G
Guest
Before and After: http://imgur.com/a/KHP5Q
Where to start...well, I was 22-years-old when I underwent open heart surgery to have my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical valve. I didn't know what to think at the time, I definitely felt I was too young to be going through this but at the same time I felt ready to tackle the surgery head on and simply make it an obstacle I needed to hurl over. At the time of my surgery I weighed 330lbs, life WAS hard for me, people made fun of me, I never had a girlfriend, and to top it off I was way depressed because of my weight. I was this obese/depressed kid who now had to go through open heart surgery, it sucked, and I was sad because at the time I felt nothing in life was going right. But like I said earlier, as hurt as I was I decided to make this surgery a simple obstacle -- and I did just that.
My surgery lasted roughly 8 hours and I had a blood transfusion done from all the blood I had loss. All went well, stayed at the hospital for roughly a week before being released. I was told to strengthen my heart again and since I had to drop out of college to have my surgery I had a lot of time to focus on my health. I simply went outside and walked everyday, a month or so post surgery I decided to adopt a dog to keep me company at home and during my walks. Tyson and I walked around the block, after gaining some confidence I then began doing some light jogging here and there. I ended up joining a gym once I felt I had all of my strength back, all I would do is walk on the treadmill, eventually I began running and everyday I would run more and more.
I had a new outlook on life, this surgery made me realize how short life really damn is, and I'm a greedy man, I decided I wanted to have as much of it as possible so I knew losing weight would be my best bet. I didn't go to a nutritionist or took any fancy pills, all I did was eat 1 less item a day. If I had 2 cups of orange juice a day I would simply have 1 cup, or if I would usually have 3 pancakes in the morning I simply only had 2. I did this all the time and it eventually changed my whole diet around -- without even knowing it.
Today I weigh 200lbs and go to the gym 4-5 times a week for about 1.5 hours. I run a mile in roughly 8:30 as a warm up and then lift weights (trying to gain muscle now that I've been left with loose skin from weight loss), usually end with another mile before heading out.
Where to start...well, I was 22-years-old when I underwent open heart surgery to have my aortic valve replaced with a mechanical valve. I didn't know what to think at the time, I definitely felt I was too young to be going through this but at the same time I felt ready to tackle the surgery head on and simply make it an obstacle I needed to hurl over. At the time of my surgery I weighed 330lbs, life WAS hard for me, people made fun of me, I never had a girlfriend, and to top it off I was way depressed because of my weight. I was this obese/depressed kid who now had to go through open heart surgery, it sucked, and I was sad because at the time I felt nothing in life was going right. But like I said earlier, as hurt as I was I decided to make this surgery a simple obstacle -- and I did just that.
My surgery lasted roughly 8 hours and I had a blood transfusion done from all the blood I had loss. All went well, stayed at the hospital for roughly a week before being released. I was told to strengthen my heart again and since I had to drop out of college to have my surgery I had a lot of time to focus on my health. I simply went outside and walked everyday, a month or so post surgery I decided to adopt a dog to keep me company at home and during my walks. Tyson and I walked around the block, after gaining some confidence I then began doing some light jogging here and there. I ended up joining a gym once I felt I had all of my strength back, all I would do is walk on the treadmill, eventually I began running and everyday I would run more and more.
I had a new outlook on life, this surgery made me realize how short life really damn is, and I'm a greedy man, I decided I wanted to have as much of it as possible so I knew losing weight would be my best bet. I didn't go to a nutritionist or took any fancy pills, all I did was eat 1 less item a day. If I had 2 cups of orange juice a day I would simply have 1 cup, or if I would usually have 3 pancakes in the morning I simply only had 2. I did this all the time and it eventually changed my whole diet around -- without even knowing it.
Today I weigh 200lbs and go to the gym 4-5 times a week for about 1.5 hours. I run a mile in roughly 8:30 as a warm up and then lift weights (trying to gain muscle now that I've been left with loose skin from weight loss), usually end with another mile before heading out.
