Obesity Discussion Forums

[Buster Arbuckle]

Hello,
My name is Dave. I'm a 45 y/o married male We have a school age daughter. I weigh about 340, have treated hypertension, treated sleep apnea, and an anxiety disorder so don't get out much. I'm more a binge eater with a sweet tooth. It’s sometimes hard to believe I weigh as much as I do. I don't eat as much as some would think. I usually eat fairly sensible. I don't drink soda‘s or beer, white bread, milk, typical breakfast foods like bacon or sausage. Still I must be doing something wrong. I know my lack of activity is playing a big factor combined with binge eating.
When I’m depressed about my situation I escape in food. When I'm bored I eat When I’m happy about something I celebrate by eating food, recreation usually involves going out for food, Any type of holiday involves enjoying the special food or treat for that occasion. I watch a lot of TV but it doesn't captivate me enough so I usually snack on some type of junk food. Being a grown man its odd that candy is my snack food of choice. It changes by season. I love those conversation hearts that are around just for valentines. No sodium or fat so I think they are harmless. My wife bought two 1 pound bags of them Sunday. Monday my father in law sent a box filled with valentine/mardis gras treats. One was another 1lb bag of hearts. So its Thursday as I’m writing this and they are all gone. It’s great after the season when they are discounted. We have to buy as many as we can, cant pass up a bargain. Then the next thing is Easter, fat free Jellybean season! And I’m seriously here asking if anyone has any idea on why I’m so obese! When I’m conscious about what I eat I do eat OK, Never been one for vegetables but do eat fruit and drink only water.
My wife also has a weight problem. We certainly enable each other. I worry about our daughter. She is thin now but cant see how she can grow up to be a healthy adult with the eating habits we are teaching her. We had her later in life and I worry we will die early leaving her alone with only the bad eating habits we have taught her.
I was a normal healthy kid. I became a driver for United Parcel service when I was 24. My shirt size was a size medium. This past Christmas my wife bought me a new coat size 4x; it seemed a bit snug so we returned it for a size 5x. I can’t believe it! I worked the UPS job 15 years and maintained a very strong 175lbs I then injured my back. While on workers comp waiting for a settlement I gained about 75 lbs. While off work I developed an anxiety disorder that caused panic attacks in public places. These at times would make me housebound. After I settled with UPS I worked temporary jobs but continued to gain weight. When my daughter was born in 1999 I was up to 300lbs. We moved to Florida in 2001. I started a cleaning company and had a contract with the state of Florida. I did most of the work myself and it was good exercise. When my contract was up I was outbid and out of a job. I haven't worked steady since 2004. My weight kept going up and my anxiety disorder returned this time worse then ever.
We moved back to our home state of Illinois. I went to a doctor for a basic physical and to my surprise was to fat for their scale. I had to go to a different part of the facility to get weighed. I was up to 351lbs My blood pressure was very high 183/108. I was sent to a pulmonary doctor who set me up for a sleep study. I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. With medication my blood pressure is down. I sleep with a CPAP so the sleep apnea is under control. When I last went to my doctor my weight did drop about 10 ponds. I do look at labels mainly looking for sodium levels because of the B/P I am so wrong to think if it has no or little sodium I can eat myself sick.
I know what I have to do. Eat less calories and exercise. Does anyone have any input or ideas? I'm slowly killing myself here.
Thanks
Dave
Buster Arbuckle

[Obesity Discussion]

Well, in this case it's a matter of willpower for some of your issues.....is there any way you could get your wife to go on this quest with you as a team? It's a lot easier when you have someone doing it with you.

I'm not sure if you've looked around, but we have a great topic with good tips.

http://www.obesitydiscussion.com/for...-add-3689.html

What we offer here is to help people figure out how many calories a day they need to eat on average in order to achieve their weight loss goals. We can guide you and cheer you on along the way, but it's ultimately up to you to make it happen.

As far as exercise, could you and the wife take walks together? Even that is a good start that will burn a few (not a lot) calories.

[Buster Arbuckle]

Thanks for the reply,
Willpower is something I will need to improve on. For me my weight is no longer just a cosmetic thing but more a life or death thing.

I did look around the site and there is so much useful information. I was able to figure out how many calories I am burning a day. 3,320.64. I would guess if I dropped to 2,500 calories a day I would lose weight. I do have some questions and I am serious. Does it really matter what I eat as long as it is 2.500 calories a day? Would I lose more or the same weight if I ate 2,500 calories of healthy food over unhealthy food. Will cutting carbs, sugar, fat, sodium etc help? I would imagine it would. How much of these should a person consume in a day when taking in 2,500 calories.

My wife and I talk about starting a fitness program but we keep coming up with excuses not to. Today we had a foot of snow. So we can’t do much this weekend. We have to become serious. We should become mall walkers if we have to.
Thanks
Dave

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Buster Arbuckle

Does it really matter what I eat as long as it is 2.500 calories a day? Would I lose more or the same weight if I ate 2,500 calories of healthy food over unhealthy food. Will cutting carbs, sugar, fat, sodium etc help? I would imagine it would. How much of these should a person consume in a day when taking in 2,500 calories.

The number of calories you eat is more important that an exactly what you eat for the purposes of weight loss, but what you eat is important too. Eating better foods will help you more than eating unhealthy foods. With 2500 calories, if in fact your calculations are correct, you should be able to lose about 1.5lbs a week.

Protein is especially important for helping to maintain your muscle mass, and of course sodium is bad for your blood pressure, fats/cholesterol are bad for your heart....I wouldn't just look at eating healthy for weight loss purposes only.