Saturday, April 2, 2011

Losing Weight - The good and bad

My wedding ring
For years I had not been able to wear my wedding ring. It had become too small for my finger. No, my finger was too big for it. A little over half way through my weight loss journey I remembered the ring. I dug it out of my drawer and cautiously slipped it on. With joy I could again wear it.

One of the first things that changed when I started eating less was my heartburn was gone. Previously I could not sleep at night unless I took an antacid.

Another change was snoring. My wife tells me I don't snore anymore. The kids say they sometimes hear it but for sure the bone-shaking noise is gone.

A bad thing about losing weight is that I have had to buy new clothes - something I don't like to do. My waist went from 36 to 30. I kept my belts but have had to make new holes and cut off the ends. My beloved jean jacket no longer fits.

I have noticed that having lost so much insulation, I am much colder. A good thing is that I don't sweat like I did before. Even in the winter, the smallest exertion at work would lead to profuse sweating. In the summer my shirt was soaked most of the day. My forehead was like a waterfall that I had to continually mop.

My energy level has increased. I had forgotten what it was like not to feel tired and weary. Even walking up the stairs from the basement left me winded. Now I can beat my kids in a foot race. That is small compared to having more energy at work. It hasn’t helped my pitching though. Recently my attempt to pitch a ball to Andy was met with the comment, “Let me guess, this wasn’t your favorite sport in school.”

My life has changed. Or maybe it has returned to what I once had. The slow increase of pounds through the years robbed me of many things. Such slow change is hardly noticeable - that's the problem. I learned to live with many bad things, not realizing they didn't have to be that way.

Having lost 69 pounds now, I am amazed and shocked at what I had grown to tolerate. Thankfully I hadn't yet experienced major health problems caused by excess weight but I am sure that was right around the corner.

God gets the glory in all of this. I know that all of the determination I possess was not enough to sustain me. It was grace and power from God that has kept me going for eight months and that will enable me to continue the rest of my life with the good changes that have happened in my life.

Well that's my story so far.

Here is a link to other posts about my weight loss journey. 

Philip

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