Hi,
My
name is Frank Lopez and I had been obese since early childhood up until I age
40. For all of that time I lived
in crippling depression while struggling with social anxiety. I was bullied throughout all my
school hood years and was withdrawn and full of hatred toward life and everything it
denied me. It didn't help that my family
moved around so many times throughout my childhood. I attended 8 different schools before I got to high school.
Starting from the 11th grade and on I was able to lose weight on 4 separate occasions but on 3 of these
occasions I managed to gain the weight back faster than I had lost it but this last time I kept it off!
At age 19
I started smoking, drinking and using marijuana (which was my escape from
reality). I also drank a lot of soda and
ate a lot of fast food during this period as well. Even though this way of life made my
depression and anxiety worse it kept me going through out my twenties. When I got to my 30s I started slowing down
and I quit smoking cigarettes which sky rocketed my appetite making me gain
over 60 pounds within a 2 to 3 month period putting me over 270lb at 5’9 I cut down on the drinking and marijuana use
as well but food binges continued. I was
so miserable that I felt I couldn’t live with myself anymore.
The year
was 2004 and this is when things started to turn around.
In that
summer of 2004 I started a daily routine of walking, (you have to start
somewhere.) At first it was just 4 laps around a track 5 days a week. I increased it to 8 and then 12 laps and 2
months later I started running a little bit and gradually ran more as the weeks
went by. I lost 40 of the 60 pounds I
had gained after quitting smoking and even though I was running 8 of the 12
laps I remained between 230 - 240 pounds but my confidence had started slowly
going up and by Summer of 2007 I stopped using marijuana completely.
Around
this same period I developed constant migraine headaches that would not go away
so I went to see a doctor and was told that I could have diabetes. I was told to come back the next morning on
an empty stomach in order that my blood sugar levels could be accurately
measured. I did not go back for frankly. I was too damn scared. I knew I would
test positive for diabetes and that the medication I would be prescribed had
lots of adverse side effects that I had seen family members suffer through. At this point I started eating less and tried
running more which made the migraines go away but from time to time they kept
coming back. Through the 90s and 2000s I was also plagued with severe
insomnia. I was once again, miserable.
During
this period I started listening to self-help hypnosis CD’s to help boost my
confidence. At first I didn't notice any
significant improvement but they were at least helping me sleep so I kept them
playing overnight as I slept.
Life
stayed that way up until the beginning of 2013 when I decided to enter “The
Biggest Loser” contest at work. Starting
out at 226 pounds and by the time the contest ended in Mid-April I was at 192
pounds and had won the contest but the weight loss did not end there. By August 17th 2013 I reached my goal weight
of 170 pounds but decided to drop another 5 pounds as a cushion and since then
I have been hovering at 160/170lbs and felt much more in control than my
previous attempts at losing weight. A
co-worker, who once was a professional athlete, coached me on proper eating and
revised my exercise routine to something which was totally different than what
I have previous known and believed about weight loss and exercise.
I quit
eating sugar, corn and potato products, stopped cooking with vegetable oils,
and stopped eating foods with trans-fat, artificial colors and flavoring. I began cooking exclusively with lard and raw
butter and started taking extra virgin coconut oil. I started taking whole food
vitamins, kelp, ayuvedic herbs, Cod Liver oil, and Magnesium and other
supplements (all on which I will fully detail thoughout this blog)
To my
surprise it's been a smooth ride. I went
from a size 42 to a size 32 waist. I am
in no way a medical professional nor a nutritionist but I do however, feel a
lot better after going through all the lifestyle changes. Back problems have almost completely gone
away, I'm more positive and energetic, and food tastes so much better. I've learned to only eat when I'm hungry and
don't count my calories or worry about my cholesterol intake. I bought me a bike as well and started
hitting the nearby trails. My confidence
level is at its highest ever and slowly my shyness and social anxiety is starting to
fall away
So now in
2014 I'm where I need to be weight wise but still have “Man Boobs” and a belly
which has been hard to get rid of. Shyness is slowly going away and confidence has also improved but still not quite there.
As I've
been struggling with this part of the plan and have decided to document the
rest of the journey through this blog to motivate myself and to be of as much
help to others who are also going through this uphill battle. I will post pictures, videos, and tips along
the way.
Objectives
Get a Flat stomach
Lose the Man Boobs
Fix Posture
Improve Confidence
Remember stay confident and believe in yourself
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