About Him
The Short Story
I never used to be fat, overweight, obese or whatever else you want to call it, in fact the exact opposite was true for much of my life. I let things slide though and thanks to years of alcohol abuse I managed to pile on more weight than could possibly be healthy, now I’m approaching 30 and my metabolism is starting to slow down things will only get worse unless I act now. This is my attempt at getting rid of that extra weight and getting fit. Hopefully the shame of having this online will be motivation enough for the coming months.
The Full Story
I was born in February of 1979 to a short mum and tall dad. As sods law would dictate I obviously inherited my height from my mum and so on a good day only manage to reach the lofty height of 5 feet 7 inches tall. My mum never forgave me because I came out square, I was always as broad as I was tall. On a much brighter note I did manage to inherit my dads general fitness and health (Brief interlude: My dad was brought up working on a farm, was a school boy county champion javelin thrower and at age 17 joined the armed forces, eventually passing out as a Commando. During his training he completed the 30 mile mooreland yomp with absolute ease, much of it carrying an injured colleague! On leaving the armed forces he then went on to be the head bouncer at many of the most prestigious night spots of the time and was a personal bodyguard to the social elite. Even later on in life he managed to hold down 3 physical jobs, one of which was digging roads by pick and shovel. My dad was a very fit man.), as a child I was as sporty as the most sporty thing you can imagine. I literally ran everywhere, climbed walls and jumped of whatever there was to jump off. At age 5 I started Karate and a long love affair with the martial arts. By age 11 I was very much into running properly and was doing well in regional events in the North west of England. When it came to leave school at age 16 I’d trained in no less than 7 martial arts and was running 100 metres in a touch under 11 seconds. At that time I weighed about 11 stone 6 pounds and from memory had about 8% body fat. The whole reason for having this in writing is not to show off, it’s for me shame myself and remember exactly what I have thrown away.
I started college and thanks to a lack of organised sports things did change slightly for the worse but I was still keeping healthy. I’d play football with my friends for hours on end, some games would last over 5 hours. Besides this I would also do a 22 mile run once a week. It was then though that I discovered beer. The FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Manchester United in 1996. I went to the pub to watch the game with my big brother and because of Eric Cantona’s winner in the last few minutes I decided to make a night of it. I can probably blame one of my hero’s for making me fat! That single night started an obsession with drinking that involved me going out drinking heavily every Friday and Saturday of each week. By the time I’d turned 18 I’d started my first full time job which was in an office, the worst possible place for your health. A lunch of 2 large baps and a pint of milk was normal for me, I’d always ate a lot but now I was spending most of my day on my ass. Legally allowed in pubs I was now drinking every night of the week, 5 or 6 pints during the week and a good 13-14 pint session each night of the weekend. Because I was spending so much time in the pub food was an after thought and I started to live on take-aways from the local Chinese. Whilst this was all going on I also finished with my last martial art, I’d only just started Kung Fu when my instructor injured his knee so badly that he could no longer train, I took this as the excuse I needed to stop.
After 18 months of this lifestyle I had put on 3 stone and my health was beginning to suffer. I was regularly (every morning) throwing up blood and a trip to the doctors ended up with a trip to hospital, an endoscopy and the news that not only did I have a stomach ulcer but I’d also managed to split my stomach at some point and had a mighty scar. I was told to cut down on my drinking or be dead/very much dying by age 21. I listened and stopped drinking spirits, I became Mild/Bitter drinker instead. I honestly thought that would do the trick, I must have been mental! It wasn’t too long before I fell of the wagon and I was soon drinking most nights again, never ever to the extent that I did earlier but still too much. This carried on for another 3 years during which time my weight fluctuated all over the place (but always overweight), what little fitness I had left totally fell to pieces and I picked up a drink driving conviction. I was a mess. Luckily for me I then met the love of my, funnily enough on a night out. S and I hit it off immediately and less than 2 years later we we’re married. As part of the “package” I was also a dad to a little girl, this meant growing up very quickly, which I did. Knowing that whenever I do drink I tend to go overboard I’ve limited my drinking to the odd blowout session for a few years now. Hand on heart I can say that you can count my nights out now on 1 hand. If a doctor looked at my bad habits he’d probably think I was lying, I do nothing wrong, I hardly drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have that bad a diet. Over this time my weight has never shifted though. The weight I put on from years of drinking too much has never gone and if truth be told I know that as I approach 30 it’s never going to without more than a little help. It’s called metabolism and it will catch up with you. The Blog is all about me documenting that struggle.
I know losing weight is all about burning more than you put in, it’s what I used to preach to overweight people, now it’s my chance to put it to the test. I’ll either prove that diet and exercise work or I’ll end up looking like a complete tit!
