Where did my Journey begin?? This was me a little over 2 years ago, weighing in at 210lbs. Height 5 foot 8. Waist 36, Shirt size XL. Age 31, Borderline Type II Diabetes. What happened? How did I get to this point? From what I remember is when I was younger I was very active, I played hockey in a competitive league with lots of ice time and practice per week. At the age of 15 I was working in a restaurant as a bus boy. Unfortunately I had to quit hockey as this job required me to work nights and weekends. Money was great and the food was even better, it was so good that it was loaded with useless calories. At 16 my metabolism started to slow down, I was still eating like crap and not paying attention to what was happening. I was introduced to the world of liquor, ohh how sweet it was! Was it really, not really. More useless calories going into my system. At that age I did not realize what was really going on in my system... at all! I knew I liked to drink and I liked to eat, really bad combination. So while still working and going to school I met my first real girlfriend at the time weighed in at a whopping 145lbs (I still remember the ski rental sheet from our school trip where they ask you everything, it felt like I was being interviewed by Csis, I'm surprised they didn't pull out the rubber glove.) Back to my 1st girlfriend, I was 18 and in love. We would spend every waking second together. I wanted to treat her right by doing fun things. At 18 we really don't know what fun is until it's too late. I still lived at home and was making a couple hundred dollars per week from work, so I took her out to lots of restaurant's and we would take lots of trips which meant fast food. I got so comfortable with her that I had lost all sense in my health. The pounds started packing on 1 at a time, it was a landslide waiting to happen that started with a pebble. I had not know what this was leading to for me in the future. Fast forward 4 years, still with the same girl, one problem the landslide hit, I was now over 200lbs. Pretty soon after that the relationship ended but my relationship with beer and food didn't stop there.
By this point I was 23 years old and in college picking up government summer jobs that would pay over $1000 clear per 2 weeks, weekends I was working as assistant manager and bartender at another restaurant. So I was clearing almost 1K a week at the end of the day. Not to shabby for someone with no debts and no girlfriend. This was a huge disaster waiting to happen, worse then a landslide, it was borderline Armageddon. My friends and I would do nothing but go out (the ones who had money anyway). We had our weekly routines like most teenagers have now a days. Thursday night's it was 3 for 1 at the Caucus, Fridays we would start at the Windsor tavern and then work our way to the Alex for our routine of pitchers of shooters, yes pitchers! $5 shots forget that give me a pitcher full! We were high rollers making tons of cash(in our minds) and we were blowing it like it was going out of style. I remember telling my friend Jay (who worked at surgenors at the time) one night while I was hammered, "This is freaking awesome the money we make and how we can blow it like it's nothing, we can actually wipe our asses with hundred dollar bills" the truth is at the time we could. Saturday nights we did the same thing Windsor and then the Alex or sometimes just straight to the Alex.. So that's it for the weekend? Nope, some of us would hit up the bars on Sundays.. total cost of my 3-4 hangovers around $350-$500 a weekend... I am surprised I am still alive and not dead from liver disease or alcohol poisoning. One of our famous nights out I downed a Smirnoff Ice, loaded with Sugar, after that I had what we used to call a panic attack. Hard time breathing, red in the face, hot, couldn't talk. This was very borderline Type II diabetes.
I still didn't get the "Wake up call" to do something with myself. I always had the attitude "I am who I am and if you don't like it too bad for you" I would not change for anyone. From this point on I had the occasional girlfriend here and there but nothing serious, the bars slowed down as everyone was moving on with there lives and I was partying every night like it was new years eve 1999. I was still obese, but in the mirror I wasn't. People would tell me "Holy F**K you got fat" Seriously I was like whatever, my "Don't like me attitude kicked in" I would never cook food and always eat out and sleep for 12-14 hours a night and play video games..
At one point in 2007 I was getting fed up with my weight, and started trying magic pills to loose it. I was loosing more money then fat. Finally I heard all the craze about the Nintendo WII, so I bought one hoping it would escalate my calorie burning.. It didn't do squat, playing Zelda will not help you loose weight.. doohh. Wii fit came along and the commercials looked very cool! Alright lets give this a shot, 30-45 minutes per night, 1lb-1.5lbs per week lost... wow this thing is actually working. I continued on until I hit a wall around the 180 mark, not bad down 30lbs. I gave up and said, "This is useless I'm working my a$$ off and there are no results!" I'm stuck like a 3 foot wide fat man walking through a 2 foot wide door. Back to food binging and more useless calories.. By 2008 I was back to 210lbs.. 210lb seemed like a magic number, I could consume 3000 calories a day for a week straight and not budge, why couldn't that happen at 155lbs??
