Losing Weight The Metzger Way!

I'll target this to those of us 'of a certain age', but it's for anyone who seriously wants to lose weight. I've battled weight most of my life. When I was a kid, I hated food. I wouldn't eat. Mikey did not like it, nor would he eat anything. When I was about 10, I discovered junk food. THAT I liked. Every day, I would walk to the Dairy Mart and buy a quart of Mt. Dew, Doritos, a candy bar, and more often than not, a pack of Suzie Q's.

Over the next few years, I realized that I didn't hate food. I just didn't particularly care for my parents' cooking. Bless her, mom tried. She made some dishes that were awesome...but others would make me want to run. Dad, when he cooks...well, the man can make a good looking meal...he just never learned about flavor. I used to think I hated Chinese food, based on what he used to make. It just tasted like peanut oil.

My lifelong go-to food? A quadruple decker toasted peanut butter sammich. I dig carbs!

By junior high, I was the 2nd heaviest kid in our class...and didn't care. I wasn't the most social kid anyway. I never got into sports (I still think they're boring and a waste of time). I preferred reading, music, and movies. Pretty much how I still am. If I got any exercise, it was walking to the store to get snacks, riding my bike, or hiking in the woods. The rest of the time, my ever-widening ass was parked in front of the TV, or in my room listening to music or reading.

I high school, I started walking everywhere. 4 miles to school. 4 miles back. Walked to friends' houses, the mall, you name it. I also discovered amphetamines. And more Mt. Dew. And cigarettes. The weight fell off me. When I was about 15-16, I started working out and doing roofing work. In retrospect, I looked good...but my own weird brain just saw a fat kid in the mirror. I fought that image for years.

In my early 20s I moved to a small town in NE Ohio. It was pretty flat there. And boring. I stopped walking and started drinking. And drinking. And drinking. Wasn't much else to do there. Drove me nuts. But, being a young man, I still had a pretty high metabolism...but I still put on 20 pounds.

In 1990, I moved to Pittsburgh. I drank more, ate more (better food here!), did more drugs, discovered cocaine, and kept at a reasonable weight for a number of years. I was always depressed and always saw a fat guy in the mirror. I was dealing with my own body dysmorphia. No, I wasn't a victim. I just thought I was fat.

Once in my 30s, I'd given up the drugs, but was still drinking, being less active, and getting fatter. The upside to this...my self-image improved. I was pretty happy with myself. Life was good.

My health has never been good. As a kid, I was plagued with pleurisy, kidney infections, tonsillitis (I've had it 37 times to date), and any flu bug that came around, and rheumatoid arthritis. I was always sick. This stopped in my 20s and 30s. But it was replaced by my 1st bout of cancer. I kicked it's ass quickly and moved on. I ended up in a coma (a story for another time) and had some other issues to deal with. I started doing coke again and the downward slide began. More drinking, and more food, and a slower metabolism, and I got pretty damned big. I stopped using coke at 40...and a year later had a heart attack. I was 286 pounds at the time.

This scared me...as it should. I became terrified of food. I dropped 40 pounds in a month. This worried the docs. Too much, too fast. Once I realized that my every step wasn't going to cause another heart attack, I slid back into some old habits. I started drinking again, started smoking again, and really slacked on my diet. The weight was up and down. Then in 2010, another bout of cancer. Kicking it's ass again was my #1 priority...and I did it. After that, I developed a pretty much Devil-may-care attitude about life. I was drinking, smoking, NOT moving, and eating like a pig. I had a lot of stress in my life, and this was my escape.

A few months ago, I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. This scared me. Having always been good at piecing together the pieces of equations, I saw things were all tying in together. In June, I thought I had heat stroke while painting a house. A serious dizzy spell! It made sense. Fat, out of shape guy, with a heart condition, hot day, hard work, a perfect storm for heat stroke. Funny thing was, I had a few more dizzy spells over the next month. One put in me in the ER. The doc guessed it was dehydration...but noted my blood sugar was a little high.

The following month, I saw my doc for my annual medication evaluation. She ordered blood work, as usual. Well, it came back with a higher-than-desired A1C number. Her diagnosis was diabetes. She then told me that, at best, I was borderline. But...it was enough to scare me into action.

Not many things scare me. Death sure doesn't. But, as I've often pointed out to folks, there are a lot of things worse than death. I reached out to my friends Mike and Fred; both diabetics. I got as much firsthand info from them as possible, and coupled that with the info my doc gave me, and what I found (and still find) researching the subject. A major motivator for me was a video my friend Mike posted. Due to his condition, he lost a leg, and his video shows his daily routine of putting on his prosthetic. If you're overweight and need a wake up call...WATCH THIS!!!!! (for those of you not hip to hyperlinks, click on the colored words)
If this doesn't motivate you, I don't know what will. FYI: Mike is living a happy, relatively healthy life now. I don't think he'd mind being a motivator for you.

