Do I Look Fat In This?

A little history… I was raised by a mother and father who were raised in the mountains of eastern Kentucky in the 1930’s and 40’s. They were taught to eat lard and flour at every meal. Anything else was a bonus. 

I mean think about it…biscuits and gravy for breakfast, pork fat and biscuits for lunch and of course whatever was in season (deer, squirrel, rabbit) for dinner with biscuits and gravy. Sunday there was usually fried chicken involved and yup, biscuits and gravy. Every meal was a gift and you had better eat every bite regardless of the taste… add lard or flour to taste. So, as I grew up I was shown the diet that my parents knew… both parents were over weight…shock, shock. This situation was further complicated by the “fast food” explosion. I, like 90% of America was all in on the McDonald’s train wreck.

I was very athletic in high school and had several offers to play college baseball and football but I went into the family business, coal mining. So I managed to keep my weight tolerable (250-275) until my mid twenties. That was my first significant orthopedic surgery…we’ll get back to that… My diet was so bad that even in the military I managed to find the wrong foods in 30 different countries. Seriously, countries full of skinny people and I managed to gain weight.

The coal mines played out and I joined the Navy. Much of the physical labor I was doing in the mines went away with the pickax. My job in the Navy was hi tech so there was a lot of sitting involved. I did the mandatory physical training while in the military but there was no nutrition police so it was a food celebration every day. I mean, free food 4 times a day c’mon, add lard and flour and military food isn’t too bad. Okay, you get the drift.

Now in my late twenties I went through 4 serious orthopedic surgeries (Achilles reconstruction, both AC joints removed, and heel bone arch reattachment) due to my body failing under athletic stress. Looking back I understand why I had so many injuries. I was entirely too fat to be playing ball, period. So I got on the couch and continued to eat the food that brought me so much comfort, the food that took me back home, the food that was cheap and always available… lard and flour. Only by now high fructose corn syrup had been added to make everything taste better!!!!!

This goes on for twenty years and we are now back to the 48 year old, 376 pound, scared to death individual who had absolutely no hope.

Hope arrives…