Skip to main content

Weight Roller Coaster

I was a skinny kid until I was 10 years old. Not being very athletic and exercising my imagination more than my body, I started gaining weight. I got my feelings hurt often as I would be the target of quite a bit of meanness and the butt of many jokes. This continued until I turned 21. At the time I weighed 260 pounds.

I had some coworkers who took an interest in me and were able to communicate in a way that sounded more helpful than hurtful. A change of eating habits and an increase in exercise, mainly walking, was instrumental in my losing of 60 pounds within a space of a year. Shortly after that was when I met Kathy.

I guess you could say that I lost 60 pounds chasing women but once I caught one I started putting it back on. Three years later Kathy was pregnant with our oldest child. At this time I decided to quit smoking. I was also around 240 pounds. Usually when people give up smoking, they usually pick up weight. I didn't, but rather lost over 50 pounds and when that was done, I went from a 42 inch waist to 34 inches. Unfortunately that didn't last. It would be another 15 years before I was successful in losing weight again.

In 1995 I had the first of three knee surgeries and weighed 250 pounds. My doctor told me that the best thing for me would be to lose some weight. I managed to lose over 40 pounds this time around, but this wouldn't last either.

The problem is that after I lose the weight, I feel invincible and don't notice the pounds going back on. I also fail to realize that I have to maintain a lean lifestyle. Now that I have diabetes to go with my obesity, along with a recent flare up of cellulitis to put a face on it, I'm hoping that this is a motivator to keep things going and maybe be able to maintain a one pound a week loss.

In my younger years I was on enough crash diets to know that these do not work. I have enough knowledge and experience to know that the only weight can come off is the way it went on, and that's ounces at a time.

I am currently fitting into 44 inch waist pants. I have some 40 inch pants in my closet. I hope to be bragging about getting into them soon!

Comments

Pat Jenkins said…
great post wixy!! i will root for you to be the biggest loser this season!!!
Shelley said…
Congrats on getting into the 44 inch pants! Losing weight is just 1 step at a time. Me and my hubby have been walking together and incorporating more fruits, veggies as well as oatmeal. I wish you great health!!
Mike Golch said…
Goog for you.I know about weight struggles as well.I'm pullin for ya!
Gin said…
Slow and steady wins the race. You are right...crash diets don't work. Good for you!
Jen said…
Congrats so far and Good luck Cliff!
Everytime I lose a few lbs. I get cocky and think I can then eat whatever in great amounts. That doesn't work either. Portion size works best for me; and not the American portion sizes.
Syd said…
Keep working at it Cliff. Small portions and exercise are the trick. I am 6 ft. tall and wear 32 waist, but I'm finding it harder to maintain that with age. I have to watch what I eat now.
Connie said…
The Dr. told my husband he needs to lose weight too. It isn't easy but he's trying. Good luck to you, Cliff. You can do it if you stick with it. Hang in there.
good luck with that. It's one of the unpleasant areas of life I think - always having to think about weight. But it is because we are so blessed with an abundance of food!
J. Moses said…
You're hoping to start going one way - and I'm seemingly headed the other. LOL. Seriously, before this year, 32" waist pants, or even 34" waist, fit me fine. Just about 3 weeks before my birthday, I noticed I was barely fitting 34's, and not even CLOSE on 32's! So I upped to 36", and well... right before I got sick this week, I realized even THOSE were quickly becoming too small! Maybe getting sick, will prevent those 36's from getting too small so fast!

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee

Lawson's Chip Dip

On a couple of occasions I have written posts dedicated to Lawson's, a convenience store chain that was located in Ohio for close to 50 years. In the late 1980's the chain was bought out by Dairy Mart, of Engfield Ct. Dairy Mart was then purchased by Alimentation Couche-Tard, and most stored were rebranded Circle K. Something that has survived the years since Lawson's has left the landscape is Lawson's Chip Dip. I get many hits on this blog from people out of Ohio, I'm thinking former Buckeyes, looking for availability of this chip dip. I had gotten an email from a former resident of Cleveland looking for it. I emailed Circle K about this sometime ago asking if it was possible to send the dip out to those out of state, they said because of quality issues that it was not possible. My only suggestion would be to get in touch with Circle K in your home area and ask them to start stocking this very popular item that seems to make every get-together complete. Now we wil

Sometimes Sports are Just Sports

 This may or may not make the final cut of my book. I was writing about some events this weekend and what had started as a joyous Friday night at my home school district became a weekend of heartbreak in the area after what happened at another school. Sometimes We Need to Realize That Sports are Just Games   Friday nights in late summer and early fall are sometimes a big deal for high school students and their families. As the long-time band announcer for my local high school, it is a time of year I always look forward to. This past Friday night was originally supposed to be the homecoming game for the local high school. The schedule had to be changed a bit because of the uncertainty of the opponents being able to field a team. There was talk around the league that they may have had to forfeit this game, so homecoming for the local school was rescheduled. The opponents, which are rivals of my local school district, were able to field a team and the game was played. The game was