Saturday, September 3, 2011

Time to Lose This Weight - Who's Joining Me?

Let's do a little math.  What is 300 minus 3?  How about 295 plus 2?  How about 50 plus 247?

No matter how you do this, you'll get the same number.  That number is my current weight.  That's okay...I'll wait as you pick your jaw up off the floor.

You back now?  Good.  Last year, I ran a 5k and this is what I looked like:


I was feeling great.  I had lost over 40 pounds and ran my first 5k in nearly 20 years.  I was exercising, eating right, and having the time of my life.  I felt on top of the world.  See this picture for proof:


Fast-forward to February 19 of this year.  My family came out to visit us and we were having a blast.  I showed my dad how to play the Kinect and then we went out to eat.  Here is a picture of me and my son at the restaurant:


Just a few minutes after that picture was taken, I died.  Sudden Cardiac Arrest, leading killer.  Not a heart attack.  Nothing was blocked, blood levels were all normal, but my heart went into a dangerous electrical storm.  I was turning purple and cold.  My parents, kids, and wife saw me die in front of them.  Thankfully, this guy was there to start CPR:


Shortly after, they brought the AED in, shocked me and then I was rushed to Milford Hospital, where I would be fighting for my life.  72 shocks later, here is what I looked like (yes, I was in a coma):


Thankfully, God had other plans for me.  Yes, I said God.  When you die, you get your head straightened out.  You also realize the importance of family.  I remember my family there in the ER telling me how much they loved me.  Then I heard the physicians asking them to clear the area as they shocked me again and again.  Those memories don't escape me, I relive them every day.  I'm so glad to be here for my family:


So what happened since then?  Well, lots of things.  The purpose of this particular blog is to talk about my weight gain though.  I'm now the heaviest I've been in my life.  This sucks.  My lower back hurts, I get out of breath, I'm tired, I don't have much self confidence, and it seems I can't even fart without working up a sweat.

What now?  Thankfully I've found SparkPeople.com.  It helped me last time and I'm using it to help me again.  There are some really nice people that have started some contests too.  My friend Jose has started this contest: http://bit.ly/nMLvKQ  My other friend, Tema, has started this contest: http://bit.ly/oDDHFN  Both contests are giving away a free video game.  The best part about it though, isn't the prize.  It is the connections made during the process.  Each contest has a group of awesome folks, encouraging each other to do better.

So what about you?  Will you join me in this?  I don't care if you like video games or not.  If you don't and you win, just send the prize to some kid in need that would love to play.  If you are looking to have some fun, lose some weight, and get healthy, all while meeting great new people...come join us.

Keep your eyes peeled on this space.  You will be seeing some nice transformations.

4 comments:

  1. Ah man, my math is off at the beginning. Dang it. 295 plus 2 should be it. Anyhow...you all get the point.

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  2. well you can always go back and edit it right? ;)

    i'm in! i think i'm at my heaviest ever (not counting pregnancies) stinks big time! i'm gonna also start jogging again with my oldest, she trains for soccer, i get the fat off lol!

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  3. Ah, figured it out. I'm joining up with so many social media sites at once, I haven't learned them all, lawl. Thanks

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  4. I'm not in for the challenge but i'm in, in getting back to the kinect. Are you allowed to play the exercise games again? maybe we can set up sometime and play together online.. let me know.. i need it.. my weight is creeping back up.. i should blog about how i keep crashing after i work out hard for long periods of time.

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