I've dropped some more!!

Well, I've managed to lose another 13 lbs.  I wish I could say it was easy, but you all would know that i was fibbing.  These days, nonfat vanilla yogurt, granola and sugar free jello have become very good friends of mine....lol 

Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes and encouragement in response to my introduction post.

I have been extremely busy at work the past two weeks and haven't had much time to be online.  I will post again in a couple of days......hopefully with some more good news!

BigMikeRN

Introduction

I guess I should introduce myself.  My name is Mike.  I am a Registered Nurse.  I have been married for 23 1/2 years to a wonderful girl named Jacque.  We have 3 children:  Heather (23), Michael Jr (21), and Evon (19).

I have fought with my weight for a very long time.  A lot of it is genetics (my dad is a big guy) and a lot more of it is lifestyle.  In my late 20's and early 30's, I dealt with my weight by body building.  I was a lean and muscular 150 lbs, but I did not feel well at all.  Unfortunately, the things that you do to your body to get it that way are not good for you and often illegal (I think that you know what I mean).  Family and work requirements finally took over as priorities in my life and the weight started to pile on.  I grew from a lean and mean 150 lbs to an impossible 290 lbs. 

I half-heartedly dieted for about 3 years.  I would lose 5 lbs only to gain 10 lbs back.  It was very discouraging.   It began to be impossible for me to bend over to tie my shoes or cut my toe nails, my Insulin demands tripled (I have been Type 1 since my early 20's) and I began sleeping with a CPAP machine.  This went on for way longer than it should have.  Part of my job as an RN in Intensive Care is to teach diet restrictions to new diabetics and heart attack patients.  I'm sure that having a fat guy tell you how to diet looked real good (Ha!).

About 2 months ago, I had a real eye opener.  Jacque and I were shopping for some new clothes and I discovered that the XXL shirts no longer fit and I freaked out.  Jacque is a lean 115 lbs and here I was, a blimp with feet.  I started to diet in ernest.  It took me about 6 weeks to go from 290 to 278.  Not bad, but not fast enough.  I started thinking about other options like Gastric Bypass surgery.  I have seen a lot of patients do well, but the ones who do poorly and get admitted to ICU where I work made me decide against it.  I was out of ideas and went to see my doctor.  He prescribed Phentermine for me, and 11 days later, I have lost an incredible 11 lbs more.  That's 23 lbs gone!!!  I am so excited!!!

I believe that this is truely a journey that will help me find the guy I used to be.  More to come.......................