Fat Guy Diary

Tag: grace

  • 2017, WHAT A YEAR!

    2017, WHAT A YEAR!

    2017 was a great year and another turning point for me. It was a year of self-evaluation, self-determination, prayer, commitment, gratitude, love, and amazing opportunity. It was a year that will make me smile for a long long time!

    The journey to 2017 was tough, rocky and filled with struggle. I struggled with the aftermath of my car accident in April 2015. The neck, shoulder, and back issues wore me down and dealing with the insurance company was/is an ugly experience. While I tried to stay in bounds, I saw my weight rise to 260 pounds in January of 2017! This is a very short version of pre-2017 events and circumstances.

    In January of 2017, I committed to a major reset. While still dealing with issues related to my injury, I worked to find a path out of where I was at 260 pounds. The 260 pounds became overwhelming and brought back the hopeless feelings I had experienced at 360 pounds in 2009. These feelings were scary, but made me understand something about myself and many people I had talked with about my journey over 8 years. When you head down the road of hopelessness you start thinking ‘this is it, I can’t get out of this hole, it’s just too deep’! I’ve seen it in me and many others. It is not a good feeling.

    So, I decided to set a course ‘out of the fire’ and work to help others do the same:

    • I committed to follow my nutrition plan to work toward the results I wanted and knew I could attain. I did this with the amazing Nutritional Cleansing system of Isagenix and the great products they provided for my journey.
    • I committed to trying to find some way, some path to deal with my pain and injury.
    • I committed to figuring out ways to get my exercise routine on track while being mindful of the restrictions my injury had placed on me.
    • I committed to the Isabody Challenge and becoming Isabody Champion.
    • Most importantly, I committed to ‘taking care of ME’. I committed to putting my head and heart in the game and totally committed to reaching my goals.

    In doing all of this I want you to know ‘YOU CAN ESCAPE THE DEEP HOLE OF HOPELESSNESS’. If you feel like you cannot climb out of that hole, I am telling you, YOU CAN! Get your head and heart aligned and committed to getting out and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish!

    Things I have accomplished this year since getting my head and heart aligned have been:

    • I was gifted with the opportunity to write in a book ‘A Journey of Riches-Personal Changes’. Many thanks to Casey Plouffe and John Spender for this opportunity! My section is titled ‘Hopeless to Amazed’.
    • I was able to lose 43 pounds from January to December and totally retool my body! Thanks to Total Gym, Isagenix, Dr. Hunter, Dr. Llop, Alvie Shepherd, Isabody Challenge, and more recently, OrangeTheory thanks to Chris Spina, Julie Thomas, and the great coach/trainer, Keith Hardwick Jr      
    • I was fortunate to have a good friend/lawyer, Joe Epting, deal with the insurance company! Thanks buddy!
    • I was able to become a contributing writer with Oblique Magazine of Charleston. This came about because of a chance conversation with John Di Giovanni in Starbucks in August. I thank him for allowing me to bend his ear that day and then inviting me into his magazine.
    • I was able to get back into speaking with the SCSNA conference in October thanks to Todd Bedenbaugh and my brother, Walter Campbell! (This leads into an appearance in Georgetown County this month!)
    • And the most important piece for me is helping more and more people find physical and financial freedom through Isagenix and our HIA Team. Thanks to Casey Plouffe, our team, and Isagenix for EVERYTHING!

    Last thing! I believe! I believe you can do anything when you commit your head and heart to the goal. I believe I can do anything when I commit my head and heart to the goal. I believe in God, I believe in ME, I believe in family, I believe in country, and I believe in YOU!

    Note to Me and YOU: Believe and Achieve!

    TheFatGuy

    TheFitGuy

    TheBEAST

    PS 2018 is gonna be one kick ass year for me!!

  • A message from my wife about my obesity

    A message from my wife about my obesity

    Below is a message from my wonderful wife, Polly, which is the lead into my story which I give away on my website. It will give you a small idea of how my obesity impacted the love of my life.

