The Beginning
Every success has a story behind it, and, since I would consider losing 85lbs and 35.54 inches off my body in six months a success, I want to tell the story.
The Decade Previous
I won’t bore you with the details, just the parts that matter. I have been consistently overweight since college, a failed marriage, divorce, debt, emotional eating, dieting, working out and regaining the weight plus some more weight are all parts of the overall picture that matter. I’m sure that at least some of you can relate to some of those stresses.
Expansion
From all of those stressors, plus others, comes the period of life I like to call the “Expansion”. Seven years of gaining 10lbs a year on top of already being 30lbs overweight. That put me squarely in the morbidly obese category. By August of 2010 I weighed 305 lbs. While I was in the expansion phase, I simultaneously entered another phase, “Depression”.
Depression
I don’t know about you, but I grew up thinking that depression was something that I would never have to deal with. In fact, I didn’t realize it was happening to me until I was in the middle of it. For those of you who wonder what depression looks like, I’ll tell you. No motivation, tired all the time, the hardest thing you do is put your feet on the floor in the morning, and, if you make it through the day without a nap, all you really want to do when you get home from work is go straight to bed. Of course, if you live alone, this might work, but with a wife, kids, a job, a life you actually want to live(but it seems as if your body is working against you) this type of behavior and attitude can only be tolerated( by you or your family) for so long. Enter “The Last Ditch Effort”.
Last Ditch Effort
After losing 20 lbs through strenuous effort and denial, I gave up and immediately gained 10 lbs. back. In February of this year, I was 295lbs. And angry. With myself, with food, with . . . You fill in the blank. I had heard about this weight loss program on the radio that sounded too good to be true, again. But this time, a. it was coming from someone I didn’t know, but trusted and b. I was ready to try anything. I called the clinic, went to their website and got some information and started doing my research/due diligence. It took me two weeks of reading and sifting through websites and information about the protocol to even begin to believe it might work for me. At this point I’ve got “ nothing to lose“. . .
Nothing to Lose
After going through website after website, I found one that I “trusted” and bought the HCG package. I considered it a birthday present to myself and if it didn’t work, I was only out a much smaller amount of money than I had spent on other stuff that didn’t work either. And I could still be angry.
I received the package in late Feb. and it took me two weeks to read, digest, and understand the instructions. Dr. Simeon’s Pounds and Inches would become my weight loss Bible. On March 2, 2011, I started my HCG journey to a new me.
Round 1
Saving the diet details for another post, I knew that with the amount of weight I had to lose and how the program worked, I would have to do three rounds. Each round, ideally, would show a loss of 30lbs. So I began the protocol, on my own. No support, no backup and no one or thing other than Dr. Simeon’s book, Pound and Inches, as my guide. I didn’t tell, friends, family, or co-workers. The co-workers would find out b/c of the small amount of food I was bringing to work, but I avoided the questions or kept my answers to a minimum, for the first round. I began taking the HCG and “loading” on March 2nd, and by Friday, had gained 3 lbs. I thought, “If this doesn’t work and I’ve gained three lbs. in two days and can’t lose it, I am going to be royally ticked off.” I lost way more than that over my first weekend. My confidence soared as I watched the weight drop while I wasn’t hungry, didn’t have cravings, and was finding myself less and less angry. I lost 28lbs in 21 days. I realize, for most people, that amount of weight loss would make them ecstatic. But I knew how far I had yet to go and that this was just the beginning. I wanted more and I was on my way. The next “weigh” station on my journey couldn‘t get here fast enough.
Round 2
Hoping to duplicate the success of Round 1, I began Round 2 in May. Only this time, I was very aware of how good the food tasted during the “loading” stage. As my weight began working it’s way out of the 270’s quickly and began moving through the 260’s and lower, my belief was growing as my waistline was shrinking. Pants, shirts and belts that had long been moved to the back of the closet started inching their way forward. I began to try on clothes that were to small when I began, were just a little tight the next week, and then fit the following week. By the end of Round 2, I would weigh less than when I had gotten married seven years earlier. In 5 short months I had eliminated 7 years of fat. I was a little over halfway to my destination.
Round 3
I couldn’t wait for August 8, 2011. I would begin the last round of a process that I now firmly believed in and from that time until September 15th, I would lose another 30lbs. Once I weighed under 225lbs., the changes that came were about much more than the weight. A more optimistic outlook, along with a renewed energy and ambition, became the norm, as opposed to a rare sighting. On September 17, 2011, I reached my freshman college weight of 210lbs. I had lost 85lbs. and almost 3 ft. of space off of my body. The change was just beginning.
