I was not what you would call a "jock" in high school, but I did wrestle and was physically active most of the year. In fact, during my last season of wrestling I actually had to gain weight to compete in a higher weight class.
In the Fall of my senior year in high school, I had a 3-day stay in the hospital following what were later summed up by the neurologist as "funky spells." I had brief memory lapses, and once I realized what was going on, suffered what I can only describe now as an anxiety attack. My blood pressure (as a 17-year old athlete) was somewhere in the neighborhood of 230/160. Doctors at the hospital performed every test imaginable, and their working diagnosis was epilepsy. Let the treatments begin...
I was placed on anti-seizure medication which caused a rapid weight gain. Between September 1992 and January 1993, I went from 160 pounds to 185 pounds. Once a follow-up doctor's visit showed no further sign of seizure activity, I was taken off of the medication but my metabolism was shot and I continued slowly gaining weight until I went off to college at around 195 pounds.
My "freshmen 15" was more like the "first quarter 15" as my physical activity dropped to almost nothing. Once I got further into my college career and money became harder to come by, I began eating less...but still poorly. I hovered around the 210 mark throughout college until a tough break-up led me to eat my weight in grief, taking me up to about 220.
In 1998, I interned in Washington, DC where I had little choice but to walk to most of my destinations. At minimum I had a 3/4 mile walk to a subway station in the morning, and I was usually running late, so it was a fast-paced 3/4 mile. This, tied with the fact that I had NO extra money, allowed me to lose 10 pounds during my 10 or so weeks in DC.
A couple of years later, my wife and I were married, we were back in DC, and with two incomes, living rather well, or should I say, eating rather well. My wife is a tremendous cook. One of the things she and I have always been bad about, however, is our almost religious aversion to leftovers. It's not that we wouldn't eat leftovers, it's the fact that there are rarely any leftovers to be saved. Portion size has become a big issue for me.
The other thing that has gotten me over the last 10 years is convenience eating. A late day at work? Let's stop at the steakhouse for dinner. Company in from out-of-town? Let's go the the seafood restaurant. Don't feel like cooking today? Taco Bell is only 5 miles up the road.
When we later moved to Milwaukee, it became even worse. The three food groups in Wisconsin are beer, butter and cheese. Ever had a butterburger? It's the most amazing thing ever, but it is literally a 1/4 hamburger fried in butter. At one restaurant, it was actually served with a pat of butter still on top of the beef patty. It was in Wisconsin where I crossed the 250 pound mark for the first time.
So now here I sit at almost 275 pounds, having hit 285 earlier in the summer after a food-filled vacation. I see how I got here, and now I'm taking my first steps to get back to a healthier me...
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