Did ya eat everything while I was gone??? From Dave

   Did You Eat Everything While I Was Gone?

Yes I did!, the fact is I've been eating everything in my path for 20 years now...
I was not always like this, I use to be quite athletic. I played street hockey with my best friend Jeff everyday after school for hours and hours. On weekends I'd play any sport I could find. I would play hockey, football, soccer, and  basketball.  You name it I'd play it. I was active, skinny and in really good shape. So then how did this trim 198 pound athletic specimen turn into a 380 pound lazy, unhealthy 47 year old man?

Time was ticking away and with each tick of the clock I started getting lazier and lazier. I did not plan it but life just happened to me. I got married and started working for a living. I no longer had time for all the exercise I was accustomed to. I had places to be and things to do and food to eat. Believe you me I ate it all. I grew up in a house where pasta was king, every Monday night was spaghetti night.  Tuesday night we had potato salad. I'm talking huge heaping never ending bowls of potato salad and did I mention the spaghetti?

My family got together and we always ate a lot of food.  Now I know that I was always eating the wrong foods, but it did not matter because I was always playing sports and exercising it right back off. As I mentioned I got married and there was things to do and places to be. This went on and on until one day I noticed that everybody was calling me "Big Dave".  I thought It was referring to my muscular body.  It was a reference to my body and it's enormous size. I was tipping the scale at 380 and there was no place to go but up.

My wife Kathleen and I went to buy a scale one day and we could not find one that could handle my weight! You see many of them stop at 300 pounds. The old joke about the man who stand on the scale only to hear it say, "One at a time please" was my reality. I was FAT, FAT, FAT!!! My wife and I completely fooled ourselves by saying things like..."Your just big boned!"  I'll say, my bones weighed in at 380 pounds.

 Finally it hit me, man I was really, really fat! I noticed that when I went to the amusement parks with my family that I could not keep up with them. In fact, I often had to find a place to take a nap. I was always sweating A LOT!!! I had rivers of sweat coming off my forehead. I felt disgusting and I looked that way to.  I was huffing and puffing all the time. I was always hearing comments from skinny people like "what are you huffing and puffing about?"  For all us fat people out there I'd just like to say "AWE, SHUT UP!!!!

I became very ashamed of my appearance. I have friends that have a beautiful pool and the offer to let me swim in it all the time. There is no way I'm taking my shirt off and displaying my fatness for all to see. I know what I look like.  I check it out all the time in the mirror and it makes me sick.

 I hated going shopping! It was always the same old thing, "we don't carry that size"  AWE, SHUT UP!!! My doctor ( a real skinny guy) warned me "your headed for diabetes, increased risk of stroke and a whole lot of other bad things if you don't get your weight under control NOW!!!"  I had other symptoms of being overweight to

1. Lack of sleep - could it be the 10-20 cans of pop I drank each and everyday?
2. Soreness - Could it be from lugging around 380 pounds all day long?
3. Stomach problems - DAH, I ate everything and anything in sight.
4. Fitting into chairs - I often got and still do get stuck in lawn chairs because they were designed for average weight people.
5. Trouble getting up from any sitting position- It's tough to get 380 pounds any place gracefully.
6. Poor self image - Of course, I was fat and on my way to getting still fatter.

I remember a few years ago when I took my family to a local amusement park. Outside the ride they had tester seats to make sure that you could fit into the ride. My kids really wanted me to go on that roller coaster with them and I really wanted to go. I tried to fit into that seat with all I had. NO WAY was I going to fit! I was crushed. That was the first time I really felt hurt inside about my weight. I let my kids down all because their Dad could not stop eating all the time. I missed out on a great memory because of my fat body.  It still hurts today as I'm thinking about it right now. When I get into shape me and that coaster are going to have at it again!!!!

I'm here to tell you I'm tired of being fat.  I'm not overweight. I am not big boned.  I'm FAT. Thanks to Fawn I'm seeing incredible results already. She attacked our refrigerator and took out all the food that could hurt us.  "The Grinch left more than she did" she even took the last can of Who Hash (too much sugar she said). No more white bread (I love white bread ), mayonnaise, candy, pancake syrup - SWEET JESUS, NO MORE SODA POP !!!!!!! She has transformed my life all for the good.

I'm losing weight I'm down to 309... I have not been that low in many, many years. It's happening fast. I have not had a bad thing to eat in two weeks, not even one can of pop!!! I'm already sleeping through the night ( I use to toss and turn all night - wired from all the sugar). Initially my new diet made me physically sick, Fawn said it's from withdrawal. No more sugar, no more white bread, no more eating all the wrong foods all the time. NOW, I'm feeling great. My energy is rising I'm not tired all the time. My self image is going up as well. My stomach no longer hurts all the time and it's SHRINKING....

So, ya wanna be skinny again huh?  My advice is to ask for help and do what they say. Soon you'll find yourself accomplishing things you never thought possible. It's time to claim back you body. Food will longer control you life.  I use to get all excited when we'd go out and run errands because I knew we'd go out to eat. Your life is sad when food is the highlight. We need to eat to live not live to eat. Well, don't just sit there getting fatter my friend. Get ready, ready to reclaim your life. See ya on the skinny side of life.

Dave