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Acknowledgements

When I started this wellness journey back in June of 2021, one of the givens that I established was that I was not going to pay for any programs, plans, or coaching. I am working under the premise that I got myself into this mess, and I can get myself out of it. I have mostly stuck with this edict through the last year with very good results. Now, that is not to say that I have not taken advantage of many of the free resources available on the Internet, on YouTube, or through social media. In fact, I have spent a lot of my time reading websites and watching videos. They have been very valuable and helped to educate me along my path. In this post, I would like to acknowledge some of the resources online that I have found most useful, in no particular order. The Body Project - This was basically the first YouTube channel that I began to watch and use exercise videos from. The day that I started, I used one of the cardio videos that incorporates many functional movements, all while stand
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The First 100 Pounds

Throughout the Winter of 2021-2022 I continued with my normal plan. Eating good quality whole foods, reducing sugar and refined carbohydrates, walking, cardio, and weight training are all a regular part of my weekly routine. Have there been times where I have not been very successful? Have I gained weight in some weeks? Certainly, and I am mod about it for a little while (just ask my wife), but eventually I just look past these little stumbles in the journey and continue to move forward and trust the process. Thanksgiving happens, Christmas happens, New Years Day happens, Easter happens, Thursday afternoon happens. It is not the end of the world and I can recover.   I am kind of a math and technology nerd and love data. Therefore I collect a lot of data to help inform me about my progress. I wear an Apple Watch daily to track my steps as well as my Cardio Fitness level, heart rate, Move calories, Exercise minutes, and Stand hours. I weigh myself every morning using my Wyze scale conne
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More Weight Please

  At the end of September, 2021 I had a follow up appointment with the ENT doctor from my surgery. He was happy with my healing thus far and informed me that I could start lifting heavier objects. This meant that I could start light weight training. I had some older dumbbells at home and ordered a bench from Amazon. After watching many YouTube videos and reading several articles online, I settled on a couple of plans that I liked from The Fit Father Project and Apple Fitness+. These were total body workouts that I incorporated 2-3 times per week. It included exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bent rows, bench press, shoulder press, and push ups. I started very light at first to get my strength up and make certain that I did not do any damage to my surgery area. Over time, I have gotten stronger and increased the weights I am using for these exercises. My weigh in on January 1, 2022 was 299 pounds (2nd 10%). That is the first time I have seen a number below 300 in quite some time.
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Surgery Time

  At the end of the first week of July, 2021, I got a phone call from the doctor’s office to ask if I was available for surgery the following Friday. Leading up to the surgery, I had several pre-surgery appointments with the surgeons and the anesthesiologist. There was a recurring theme in these conversations. Although my heart was in good condition and blood work seemed fine, they all had concerns about my weight and how that might affect me during surgery and in the recovery process. On July 16, 2021, I reported early in the morning for surgery. The surgery went great and they were able to remove all of the tumor. My normal eyesight returned immediately when I woke up that evening. The only remnant from the surgery was that I was still intubated. This was out of concern for me being able to breath on my own due to my weight. I was finally extubated the following day, but with several precautions taken. The next several days recovering in the hospital went well and I was released the
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Enough Is Enough

  My wife and I are both school teachers (I teach math and computer science at the high school and college levels, while my wife is an elementary school librarian) and school was out for the summer. It was June 17, 2021 (my 26th wedding anniversary) and my weight had grown to it’s highest point of 370 pounds. I woke up that morning and said “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!”. I was unable to do some of my hobbies or even drive because of my eye sight from the pituitary tumor, but I could walk and exercise. I put on my shoes and headed outside to walk up and down my street, which is about a third of a mile long. Over the next couple of weeks, I continued this routine and also added in some cardio from several YouTube videos at The Body Project channel. Eating habits needed to change as well. Along with daily exercise, I started logging what I eat in the MyFitnessPal app. My son had started doing this several months earlier to try to lose some weight as well. For years, I have been a huge (pun intend
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Who Am I

  As of June 2021, I am a 50-year-old father and husband. I have been married for almost 26 years and our two children are both in college. Over the years, we have enjoyed many outdoor activities together, such as camping/RVing, hiking, biking, canoeing/kayaking, and playing sports. As I have gotten older, I find myself being less and less active for some reason. I guess that I just don’t have the energy anymore. Even some of my more passive hobbies have become more difficult. While helping a friend build a model railroad recently, I found it difficult to get up off the ground after nailing wood together on the floor. Everyday tasks are requiring more effort than usual. Back in March of this year, I was diagnosed with a benign tumor on my pituitary gland. This started causing problems with my eyesight as the tumor was pressing against my optic nerves. As I would find out later, the tumor was also causing problems with my hormones, especially testosterone and thyroid. More on this lat
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