At the end of 2008 I decided to change my life abit and take the plunge and buy a house. August 15th I moved out and on my own, not knowing anything about city taxes to garbage nights.. This was scary, not as scary as "Yay!! I get to do groceries and eat what I buy" Can you say heart attack waiting to happen!! Chips, cookies, chocolate bars, candy, 2-3 cases of 24 cans of Pepsi a week, a 24 of beer a week, pizza take out processed foods yummmyyy this was heaven!! Oh my I am seriously going to die and I won't see my 35th birthday. What the hell was I thinking?? Seriously??
So here I am in my house at the age of 31 and the year is 2009. I got into contact with my uncle who then turned into my best friend, I was a home body per say and did not like going out and spending money in bars. We would get together and do renovations on my house, we did the siding and then the deck for my new hot tub.. Hot tub, 2 cars, 4 bedroom 2 bathroom house with an 80" TV in the basement and single? This can be dangerous very dangerous. You guessed it, my hot tub was a party machine. I would have people come over every 2nd weekend when I didn't have my amazing son and we would drink our faces off in my hot tub and watch the sun come up. I met so many people including girls I never met before in my life.
After awhile I was getting lonely in the girlfriend department, someone I could confide in and cuddle to a movie. I started telling people that I was officially on the market and was ready to settle. I was introduced to some girls throughout the year but none of them really caught my eye. Until one day when my sister had a girl lined up for me. She sent me the info and let it sit for a few days, finally I emailed the girl. What a bounce back? Is this even her email? Finally I got the right co-ordinates lol. Sent her an email and we played email tag for a few days. Finally we went out on a date, during the date we were talking about weight and she had mentioned that she was heavy at one point 45lbs heavier to be exact. I was intrigued by this and asked how she did it. I had told her that I tried to loose weight a few times and gave up.. The night ended and we went our separate ways literally... We stayed in contact through MSN and Facebook even though this relationship would go no where as per dating.
November 2009 I took some of her words that she said about weight loss and started to adapt them to my everyday life. I was in my kitchen that night and told myself F**K you fat you can go to hell! I took some of her words "Garbage in the Garbage or Garbage in My Body" I rifled through my fridge and pantry throwing out about $150 worth of food from Pepsi, to chips, Ice cream. I wanted to start on a clean slate. I started watching what I was eating and really focusing on calories, carbs, sugar and sodium. I would walk into Maxi, my local Grocery Store and spent literally 2 hours there, reading labels and ending up buying $70 worth of food. Once I got home I cracked out the wii fit and started to do 30 minutes a day. I wasn't focusing much on what games were out there for the wii seeing I was logging 40+ hours of PS3 a week easy. My sister told me about this really cool workout game with challenges, EA Sports ACTIVE. A week later I bought it and started to work out on it, every night I would do my wii fit weigh in and my weight kept dropping .1 .2 of a lb per night. I was on a roll I just had to keep my momentum going. On December 3rd it was my last weigh in of the year at 197lbs I dropped 13lbs. Christmas was around the corner so working out was going to be tough. So I really had to guesstimate what to eat and what not to eat over the holidays. 31 days went by without working out, Jan 6th I decided to pick up my EA Active and get going! 30 minutes went by and I do my weigh in, I was shitting my pants waiting for the stupid thing to tell me i gained weight and was back to obese, was I ever wrong I had lost 8lbs!! Are you serious! I was ecstatic! It was like winning the lottery, I felt like a contestant on the Biggest Looser, it was a breath of fresh air and that got me going even more to the point where I told myself "I can do this and I am going to do this! One month with no working out and I still lost weight" I had to go out and buy a scale to see if this was true or not! I never wanted a scale but thought this was a good way to keep going. The scale did not lie! Here I was at 189lbs! This really motivated me to keep going!! This was exciting!! The days would go buy and I didn't forget about that date I had back in November 2009. The lbs were shedding off a little at a time. I told my friend Julie about this adventure and she told me I should get into running "Running? Seriously? I run to the corner and I'm winded and I live on a corner" So I signed up for a 5K during May's Ottawa Race weekend. I went out and bought my shoes, mp3 player running socks etc... I introduced the couch to 5K into my workout's along side my sister who ended up registering for her first 5K with me. January came and gone, but once February hit, it was go time, the holidays were officially over and it was time to crunch it back down and try to loose 2lbs a week so I could hit my 150's (my optimal Body Mass Index) by the time I end up going to Arizona to visit my parents who didn't have a clue about my weight loss(thanks to all my friends who didn't say anything or post pictures on FB) At this point my clothes were really not fitting me anymore, I found that I was buying clothes left right and center and spending money like crazy.
