My struggle with weight

[James]

Growing up was interesting. My parents pretty much kept healthy food around the house and not to much junk. 

During some of my summers I would spend them with my grandparents and they would feed me all the soda and junk food I wanted. 

I remember one year coming back and my Dad let me know I was getting a little chunky. I did not think much of it being a young a teenager.

As I got older my jobs became more physical and weight was not a concern. By time I got to FedEx it was like being paid to workout every night. It was great. 

I had to leave that job though and ended up moving out of my parents house. 

Living with my girlfriend was a lot different then living at home. I was able to buy any kind of food and soda I wanted. 

When I turned 21 I added beer to my routine of Mt Dew as my beverages of choice. 

I quickly climbed to around 300lbs.

By now my first child was a year or so old. I had to fix what was going on. 

I remember waking up early and doing the P90 not the X that was a bit to hardcore but just the normal one with my wife. Stuck with that for awhile and got myself down to 220lbs. 

Since I hit my goal I naturally sank back into my old habits. Consuming the same foods and went back to my sedentary lifestyle. 

I ended up climbing up to 260lbs again and this time I decided I was going to change my diet and exercise. I went on some crazy all protein eating plan. I remember I ate so many cans of tuna my finger tips were starting to go numb so I had to work in some salmon. 

It was just fish and spinach. I was always hungry. Around this time I had gotten my first fit bit so decided to start walking. I quickly learned how much I loved seeing the data and how that was able to keep me motivated. I made it all the way down to 190lbs. Once again my diet reverted back to the old ways and I became less active. 

Well we all know what happens when we stop consistently doing something. Within another year or so I was back up to around 230lbs. 

I was on a flight to a convention reading a book about Ketosis. The theory sounded great and the food seemed like something I could enjoy for the long term. I really hated working out too so this was right up my ally. 

Once again by sticking to the eating plan I was able to lose weight. I got down to 210lbs and added walking back into my routine. I made it all the way down to 185lb. 

Now this time I stuck with the eating plan but stopped walking again and my weight quickly bounced back up to around 215lbs. 

Then I was browsing the internet one day and saw a Peloton ad. I ordered the bike. My wife was not to happy about me bringing in a piece of equipment that I was not going to use long term. This time I decided I was going to prove her wrong. I was going to change the way I lived. 

While still eating a ketosis lifestyle I started cycling. I quickly learned about power on the bike and fell in love with the data. I was able to easily track and see performance gains which turned out to be more motivating then weight loss. I made it all the way down to 190lbs and then something happened... I stopped riding the bike for awhile. I do not know what happened this time that caused me to stop. Looking at the data it seems like I just stopped.

I felt sorry for myself for a few months and decided to start riding again as I quickly climbed back to 210lbs. I took a new fitness test when I hoped back on the bike and was able to see on a graph how far my fitness had fallen. My mind finally clicked that if I was going to live the healthy lifestyle I wanted to live consistency was going to be the key. 

I have been consistently riding ever since. I tell myself I am never going to stop. Sure every now and then I have a bad week and only get 3 workouts instead of 5 but I never let myself stop. This is my life now. 

I have been at this for a little more then a year now consistently. I no longer eat a ketosis lifestyle but I eat what I consider a well balanced diet. Meat, veggies, fruit and try to stay away from as many packaged foods as possible other then the protein bars. 

The last fitness test I took my results were not better then the test before that. I thought for sure that was going to be the end for me but instead it motivated me to keep going. I want that score to improve. 

I currently weigh in at around 180lbs and a little under 20% body fat. I am getting ready to pick myself up a new gravel bike and want to start hitting some long rides outside. I am trying to add jogging into my routine slowly but have started with a 2 mile walk after my cycling sessions. I hope to bring up that intensity soon and get a 2 mile jog in after my rides. 

I have learned that it really all boils down to just taking consistent action towards where we want to be every day to get to where we want to go. 

This is me now January.

I will continue cycling and slowly adding on to my routine. This new life I have decided to live is way more rewarding then my lazy lifestyle. I get grumpy now when I do not get a work out in. Its great!

Feel free to connect with me one the fitness platforms:

Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/68091450
FitBit: https://www.fitbit.com/user/72998V
Peloton: jambothompson

Here is a record of my fitness tests.

Have you had a similar struggle? We would love to hear how you coped with it and broke through the other side. 

[Stacey]

That is amazing! Congrats on all your wonderful progress. You should be very happy and proud of yourself. I struggled with my weight as a teen but it was a bit different. I was not vastly overweight. I was still considered a healthy weight but believed I was much larger than I was. I learned to love my body as I got older. My brother on the other hand had a similar story to yours. He didn't lose the weight until after his first kid was born and he realized it is important to get in shape and stay there for the sake of seeing his kid grow up.

[Sophia]

HUGE CONGRATS! Seriously! I grew up not having an issue with my weight. I was never thin but I was never considered "fat" or overweight either. I ended up gaining about 50 pounds last year when I lost my job and have been struggling to lose it since. It is horrible. I am happy you found something that worked for you. I hope to do the same. We all deserve to be happy and healthy! 

[James]

Thanks ladies! It has been a lot of hard work but brought on a new addiction for myself of excising extremely consistently. Things I used to think impossible are suddenly starting to become possible. I never thought I would be able to run a marathon but I am training myself up to being able to run long distances. I never liked running and now I look forward to going on a run. It's strange how over time all we have to do is change around our priorities. 

At this point its becoming a challenge of how far can my body go and that is a great question to ponder. 

My 4 year old daughter is in gymnastics and she has finally mastered the straddle press. I must say I try every day to put my hands between my legs and lift myself up and my body is not there yet. I am sure if I continue to work with my 4 year old I will figure it out :). I really just want to be as active as my kids need me to be. Whatever there goals are I want to be there to support, encourage, and if they let me I want to participate. 

It started with the primary goal of losing weight and over time that just keeps morphing.