My first weigh-in

Posted July 31st, 2008 by Jeff J. Snider

Like I said in my introductory post, the first sign of trouble was when my scale started throwing an error instead of telling me how much I weighed. (In retrospect, the first sign of trouble should have been when I had to buy a scale that went up to 380 … or maybe earlier.) I didn’t find out until a visit to the doctor that I had topped 400.

Yesterday, on July 30, 2008, I stood on my scale, expecting to see “E” again. But glory be and the saints be praised, it worked! As of yesterday afternoon, I weigh 383 pounds. That’s 19 pounds in nine days, which probably seems like a lot to you skinny people out there. But at my size, two pounds a day is a perfectly healthy way to start.

I could not be more pleased. I’ve been very food-conscious over the past nine days, focusing on three things:

1) Limiting my portions.
2) Choosing healthier meals.
3) Choosing healthier snacks.

Because I’ve still been recovering from the sinus infection that sent me on that fateful doctor visit in the first place, I haven’t gotten into the exercise stuff too much yet, so my entire focus has been on the food. I have made great progress on all three of those items, and I am confident that as I continue to stay vigilant, the weight will continue to fall off. It’s not as easy as the little 1-2-3 list makes it seem, but the concept is definitely that simple.

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In the beginning…

Posted July 31st, 2008 by Jeff J. Snider

I remember the first time I realized I weighed over 300 pounds. I was a senior in high school, and the next-largest guy on the football team weighed about 250. I was a lot bigger than everyone I knew, but I wasn’t what I thought of when I thought “300 pounds”: grossly obese, smelly, all that stuff.

After a while, 300 didn’t seem so bad. I was still a very good athlete, and I took pride in the fact that I didn’t look like I weighed 300. I could tell people I weighed 260, and they had no problem believing me. When I went to renew my driver’s license just before I turned 19, the lady at the DMV recognized that I had grown taller since I turned 16 — 5′9″ to 6′3″ — but she didn’t mention the “235″ next to “Weight.” In retrospect, she was probably just being polite, but she didn’t seem to have a problem when I put “299,” even though at that point I was around 330.

Over the years, I have accepted 300. My driver’s license still says 299 — 11 years later — but other than that, 300 has become part of who I am.
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