February was a very good month, although it was a short 28 days, I managed to do the 3 week challenge on Medium on EA Sports Active. I ended up buying the 2nd game in the series EA Sports Active More Workouts. It had more exercises and had a 6 week challenge! I'm up for challenges, so popped it in and gave it a go. A few weeks went by and the weight was still coming off a great pace, I was on track to my BMI by April 1st. February 22nd rolled around and I woke up in the morning around 5:30am, went to pee had a shower and then was doing my infamous Monday morning weigh in on my scale. the last Monday in February.... The scale was taking forever to throw me my number, did I go up did I go down? I felt great and confidant this time.. Then it came up 165.2lbs! Right on!! Holy shit I'm 5.2lbs away from being in the 150's almost 45 lbs lost from the end of November to the end of February! This was unreal! Was I dreaming??
So the last few days of Feb came and gone in a heart beat, come the following Monday it was a new month and only a month till I see my parents. For awhile during some of my runs I was talking to my sister during our runs about the girl I dated and how when I hit 158lbs that I would send her some flowers and donate $1 for every lb I lost to the her race weekend who she was running for Team Diabetes. It was a nice way of thanking her for lighting the fire under my ass and getting me into shape. I felt like a million dollars and looked great, I couldn't believe the transformation. I would walk by the mirror at my house and say "Damn that guy is good looking, oh wait that's me, that can't be me, stupid mirror must be broken, where is my gut? Where's my boobs? My triple chin? What the hell is that!! Oh it's an Adam's apple, that thing went MIA for about 15 years. Holy shit I can see my winky when I pee!" Monday morning of March 1st I made my way to the scale alright come on big number!! What is this the biggest looser? 2lbs gone, alrighty I am happy with that! inching closer to my goal. I think I had a bad week that week and only lost 1lb the following week bringing me to 162lbs.. A little less then 3 weeks to go before I visit my folks have to loose at least 2 more lbs, that's what I would say, I can do this and will do this!! I have never committed to anything in my life and I was not ready to give up my journey.
The week went by and the calories were still being counted, I was still climbing 5+ flights of stairs 3-4 times a day at work. I could feel the air flowing through my hair.. wtf.. I picked up Jeremy from Daycare that Friday and we hung out and did some exercising during the weekend. Monday rolled around and I was crapping my pants, 2 weeks to go, I pulled a low number last week, lets hope I can do 2lbs. I get on the scale, the bar is flashing, the sweat is running down my face, it was my 32nd birthday, come on big number!! 158lbs on the dot!! Wow happy birthday to me!! in the 150's, I was so excited that I literally had tears in my eyes from the hard work and dedication that I did for myself and my son's future.
I remember going into work that morning and thinking about that date and that girl, although we still had communication going on she had no idea about what was coming to her that night.. Lunch time rolled around and I had typed up a nice thank you letter and sealed it in an envelope. I rolled down to the florist and got her some nice flowers in a vase to be delivered after 5pm. The envelope was included with the flowers. On my way back to work I was sweating bullets, I didn't know if she was seeing someone. And if she was, it was just to say thanks. Once I got to work I went online and followed up on my commitment with my sister. Team Diabetes Donation of $52. I was anxious to get home that day hoping to get a phone call from her. Of course she called and we talked for about 2 hours. She ended up wanting to see me in person to see what I look like. Not a problem I was going to St-Laurent with Julie to get some new clothes. So Friday19th of March I woke up on my CDO and headed to Ottawa to see Julie at The Ottawa Athletic club did a 30 minute session on a crazy machine. Hit the showers and waited for her to finish work. Got in the car and told Julie that I was nervous for some reason. I didn't know what to expect and didn't know what my mind was telling me. We arrived at St-Laurent and started shopping around various stores, so date girl texted me and said "hey I'm here, where are you?" We were inside the Gap looking at some size 29 jeans... heheh 29 I was a 36! So she walked in, and walked right by me. "Hey Catherine!" I yelled. She didn't even recognize me, after all the last time she saw me I was 52lbs heavier!