So how have I lost all of this weight?

Simple. I cut out the crap and got my ass moving. This is challenging for me due to my heart condition. I can't just start jogging or join a gym and start lifting. Not much sense in giving myself another heart attack. All I could do was the sensible thing: eat right and get some exercise.

I started walking every day. You can do the same. Get in a brisk walk for AT LEAST 20 minutes. Better still, 30. After a week or two, bump it up to twice a day. Walk in the morning, walk in the evening. Make it part of your daily routine. You'll feel better within a few days of starting.

This does not mean 'work up an appetite'. Don't reward yourself with food. I know that sounds simple, but seriously, you know you probably do it.

Walk, ride a bike, do SOMETHING. Dance. Jump around. EVERY SINGLE DAY! You don't get a day off. If you're serious about losing weight, you can't afford a day off.

Food. There's your problem. You eat too much and you eat the wrong stuff. Grabbing "a quick snack" is a quick way to a fatter ass. Period. Need a snack? Eat a piece of fruit. Better yet, drink some water. Chances are, you're thirsty - not hungry. Years of poor dieting (the American way!) has altered your brain chemistry to the point where the body is confused by what it wants. Most processed foods are high in sodium...so we're not sure if we're hungry or thirsty. We just want SOMETHING!

What to eat? Think healthy. Fresh fruits and veggies are a good start. Learn what an actual portion size is. Seriously. Do you really need to eat the entire pizza? Do you really need to go back for seconds?

Read the labels in the store. Really read them...don't just skim. Learn what you're putting into your body. If I see any high numbers, back on the shelf it goes. I eat well, and I enjoy my food even more now. Unless you're on a restricted diet, due to diabetes, allergies, etc., you can still eat whatever you want...just learn portion sizes. You probably don't need 3 pork chops on your plate. One will probably do the trick. Load up on your veggies instead. Don't like veggies? (I don't) Find ways to prepare them that you will like! My answer to everything is garlic and hot sauce. There are millions of recipes out there...you'll find something you like! Don't fry stuff. If you add anything, like butter, that just means you can't eat as much. Know what all is going into your body.

Here's where people make mistakes...I know I have. There is no such thing as a short-term diet. These are usually worse for you than anything. The cabbage soup diet, Atkins, all that stuff...don't do it. Eat three HEALTHY meals a day. Eat appropriate portions. Don't be a pig. Eat correctly EVERY DAY. In no time, this becomes a habit. You'll feel a bit off when/if you break that habit. It's already happened to me. I've had a few days where, for whatever reason, I'm in a rush or just feel like a quick snack or whatever, and I eat wrong. I feel off. Once I'm back eating right again, I feel better.

Like to drink alcohol? I do! First off, ask your doctor IF you should. In my case, I can still have a beer or two once in a while. I could probably have one every day...but I haven't drank like that in ages anyway. I became more of a binge drinker. I work part time at a bar. I used to get paid to drink! Now, I'll have a beer when I finish my job. That's it. It even seems to taste better now! When in doubt...go for the expensive stuff. You'll be less likely to pound it then.

If you're overweight, you're setting yourself up for all sorts of potential problems. Heart disease and diabetes are at the top of the list. You don't want either. They suck. Trust me, I know. Here's a little something you probably haven't thought about: they're both EXPENSIVE. You might have insurance now, but there's no guarantee you always will. A packet of 50 testing strips for my diabetes costs about $42. Luckily, I only have to test a few times a week. Most have to test a few times a day. Do the math. Then there's the price of medications, doctor visits, transportation to and from all the fun places you get to do. It adds up quickly. It's a lot cheaper in the long run to get healthy.

To summarize: eat healthy and move your ass. You don't have to go crazy...you don't have to become a raw vegan or spend your every free moment at the gym. Just eat 3 healthy meals a day and walk a few miles a day. It pays off...and it tends to pay off quickly, if you do it right. In two months, I'm already down about two pants sizes. None of my clothes fit. I feel good. I have more energy. This isn't something you can do for a month and then go back to eating donuts and sitting on your ass watching TV for 5 hours a day. This is a lifetime regimen. Trust me, you'll thank yourself.

HEALTH UPDATE: It's come to my attention that my elevated blood sugar has been brought on by two things: poor diet/lifestyle...and one of my heart medications. This particular medication was changed late this past spring...just a few weeks before all of this started. By the time I had my A1C level tested, I was in the diabetic range. The problem...my daily blood sugar readings are only in the 80s/90s. Not very diabetic. So, the doc and I have been discussing this during my monthly visits. I might NOT be diabetic after all! It might be what they call Metabolic Syndrome...which is almost as bad, but not quite. Either way, I plan to keep up with the healthy eating and exercise. I mean really...I look good, I'm losing weight, and I feel good. Why stop now?