I found this article on bodybuilding.com/bodyspace and found it to be inspiring. He first got informed because the more information you have the more options you have. Pushed through the initial discomfort . Made a promise to himself and his family. Set goals and personal challenges to keep him motivated.
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| AGE 45 HEIGHT 6'1" WEIGHT 297 lbs BODY FAT 38% | AGE 47 HEIGHT 6'1" WEIGHT 196 lbs BODY FAT 17.5% |
Why I Decided To Transform
My journey started over 20 months ago after a routine visit to the doctor's office for a checkup. I had always been healthy and while I had put on weight through the years, I didn't feel bad at all. I thought, "He's going to tell me I need to lose weight I bet, but everything else is going to be fine."
I had never been sick before, never been hospitalized, so I didn't expect anything out of the ordinary during this visit. I was wrong this time. What I was told would change my life forever.
I was told I was a Type II diabetic. This was the same disease that my mother passed away from in 1989. I watched her deteriorate over a 20-year span starting around the age of 45 thru when she passed away at the young age of 65 after suffering miserably from this disease for years. And here I was, sitting in my doctor's office being told I'm diabetic. Ironically, I was 45 years old. History was repeating itself.
In addition to this life-changing news, I just simply did not feel good about myself mentally. I hated any pictures taken of me. I was embarrassed by what I looked like and just didn't want to face myself. My weight was ruling my thinking and taking over my life in more ways than I could ever realize.
Then there were just the physical demands of life. If I went anywhere with the family, I couldn't walk or stand for too long. I would have to sit and rest because my back and my feet just hurt. I had developed back, leg, heel, and just about any other pain you could imagine when I was on my feet too long. On a family vacation in 2011, I sat alone while my family stood in lines themselves because standing for too long hurt me.
Mentally, I was starting to slip into a deep, deep depression because of all of this. I knew the time was NOW to change. I was at a fork in the road and I was either going to be get better or succumb to all of this.
I decided to fight. Today, I no longer have back, leg, or heel pain. I can walk and stand for as long as I wish and I'm starting to feel much better mentally. My self-image has improved a lot and I no longer mind photos being taken of me.
How I Accomplished My Goals
I started to research diabetes to better understand this disease and what I could do to help myself. I didn't want to die. I didn't want my quality of life to deteriorate either. I found numerous websites of sports figures, and even celebrities, that suffered with the disease and anxiously read as many stories as I could find. These stories gave me encouragement and inspiration. This didn't need to be a death sentence I learned.
There was something I could do to control my diabetes and possibly even reverse it. If there was a silver lining in this news, it was that THIS disease may be reversible with a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition.
Then I started to research nutrition, workouts, and fitness. This is not a "suck-up" line here, but I found Bodybuilding.com had a wealth of information all in one website. There were nutrition and workout tips, workout plans, a forum, supplement reviews, and so much more. I also used social networking to connect with people in the fitness industry that had similar stories to mine.
These stories motivated me, inspired me, and helped educate me. Their daily inspirational and motivational posts helped drive me through a tough day when I didn't feel like going to the gym. And of course I had those. I was sore in the beginning. I wanted to quit. It didn't feel like I was getting anywhere.
But then there was the promise. I made a promise to myself and to my family that I would do whatever I could to get healthy. I was going to change my life. I was going to try ANYTHING and EVERYTHING if I had to! And I was going to win!
But to accomplish this goal, I needed to start believing I could do it. I needed to believe in myself. I set out to just lose five pounds. No more. When I accomplished that, it encouraged me to keep going. I lost weight in no more than five pound intervals, never looking at the total 100 pounds I needed to lose.
With each five pounds, my confidence grew. Eventually, I was hooked and competing with myself and family members for the next five pounds. It was a challenge, and I LOVE challenges.
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