    A message from TheFatGuy’s wife, POLLY:

    Just how big are you going to get…

    After Michael left his non-profit job, he just sat around getting bigger and bigger and more and more depressed. He was struggling with ending a dream of working with a children’s non-profit and it was killing him. He was also struggling with how he would start over as a 360+ pound, 50+ year old man in a society that is so geared to the young and pretty.

    He self-medicated with food…all kinds of food: ice cream, candy, chips, soda. And he often ate after eating. Remember the pre-barbecue scene in Gone With the Wind where Scarlett had to eat before the party so she ate like a lady at the party? Well, Michael would leave a family reunion where there was tons of food and he had eaten a huge meal and stop at the convenience store for candy and a coke to make the trip home. And not just one item but several: junior mints, Mike and Ikes, jelly beans, milk duds.

    Or he would buy a 100 count box of Freeze Pops and bring 6 or 8 to bed and eat them while we were watching TV. And I would cringe as he ate them and I would feel pissed when I threw the wrappers in the trash. But I never said anything because we didn’t discuss the elephant in the room. I remember feeling desperate and angry.

    At one point, I became overwhelmed and frustrated with his self destructive behavior. I remember going to work one morning and telling my friend Missee, “I’m going to ask Michael, “Just how big are you going to get?” Her eyes got really big and she said, “Maybe you should put that in a letter.”

    Well, I never wrote the letter or had the conversation, but my vibe must have been strong…because in early March of 2009, Michael started on a health journey that continues to this day.

     (Note: TheFatGuy was dramatically impacting the person HE loved most!)

  • 30 YEARS!!! This is dedicated to the ONE I LOVE! #blessed #thankful

    You may say 30 years is a LONG time. It is and it isn’t. The last 30 years has flown by when it comes to my life with my wonderful wife. We have experienced all of the highs and lows of life and marriage. We have been up and down, right and wrong, happy and sad, and through it all we have come out with 30 years of great memories.wedding pic

    I must say, I have been the clear winner in our relationship. I have benefited in so many ways from Polly being in my life, putting up with my ups and downs, dealing with my weight, job demands, and ME. Polly has been the significant force that has allowed me to accomplish anything important in life. I am thankful for Polly for a number of reasons and I will list a few of the BIG ones here:

    • Polly supported and loved me through a majority of my 28 ½ year career in Ops Management at the SC Port Authority. She saw me go from terminal to terminal and operation to operation. She dealt with my all-in attitude and supported long hours and intense focus on the job at hand while not focusing as much on her and other things in my life. Anyone that I was able to positively impact during my time there has Polly to thank because she supported me and loved me unconditionally while I was investing time in others.
    • Polly supported my decision to leave the Ports Authority the last day of December 2004 to chase a dream of saving a nonprofit that had become near and dear to my heart, the local Boys & Girls Clubs. She knew I would go ALL-IN and she knew it would mean much time invested in the kids and organization with less time invested in her. She supported the 70 hour weeks for 3 ½ years and she loved me through it all. She loved me through going from 300 to 360 pounds. She loved me through an injury I sustained the summer of 2006 and drove me everywhere I needed to be. She loved me even though my weight, health, mind, and soul were becoming worn out and wore down. She loved me even though she was scared for my life with all of the health issues the weight and lifestyle had lumped on me.
    • Polly has done many things for me during our relationship, many significant things. The most significant to me was saving my life in February 2009. She told me “The Fire Story” that quite literally saved my life. It was the story that created that AHA moment that started me on my journey of weight loss. It was the story that got me to see I needed to Take Care of ME if I was ever going to be able to help and support anyone else in my life. It created that spark and momentum for me to lose 150 pounds. This helped me to shed 7 medications, a CPAP machine, and other health related issues.

    febr 12 2009a_1

    To say I am a much better person with Polly Porter-Campbell in my life is an understatement. She is the spark that makes me go, she is the light that guides my way, she is the love of my life that completes me in so many ways.

    Thank You Polly for agreeing to marry me 30 years ago today! Thank You Polly for making this roller coaster ride so enjoyable and meaningful. Thank You for being YOU!

