Originally Posted by
Hojimoto
I gotta say, this thread has been pretty inspirational. I'm around 380+ now and trying to find a way to take the pounds off. I've been walking (mostly at work) and am getting to a point where I need (and want) to do more. I'm looking to get back into bicycling as a way to do that. Seems like there's a lot of nice folks here. You guys are making it easier on my insecurities (many of which mirror Pub's.)
Inspirational indeed. In late December I weighed 443 lbs. Not diabetic (or even close, thankfully), but high blood pressure (220/120 since I was a teen), sporadic heart arhythmia, and I had been hospitalized recently because a medication error by my cardiologist sent my potassium skyrocketing to what should have been lethal levels. Becoming vegan solved the blood pressure issues (just losing weight never had any effect), my kidneys, which took a big hit from the potassium are back to normal, the heart rhythm is mostly normal, and I now weigh less than 370lbs. (I have a Detecto doctor's balance beam scale being delivered Monday so I can keep track of weight loss progress.) And I haven't even begun biking yet! I suspect it will be mid July when all is said and done before I have the bile in hand and can start riding. In the meantime, I'm using a Concept ll rowing machine and a set of adjustable dumbbells.
I suspect that not caring what other people think requires a defining moment for many of us. For me, it was at my mother's bedside as she was dying...realizing that she was always more concerned with what others thought than with what made her happy. I grew up with that..."What will the neighbor's think?" "I am so embarrassed by what she must have thought." etc. etc. ad nauseum. I vowed then and there not to let the opinions of others override what I needed to do to be happy, healthy, fulfilled, etc. That was the most liberating feeling I ever experienced.
Certainly, we get frustrated by people so ignorant they don't know they are ignorant. It's a fact of life. I give them no thought. They don't pay my bills, raise my kids or control my income. I try to treat others the way I would like to be treated. If it works for them, great. If not, I couldn't care less. I do it for me, not them.
So you do what you need to do to feel good. It likely will be different than what I do. That's great. Perhaps we can all learn something from each other, and have a bit of fun in the process. And remember...the only one who can judge how well you are doing is you. It took you a long tome to have your weight go up to 370+. It will take time for it to go down. But keep the faith. There is nothing your mind can conceive that it cannot achieve.