Hammersmith

As you can tell I'm new to the forums and I'm glad to see there's a Clydesdale section

So here's my story, I'm 37 and up until 7 years ago I had been an avid rider, but I've always been a big guy. In grammar school I had been lusting after a bikes like GT Pro-Performers and Mongoose Experts but being that I was almost 6' tall in the 6th grade my father opted to get me a Ross Mt Washington instead and I've been hooked on mountain bikes ever since.

In my early 20's I was riding 3-4 times a week, working a construction job, and training martial arts 3 nights a week but I ate like crap and beer was legal so I hovered around 300lbs but still kept up with the smaller guys on trails. Finally at 24 I had enough and got serious about my diet and in 9 months dropped from 325 to 205 and was on top of the world until I wrecked a motorcycle and had to have my ACL replaced.

During my rehab I made some life changing decisions, went back to school on crutches and got an associates degree but I was keeping the weight down and had only put on 15 pounds or so....fast forward a dozen years, two kids, and a cushy IT job with a corner office and the story changes.....

About two months ago I passed a kidney stone, first and hopefully the last one! So of course I was at the doctor the next day and they put me on a scale - 388lbs! I was shocked I figured I had crept back up over 300 but the extra 88lbs blew me away and scared the hell out of me at the same time but the doctor didn't say anything about it while I was there, he just took blood and referred me to a urologist.

A week later they call me up and tell me that the blood tests are back and that the doctor wants to see me. Not surprisingly he tells me that my sugars are high and my liver is agitated - bottom line, lose some weight by August or he is going to recommend lap band surgery.

So I immediately hit the diet hard, cutting back to 1500-1800 calories a day, dusted off the weights at home, and now as of 3 weeks ago I'm back on the bike, something I missed a whole lot more than I had realized and now I find this forum and I'm glad to see I'm not the only big guy out there hammering through woods!

ill.clyde

Kudos man ... keep it up.

And welcome!

DTSCDS

So, first off, welcome aboard!

Second, good on ya for the changes!

Third <thread hijack> I would think long and hard, and get second opinions before I did the lap BAND. I went through the Gastric Bypass and my wife did the band in 07. I have had great success with the bypass, my wife's band was a complete fail.

My surgeon is one of the top guys in the country (lucky break finding him!) At the time he did my wife's band he was ambivalent about them. Now, after all that he has seen and learned, he does not offer them as an option any more. I know 5 people who have had the band and none of them has had any real success with it. My wife ultimately had to have her's taken out and revised to a bypass. (Slipped once and then her body kinda 'rejected' it. Happens about 25% of the time after an initial slip.)

The band is quick and easy, easily reversed and seems to be a cheaper option. But, I have no faith in the long term success of it. Of course since I am not a doctor (even though I do provide the occasional physical examination) you should not trust your health to some faceless internet hack. (Even though you will ultimately be trusting your health to some faceless insurance hack) </thread hijack>

Hammersmith

Having lost the weight once before I'm adamantly opposed to the surgery. I know some people that have had great results and others that have had horrible experiences and I can honestly say that in the last 10 years my attempts to lose the weight have been half hearted but that was before I had kids and they are my inspiration.

My boy is 3 1/2 years old and I want to make sure that when he's old enough to get the woods and take on some singletrack that he has a hard time keeping up with his old man! More importantly I need to be healthy and around for the long term for them.

ill.clyde

Excellent inspiration

Now set some goals, and DON'T STOP!

exile

If you were able to loose 120 lbs before (I think I may have found some of it, is there a finders fee ), you should be able to do it again.

Good luck .

borobike

Welcome, and good luck! It sounds like you have got yourself some great inspiration to lose weight, which is the first and most important step in doing something about it. My inspiration isn't nearly as strong or as meaningful as yours, but I've found that when I feel like giving up reminding myself of why I'm doing it keeps me on track.

Sounds like you've been on it for a while, but a friend told me this great piece of advice that I'll pass along to you when trying to lose a significant amount of weight. Don't be afraid to let yourself have a cheat day once a week. Take a break, kick back, have a snack...just don't go overboard of course! The end result is you still lose weight but it doesn't seem as much like you're torturing yourself, instead, you reward yourself one day for doing a great job the other six. My friend also told me (and he's right) that as the weeks pass on the cheat days get less and less different than your regular days. By that point the diet/exercise plan has become habitual and you've passed the usual time period when diets can fail because they are hard to stick to.

It also really helps to find a form of exercise which you love, and it seems like you have.
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