My story go back to when I was 18 (42 now) and graduating high school. I'm 5'6" and at that time weighed 114 lbs (that's not a typo). I was a wrestler until my junior year and back then making weight was a big deal. I was in excellent shape, my strength was of a man much bigger than me and I had cardio for days. But I was little, too little in my mind. I nearly needed a waiver to join the Navy due to being under weight. I quickly began weight lifting and eating more (<--key part of my issue). I was up to 160 lbs within a year, but by this point the mental issues of always being the little guy had kicked in hard. I wanted to be bigger, but I was at the weight limit for the military for my height.

Once I got out of the Navy and got settled in with a good job I went back to the gym. I was able to pack on an additional 20lbs of muscle. My job at the time had very little travel. That changed, I gave up the gym for my job. I had a bag ready to travel at a moments notice. But my wanting to feed a 4 day a week 3 hours at a time work out schedule didn't go away so quickly. It didn't take long to hit 200 lbs, and it wasn't muscle.

A couple of years ago my older brother was diagnosed with diabetes, he is about an inch taller than me and said he was over weight and that helped to cause his issues. By that point I was 230 lbs, he was a mere 170 lbs, I knew I was into something bad. I was more than twice the size I was at 18 years old. That began the change of my diet and watching and thinking about what I was eating. This was the same year that my FIL began diabetes meds as well.

The last straw was my MIL (who was not obese) being diagnosed with diabetes. It was a rude awakening for my wife and I. We have to do more than just change our diets, time for a life upgrade.

I always liked riding a bike, there is a freedom that you can't seem to get any other way. My wife was never an athlete and was skeptical. We've been riding since last May either outside or on our spin bike ever since. While neither of us have lost much weight my last fasting glucose test was at 65, the previous year it was 111. I will get an A1C done soon for my yearly physical. We are both getting in better shape and are being patient about the weight loss, we watch our intake and try to make the healthiest choices we can. It will happen, we're in this for the long haul.

Thank you all in this forum, I know these stories are what make us who we are and I know we can continue to motivate each other.