    Note to ME and YOU: My prayer for all of us is that we have at least one person in our lives that supports us, loves us for who we are, and sometimes saves our life.

    PPC and MFC AUg 8 2015

  • Amazing Grace

    My mom passed away last week after suffering a massive stroke. We had 4 ½ days to come together as a family and say goodbye to my mom before she passed. Although it was hard, I am grateful for the time our family had to say goodbye and extremely thankful I have/had her as my mom. I say have, because she will always be with me and I will always see her in my brothers, her grandkids, and our family. I will see her through others eyes and stories. She will always be with me, watching over me.

    My brothers and I (The Boys) gave mom a final farewell at her wake last Friday night. We all spoke of how we saw our mom and how she touched our lives. As I moved forward to speak, I explained to those gathered that I had an unfair advantage over the other boys, as my mom had given me direction and the 2 words I would use to frame my memory of her.

    First the 2 words. Those words are “Amazing Grace”. My mom lived life with amazing grace in all that she did. She would always be well dressed and perfectly manicured. She would put June Cleaver to shame. In doing all of the basic mom stuff (that fulltime job that many of us take for granite) she always looked great, dressed great, and carried herself with, well, Amazing Grace. I always remember her singing at home, in musicals, at church, everywhere. In all circumstances she sang with great passion and power with the grace God had bestowed on her. Even doing a shopping ad for a food store named Big Star, she looked amazing and so graceful promoting her weekly savings. She lived life with Amazing Grace!

    The word Amazing jumped out of the 2 words in a conversation with my nephew, Robert, about mom on the front porch of my parent’s house. He and his wife, Roberta, had just arrived I Charleston and we were enjoying the beautiful day and wonderful memories of mom. We both agreed that our family was Amazing and it was Amazing because of my mom, his grandmother. It was Amazing because she was Amazing in her great love for us and faith I us. She always believed in us even when we may not have believed in ourselves. She would have masses said for us and talk highly of things we had done and would do. It is belief and love like hers that can carry you through many tough situations, many tough days. She was Amazing in her belief in God and that God would see us through any situation. She gave us all a foundation in life that would allow us to become the best version of us. What more could we ask for? She was that rock, that Amazing rock that always stood strong for her and us. I will miss her dearly.

    About now you are probably wondering how mom gave me the direction and 2 words to use. It may be hard to believe, but she gave me those 2 words after her stroke and before she passed away last Tuesday. I was in my mom’s hospital room with my dad watching over her and hoping she could hear us. I am now pretty sure she did hear me that day. As I leaned over to kiss her on the forehead I heard the slightest sound of Amazing Grace being played on the bagpipes. I turned to my dad and said can you here that? He said what he heard nothing. I said Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. I walked to the door of the room and no longer heard the faint sound. I attributed the sound to too many hours without sleep and the stress of the situation. I returned to my mom’s side and held her hand, the hand that held a baseball we had all signed for her. She loved baseball, the Braves, her nephew Sean that played baseball, and all things baseball. As I held her hand that gripped the baseball, I heard it again, Amazing Grace, the bagpipes. I was sure I heard it. My dad once again heard nothing. I quickly went to the door and hear NOTHING! I was now thinking mom was having a last laugh with me. As I returned to my mom’s side, I heard Amazing Grace on the bagpipes playing one more time. This time I walked to the door and still heard it. I looked down the long hall with all of the doors closed and heard it a little louder. I walked down the hall turned toward the elevator and saw my wife, Polly, Sitting on a bench playing Amazing Grace from a YouTube clip she had found on her phone. She wanted to Play it for mom! Now I know some of you will say it was all coincidence. Well, given the timing of how it all played out, I know my mom was giving me one last message, one last bit of direction, one last ‘I believe in you’.Moms Baseball

    Thanks MOM for all you have done for me and everyone. Thanks for the love, faith, and belief. Thanks for continuing to watch over us. I love you now and always!

    Note to ME and YOU: One person can make an Amazing impact on this world with their great love and belief in God and belief in those around them. If you are not sure about that, let me introduce you to my MOM!

    A grateful son, Michael