My Health Quest: My Backstory

I’ve been overweight my entire life.

As A Teenager…

The first memorable diet I started my freshman year of high school. I joined weight watchers (dramatically different from its current form), lost a bunch of weight too quickly, and freaked out my internal system. I ended up as the second youngest in the country to have the “new” laparoscopic surgery to remove my gallbladder. At the time, the rule of thumb was “female, fat, and forty.” I was actually “female, fat, and a freshman.”

In my sophomore year of college, I lost a bunch of weight unintentionally. The main building of my college was in an old building where the elevators frequently stopped randomly or dropped a couple of floors before the emergency breaks kicked on. I ignored the warnings until it happened to me. After that, I stuck to the stairs for many months. Most of my classes took place on the 9th, 11th, and 13th floors. Plus, I lived on the hot dog, fries, and a Coke combo for $2 from the place across the street. Unsustainable is the secret word for this diet.

As An Adult…

After college, I moved to Los Angeles and tried Atkins to okay success. The main thing I learned was to always accept a mint when offered because you don’t know if they are being polite or if your breath reeks. Also, weirdly my cholesterol dropped despite the vast amounts of cow and pig I consumed.

In 2005, my best success happened with the “Batman” workout. I loved my trainer who created the program, which was the main reason I stuck with it. I lost 40 pounds in three months. I was 20 pounds from my freshman college weight, but 85 pounds from my ideal weight. I worked out hard three days a week.

Then, with the confidence of Batman, I did the Nautica Malibu Triathlon. Unfortunately, I didn’t practice enough in the ocean, had a panic attack with the waves (the highest they had been in years during this event), and then my bike broke on mile two. Defeated, I ended up walking most of the running part. Sadly, the trainer stopped teaching classes not long after that, and I didn’t continue on my own.

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After living in Los Angeles for eleven years, I moved to Seattle. I tried the 4-Hour Body Diet by Tim Ferriss to decent success and worked out at 24 Hour Fitness. I walked around Green Lake regularly (5K all the way around), which provided some excellent cardio. However, I couldn’t keep myself motivated on my own and backslid on both diet and the gym.

I Had Never Been Heavier

In 2018, I reached my heaviest weight ever. I started Keto and thought I was having unbelievable success. I dropped a couple of sizes, and my scale indicated that I was decreasing in weight. Unfortunately, the scale turned out to be a lying liar. When I went to the doctor for my yearly check-up, it took three different scales to convince me that I had not lost 77 pounds, but only 38. I carry my weight very evenly, and the scale was going up and down, so I believed it. I trusted it. With the wind out of my sails, I gained some weight back.

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In 2019, I was kind of still doing Keto and kind of going to the gym, but my heart wasn’t in it. I tried Round 9 Gym for a few weeks, but their hours and the location made it a bit too inconvenient. So I ended up joining and taking advantage of the free trainer at Planet Fitness. He took regular measurements, which kept me on my track. Then, 2020 happened. Fifteen pounds that I lost came back, and I feared I would be back up to my highest again.

This Health Quest Begins Now

My health quest begins at the beginning of 2021. I wanted to give you this backstory to know that I’ve ridden this roller coaster a few times. I haven’t been posting on social media or telling many people because of the 2018 fiasco and figured no one would believe me. So I waited until I hit the weight I thought I had lost before discussing it.

As the sixth Murphy’s Law says, “Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.” Therefore, there are a few things I need to tell you about before jumping in, which is what the next few blog posts will be about. If you follow me on this quest, I guarantee that it will have cats, Scotland, blood money, nature hikes, and visits to Mars.

Next up: My Health Quest: My Companions