The last time that I have on record for weighing myself before Arizona was March 22nd at 154.4lbs I had lost 3.6lbs in that week of my birthday.
The couch to 5K kept going, even when I was in AZ. I sorta tried to eat healthy when I was there.. Yeah right the Calories went out the window!!! I kept exercising and maintained my weight. When I arrived home from being in AZ for 12 days I had gained about 2lbs. Not too bad, but I wasn't thrilled either. I got back on the horse and started working out again and running.
The big day was coming up Ottawa Race weekend 2010 5K! I was nervous at first but had Catherine and Karrie by my side at the start. I remember when the gun went off and plopped my ear buds in and looked at Catherine and said "good luck!" I looked at my sister and said "Good luck" gave them both a kiss and cranked the volume to Terry Bevvan's Cheese 6. I was so pumped at this point, over 9000 people at the start line for the 5K and I was one of them! I thought I would never make it here or see myself here, the adrenaline was unreal, it was such a rush, like a drug! I took off through the crowd following Catherine as it wasn't her first race. We were cutting in and out of people walking and jogging. I had a grin on my face as we passed the start line, this was incredible I couldn't believe I was doing this. I could hear the crowd cheering us on, over my music, this is so cool I thought to myself it's like the Boston marathon, but 37.2kms shorter lol As I followed Catherine through about the first half K, the crowed was dispersing and there was room to run. That's what I came to do, RUN! A fire lit my ass as Black eyed peas were yelling "Go out and smash it Like Oh My God Jump off that sofa Let's get get OFF" I took off like a bat out of hell. I passed Catherine and didn't look back. Some spots I had to walk, after all this was new to me and pacing wasn't in my head at the time, I think I was overwhelmed that I was running a 5K. I crossed the Pretoria bridge to come back, I was almost done 4km marker coming up. Alright I got this! I am going to finish no matter what! 750m to go, my legs are starting to kill. Revolver by Modonna was blaring in my ears here comes the 500m marker I'm almost done I can taste it! Actually I was tasting the sweat running down my face. This is where the real adrenaline kicks in, even though my mind was saying "Tony walk for 5 seconds" my legs were saying "Tony it's go time, pick up the pace and give it your all to the finish!" I crossed the finish line at 30:15! I could not believe it, holy shit I just ran a 5K race, I think I'm going to cry! No actually I'm going to die! Met Julie at the finish line (she was a big motivator to get me into running, thanks Julie!) We chatted for a few minutes then Catherine came across. 10 minutes went by, "Where's Karrie?? Hope she's alright" The finish line clock was past the 50 minute mark. Oh there she is!! "Karrie!!! Over here!! Holy shit we did it!! We ran a 5K!!"
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| Karrie, Myself and Catherine After our 5K May 2010! |
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| Army run 2010 27:01!! |
Now the rest is history! Catherine, my weight loss and our running!! Is still going strong! Since that April, Catherine, Julie and I did the Cancer 12 hour relay for life, Catherine Karrie and I did the 5K Army run which I came in at 27:01 without walking! Catherine and I did the 5km walk for the Canadian Cancer Society. Karrie ran the Resolution run on Dec 31st (Way to go Karrie!!!) Now Catherine and I are set to run the 10K run in May for Team Diabetes! I need to raise $500 by May in order to race! Email me or visit my FB page at the bottom of my Wall to donate!
The days were going by and I was busting my ass at working out and watching what I eat, it was tough but it was a good healthy lifestyle change.
Below is my Offical Weight Loss chart from my weekly weigh in!
Here is my weight loss tracker
| Date | Weight | |
| Nov 20th 2009 | 210 | |
| November 25th 2009 | 205 | |
| December 3rd 2009 | 197 | |
| January 6th 2010 | 189 | |
| January 11th 2010 | 185 | |
| January 18th 2010 | 180.8 | |
| January 28th 2010 | 177.2 | |
| Febuary 1st 2010 | 176 | |
| Febuary 8th 2010 | 170.2 | |
| Febuary 15th 2010 | 167.4 | |
| February 22nd 2010 | 165.2 | |
| March 1st 2010 | 163 | |
| March 8th 2010 | 162 | |
| March 15th 2010 | 158 | |
| March 22nd 2010 | 154.4 | |
| Goal | 52 | |
| Total Lost | 55.6 | |
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