Silkman_Bob
Well-Known Member
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 2
Firstly - sorry I have been rubbish at posting on here recently - what with Xmas etc life has been a bit hectic but I will try my best to get on here more often in 2012!
I thought I would post a message in here today, primarily for all those people who are launching in to their weight loss programmes and are a bit daunted by it and the end of the road seems a long way away, if not close to impossible.
Towards the end of 2010 I had a check up with the Nurse and weight 22st 10 - let's be honest for a 5ft 11 bloke, that isn't good! Obviously she told me that I needed to lose weight and all the positive benefits of doing this. I remember at the time she told me the ideal would be 11st 7, to which I replied something along the lines of "well that's going to happen isn't it".
She also told me to sign up to a few runs for charity just to give me an additional focus and something to work towards - from memory I think she said about the Great North Run but maybe I am just assuming that with her being from Newcastle herself! Anyway, for somebody who was so overweight and struggled to get the motivation to change the channel on the TV (even with the remote!), this seemed truly impossible - to the extent where I brushed it off, thinking well there is no point even thinking about something like that because it is never going to happen.
I was also borderline being put on insulin for my diabetes and had regular monitors fitted for my blood pressure overnight which was entertaining to say the least!
Hand on heart, I would challenge anyone to be more of a lazy, unfit, unhealthy slob than I was back then.
This time last year, I don't know why, I decided that I was going to give weight loss one last go. It was a couple of months after the appointment with the Nurse, so I cant honestly say it was a knee jerk reaction to it - but maybe I needed a bit of time to actually realise not only that she had a point but also that I could do something about it - if I really wanted to.
So I started watching what I ate and at Easter joined a local gym, even though I was unsure whether I had done the right thing in terms of having the required motivation. From day one they were brilliant with me and right from the start I started to go 5 or 6 times a week. Part of this was because I was feeling better in myself (mild depression soon went), and part of it strangely was more of a social thing - yeah ok it is a gym, but the interaction after a while made it more of a social club too!
Clothes started getting looser and suddenly people starting telling me that you could tell I had lost weight - two things which is so motivating to finish the job off it is untrue.
I was taken off metformin in September last year, and the first HbA1c without tablets came back at 5.5 which I was over the moon with.
As my confidence grew I started doing different things as well as the gym - spinning classes, 5 a side football, even 10k charity runs - something I never ever thought I would do.
There have been so many highs on the journey, they keep you going through the inevitable lows and feelings of self doubt. But I don't think anything will ever beat the feeling I had this morning when I stood on my bathroom scales and it read 11st 7.0 lbs - so much so that I started to cry - silly I know 🙂
I know that this is only the start of the journey, as now comes what some people say is the hard part - keeping the weight in check, but I am a totally different person to what I was, not just in weight but also within myself. Was all the hard work and effort worth it - yeah too right it was!
So to all those people who are seeing 2012 as their year to transform their lives, I hope this has been of some help. You will have people who doubt you and days when you even doubt yourself - but that is a good thing as if you didn't have that I am not sure whether the feeling of success would be quite so strong when you do reach your goals.
Finally - (sorry if this is a bit corny), there is an advert on television at the moment advertising a new car - cant remember which one at the minute but it goes along the lines of what do all winners have in common - joy. That is so true when it comes to losing weight and improving your health. Take small steps and take time to enjoy your achievements along the way - perhaps this is the most important thing you could ever do!
Bob x
I thought I would post a message in here today, primarily for all those people who are launching in to their weight loss programmes and are a bit daunted by it and the end of the road seems a long way away, if not close to impossible.
Towards the end of 2010 I had a check up with the Nurse and weight 22st 10 - let's be honest for a 5ft 11 bloke, that isn't good! Obviously she told me that I needed to lose weight and all the positive benefits of doing this. I remember at the time she told me the ideal would be 11st 7, to which I replied something along the lines of "well that's going to happen isn't it".
She also told me to sign up to a few runs for charity just to give me an additional focus and something to work towards - from memory I think she said about the Great North Run but maybe I am just assuming that with her being from Newcastle herself! Anyway, for somebody who was so overweight and struggled to get the motivation to change the channel on the TV (even with the remote!), this seemed truly impossible - to the extent where I brushed it off, thinking well there is no point even thinking about something like that because it is never going to happen.
I was also borderline being put on insulin for my diabetes and had regular monitors fitted for my blood pressure overnight which was entertaining to say the least!
Hand on heart, I would challenge anyone to be more of a lazy, unfit, unhealthy slob than I was back then.
This time last year, I don't know why, I decided that I was going to give weight loss one last go. It was a couple of months after the appointment with the Nurse, so I cant honestly say it was a knee jerk reaction to it - but maybe I needed a bit of time to actually realise not only that she had a point but also that I could do something about it - if I really wanted to.
So I started watching what I ate and at Easter joined a local gym, even though I was unsure whether I had done the right thing in terms of having the required motivation. From day one they were brilliant with me and right from the start I started to go 5 or 6 times a week. Part of this was because I was feeling better in myself (mild depression soon went), and part of it strangely was more of a social thing - yeah ok it is a gym, but the interaction after a while made it more of a social club too!
Clothes started getting looser and suddenly people starting telling me that you could tell I had lost weight - two things which is so motivating to finish the job off it is untrue.
I was taken off metformin in September last year, and the first HbA1c without tablets came back at 5.5 which I was over the moon with.
As my confidence grew I started doing different things as well as the gym - spinning classes, 5 a side football, even 10k charity runs - something I never ever thought I would do.
There have been so many highs on the journey, they keep you going through the inevitable lows and feelings of self doubt. But I don't think anything will ever beat the feeling I had this morning when I stood on my bathroom scales and it read 11st 7.0 lbs - so much so that I started to cry - silly I know 🙂
I know that this is only the start of the journey, as now comes what some people say is the hard part - keeping the weight in check, but I am a totally different person to what I was, not just in weight but also within myself. Was all the hard work and effort worth it - yeah too right it was!
So to all those people who are seeing 2012 as their year to transform their lives, I hope this has been of some help. You will have people who doubt you and days when you even doubt yourself - but that is a good thing as if you didn't have that I am not sure whether the feeling of success would be quite so strong when you do reach your goals.
Finally - (sorry if this is a bit corny), there is an advert on television at the moment advertising a new car - cant remember which one at the minute but it goes along the lines of what do all winners have in common - joy. That is so true when it comes to losing weight and improving your health. Take small steps and take time to enjoy your achievements along the way - perhaps this is the most important thing you could ever do!
Bob x
