Like many people my age, my body has gone through many sizes over the years. As a teen and young adult, I weighed between 115 and 125 pounds. I was quite active and was able to eat just about anything I wanted. I almost had to so I could keep on weight. According to stories I heard long after this time, I was apparently quite the looker. Girls wanted me but never told me!
As I progressed through my twenties, I grew to about 240. I continued to eat what I wanted but wasn't nearly as active as I once was. By my mid-thirties, I knew I needed to do something about that. I became active once again and lost about 30 pounds without changing my diet. I took up the game of disc golf through a local league so I could be held accountable with my health. I got so into the sport I actually played competitively as an amateur for the Pro Disc Golf Association. I felt great and started to look great again.
Alas, like most good things, this came to an end. As my IT career progressed, my activity came to a halt and my diet got worse. So naturally I gained weight again and eventually went up to 260. You would rarely find me without Mountain Dew and candy or a cupcake. By July 2017, I was known for being large and in charge!
Heart Scare
4 months later, after being the CIO of a company for nearly 11 months, the stress was getting to me. I feel I was pretty good at the job. However, there was a lot more to it than I would have ever expected for a small company. My wheelhouse was always software. But I was in charge of all technology. If it had a button or was powered by electricity in general, it was my responsibility.
It probably would not have been so bad, but I tend to give off the impression I know what I'm doing. But in all seriousness, it would have been a good idea to hire a few more managers under me to handle the separation of concerns in the different technology stacks involved in keeping the company running.
Then one fateful night, the system that supported all of the equipment we provided our clients crashed. Although I wasn't the one doing the recovery work on the system, I felt the pressure of the thought that all of our clients were offline. I experienced chest pain; which became unbearable and I was taken to the ER with what we thought was a heart attack. Fortunately, it turned out to be the anxiety straining my heart and not an actual heart attack. This did, however, uncover a high blood pressure issue.
Weight Loss 2.0
I had not been to a doctor in years. Due to my high blood pressure, I definitely needed to get one of those. I found a great doctor who was able to find the right medication to start getting my blood pressure in check. The next task she set me on was getting my weight under control. She recommended a diet that was geared toward my blood pressure problem. But it also encouraged better eating habits that would begin my journey to better weight control.
As I began the new diet, I looked into other eating habits I could work on. Keto was an attractive option, but came with a series of warnings. The biggest of these warnings was the potential risks of high fat content in the food I would be eating. So I decided that using the lower carb options was the part of the Keto diet I would focus on. I made sure to eat plenty of protein. But I did not focus so much on making sure there was any extra fat.
By March 2018, 4 months after my heart scare, I had lost about 70 pounds. I was amazed at how I felt and how much energy I had. And needless to say, I was going to need to go shopping for new clothes. Most everyone in my life was telling me how great I looked. This gave me a great deal of confidence I had never had. That actually led me to resign from the position as the aforementioned CIO roughly a month later, as I realized what the stress was doing to me. So this was a huge turning point in my life.
So "2020"
Although not directly related to my health, fast forward two years. A year so crazy that it replaces the word crazy. During the initial stay-at-home order for our state, my wife challenged her Facebook friends to shave their heads. She herself did not want to participate. But she was really hoping someone would. After all, since we were all staying at home that was a good time to try something so "2020." I had wanted to give that look a try most of my adult life. So it didn't take any convincing to get me to do it. I just needed to take the time to get my head shaved.
My wife did the original shaving of my head. It was very much a success. I received many compliments on the experiment and it seemed to make my wife happy. For myself, I really loved the new look and don't mind the maintenance of shaving every few days. I sent a selfie of my new 'do to my family. My brother-in-law had actually shaved his head that same week and sent a follow up picture. My brother has been bald for years and sent a picture as well. So my dad sent everyone a quite obviously doctored picture of himself shaved. It was hilarious!
The difference in how I looked pre-covid and post-covid is an honorable mention in this article.
Before and After
It is often fun to look back and compare ourselves to how we looked and felt as time goes by. It is especially encouraging when the changes of time are good to us; which isn't always the case. For me, when I wasn't feeling so well, I took a look at times when I was healthier and decided to make a change for the better. When I'm feeling great, I look back to when I didn't feel great and am thankful how far I have come. All of the encouragement I have received from loved ones, and hopefully writing this, will help me stay focused on being healthy and always thankful.