). I realized that I can't get fatter and not be able to play sports with Nik and "Monster and Tickle" with Scout. So, I did what all middle aged, proud, virile, good-looking guys do - I joined Weightwatchers! That's right! I went down to the nearest location and got my "point counter" book and started the Weightwatchers program.
Yesterday (February 9), I walked in paid my monthly dues and got on the scales. Holy Crap! I can only dream that I still weighed 242 pounds. I now tipped the scales at 252.4 pounds. That's over 1/8 of a ton. I looked at the little booklet and saw my starting point and almost passed out.
How could I have ever done this to myself or my family. Because I have a severe eating addiction - that's how! And, yesterday was my first day in overcoming that addiction.
Starting today, I will now blog about my progress (either good or bad) in my attempt to become a much smaller version of myself. I'm not sure if anyone will ever see this, other than my wife, but I hope that blogging about it will act as therapy as I attempt to slay this dragon.
Man, this blogging is making me hungry!
3 comments:
Good for you Tim! It's hard to make that move & I look forward to reading about your trials & tribulations.
By the way... That last line cracks me up! There was an episode of The Simpsons where Homer was "computer hacking" and he says "whew! all this computer hacking is making me thirsty!" Not exactly the same, but it popped in my head anyhow.
I laughed all the way through this! We will join you in the quest for good health and smaller slacks. :)
Hey! Looky here! Your chicken crack days are over. You and me are countin' our points 'til we get into our jeans from 2 years ago. Of course, we may look a bit out of style, me at least, but we'll be wearing smaller britches!!!!
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