A geek's weight loss diary - Day 1

Journal bravehamster's Journal: A geek's weight loss diary - Day 1 1

Journal by bravehamster on Wednesday February 11, 2004 @05:11PM

Well, the day has come. Time to begin my diet. Why you ask? I'm getting married in a few months, that's why, and I don't want to look like a stuff sausage standing next to my lovely bride-to-be. Throw in a few morsels of self-loathing, and top with health reasons, stir and serve cold, to enhance the flavor, and you've got some damn good reasons for me to get off my ass. To start with, a bit of backstory:

I used to be...well not skinny, but not overweight either. I played football, wrestled and ran track in high school. After high school I was accepted into the US Naval Academy. Staying in shape there was not a problem. *Really* not a problem. Everything was going hunky-dory until the summber between my first and second year (plebe and youngster years). That's when I ran into a problem in the form of a 14-foot Boston Whaler and its rapidly spinning prop.

We were doing an exercise called Cast and Retrieve, something Navy SEALs do on a regular basis. Basically you're floating in the water and the boat drives alongside, you stick your arm into a rubber hoop and are pulled into the boat. This way the boat doesn't have to slow down and become a sitting duck while they retrieve SEALs from the water. Works pretty good as long as the boat doesn't drive right over the top of you. Which is what happened to yours truly. Did a nasty number on my right foot and lower leg. I had to be airlifted to the Baltimore Trauma Center, one of the best trauma centers in the world. Thankfully they were able to save my leg, after 4 surgeries.

Recovery was long and basically a pain in the ass. The walking cast they gave me had to stay on for 5 months. After my youngster year ended and I still hadn't fully healed, I had a decision to make. Finish out my 4 years at the Academy and then take up a desk job for the next 5 (minimum service obligation for academy grads), or resign from the service. I decided that spending 5 years as a Supply Clerk was not going to be my cup of tea, and tendered my resignation. Since then I've been working in IT, and now I'm running a small computer store.

I'm pretty happy with how my life has turned out so far. But this injury has continued to plague me. Walking long distances or running pose quite a problem. And I've let that effect me. For the last 3 years my lifestyle has become increasingly sedentary, and my weight has ballooned out of control.

I'm going to change all that, starting right now. And anyone who reads this will be my witness. Tomorrow, I'll fill in some more information on the technical details of my mass re-structuring.

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