Fat Guy Diary

Tag: why

  • 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!!

  • My ‘why’ has gotten bigger!

    My ‘why’ has gotten bigger!

    My ‘why’ has gotten bigger!

    I WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE combating our obesity epidemic!

    My passion is to be healthy, fit, and strong enough to best help my family, friends, and community. It is my ‘why’ and it keeps me moving forward on my journey through all the highs and lows I experience.  I have worked on this for the past 8 ½ years. I am not perfect, but I am in a much better place to pursue my passion and live my ‘why’.

    Now, my ‘why’ is expanding! I want to change the obesity epidemic that plagues our country. With a third of our country obese and another third headed that way, I must do something! I want to sound the alarm! I want to wake people up! I want to turn the tide on this cursed epidemic that has become our health care crisis. It is truly a disaster!

    WHY? Because I have found my way out of my own personal fire and want to lead others out of their fire!

    I help people by coaching, nutrition support, giving away my story at fatguydiary.com, and volunteering with organizations, such as, Eat Smart Move More Charleston Tri-County. But, I feel this is not near enough for me. I have a burning desire to make a bigger difference! Bu how?

    I just finished a project that was published this month called “A Journey of Riches Personal Changes”. My contribution was a section titled “Hopeless to Amazed”. I wrote “Hopeless to Amazed” by digging deeper on my journey and because I see so many people that feel they are hopeless to change their lives, change their destiny. I want people to know they CAN change their life, they CAN change their destiny!

    My starting point is simple. I am doing more speaking engagements starting October 20th and I am working on a grocery store guide with Eat Smart Move More CTC. I am looking for more opportunities to sound the alarm and give people the hope they need to start their journeys.

    I am also excited to say I am embarking on a new writing project that I have been working on since early August. A chance meeting, has brought me together with someone that is giving me the opportunity to have a bigger voice to help give people some hope and direction out of obesity and unhealthy lifestyle toward a healthier happier future. This news will be coming soon!!!!

    Note to ME and YOU: It is going to take ALL of us to turn our obesity epidemic around! Let’s do it!

     

  • 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!)

  • What’s your WHY?

    Something I have been thinking about and dwelling on recently is “What’s your WHY?”   It is something I have had to come to grips with a number of times in my life. Most times my “WHY” just jumps out at me. I have an AHA moment that changes my life. Other times, I have to think about it, pray about it, and have it come to me.

    The Fat Guy on the Bridge

    Why change my life? Why quit drinking? Why quit smoking? Why change careers when I am at the peak of one? Why lose weight after being overweight all my life? All of these are actual “Why’s” in my lifetime. As I look back I know I have been driven by my “Why’s”.

    My “Why” may have been a little different in each situation, but they all came back to ‘me becoming a better me to best help and serve my family, friends and community. I have always enjoyed helping others in my life and have learned the hard lesson that I needed to help me, so I could be the best me to help others.

    Do you know your “WHY”? If you want to make any substantial change in your life, know your “Why”, embrace your “Why”, and own your “Why”. Some things to do, some questions to ask to find your why:

    • Write it down
    • What are the first thoughts that come to mind?
    • How do you want to make a difference?
    • What are you passionate about?
    • What makes you feel alive?

    Find your “Why” and YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!

    Note to ME and YOU: Embrace your “WHY” and change your life, change the world!

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  • LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING!> LAUGHING

    LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING!> LAUGHING

    This is the final post on my tagline Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! The focus of today’s post is Laughing. Laughing can be defined as: 1.a: to show emotion with a chuckle or explosive vocal sound b: to find amusement or pleasure in something  2. to be of a kind that inspires joy.

    TheFatGuy did not do much laughing in the years leading up to March 2009. I never felt much like laughing and did not find much that amused me. I could not find it in ME to laugh at myself or the amusing things that crossed my path each day. My weight was a wall holding out laughter and the fun we should all have in life. I was serious all the time between wrestling with saving a nonprofit and dealing with my ever ‘growing’ weight problem. I did not have the time to laugh! I did not have the energy to laugh! I think I had forgotten how to laugh!

    My eyes came wide open and my mind cleared on making the decision to start my journey in March 2009, The walls came down and I realized how much I was missing and how much I needed to laugh. Laughing became as critical to my journey as Living, Loving, and Losing. I learned laughing at ME and the simple things going on in life around ME was a good thing, a great thing. I found laughing made it much easier to choose a positive attitude each morning. Laughing just plain made ME feel better.

    How does laughing make you feel better? Laughing can be good exercise! Laughing reduces stress and can help you be healthy! The level of stress hormones may actually drop when you are laughing. Laughing releases tension, anger, endorphins, and more.

    Turns out Laughing was the perfect prescription for ME. Losing 150 pounds and laughing again turned out to be the perfect prescription to get me off of 7 different prescription medications. Just what the doctor ordered!

    Note to ME and YOU: Laughing makes things SO MUCH BETTER!

    TheFatGuy

  • LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING!> LOSING

    LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING!> LOSING

    This is my third post on my tagline Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! The focus today is Losing. Losing is fairly simple by  definition: 1. resulting in or likely to result in defeat < losing a battle> 2. marked by many losses <pounds>.

    Let’s take the pounds first. Losing weight, as in 150 pounds, was the most important goal between March 2, 2009 and February 27, 2010. I had to lose this weight or suffer the current and future consequences of carrying around 360 pounds plus on a 6 foot frame. I had to learn how to lose and how to take care of myself physically. I continue to work on maintenance today and how I gain and lose weight. I look at how I gain and lose muscle and fat and how that works for ME. I have learned a lot about losing weight and continue to learn how to manage those gains and losses.

    I think . Not the pounds, but the losing we experience every day in life. These losses helped to fuel my stress and binge eating. Managing these losses is as important as managing each pound. I knew in June of 2010 that we were going to lose my father-in-law, Garvin. As we dealt with this coming loss, Polly and I were able to rearrange our lives to deal with the loss her dad and help her mom, dad and family with the loss. Managing my highs and lows during this period was hard, but taught me a great deal about life, losing, and winning. Losing Garvin was tough but also taught ME a lot about ME and life.

    Also, sometimes we have to choose a timely loss to reach our ultimate goals. Other times we take a loss, learn from it and move on to develop a winning strategy. Defining what winning looks like to ME is very important. I know I cannot WIN every situation or every battle in life. But I do know I can say the Serenity Prayer and change the things I can in life. I can WIN the WINS that are important to ME.

    So, learning how to deal with losing is very important to ME. I also know that the worst type of losing  or failure is failing to try. I pray I always have the courage to change the things I can and WIN the fights I need to WIN.

    Note to ME and YOU: God grant me the serenity
    to accept the things I cannot change;
    courage to change the things I can;
    and wisdom to know the difference.

    TheFatGuy

  • Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing!> Loving

    Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing!> Loving

    This is my second post on my tagline Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! The focus today is the word Loving. Loving is defined as: 1. to have love or affection for 2. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for. 3. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in.

    In February 2009 I did not feel like a Loving person. At 360 pounds I felt many negative feelings, few positive feelings, and few loving feelings. All of this started with ME. I did not love ME. Well, maybe I should restate that, I did love ME, but did not love what I had become. I was obese, unhealthy, tired, and not a happy person. I did not want to be the 360 pound 53 year old guy with way to many health issues. I did not know how to love ME or help ME. Because of this I do not feel I was doing a good job loving others. I could not help myself, so how could I help others, how could I love others?   I was not in a good place in February 2009.

    On March 2, 2009 I got what I needed to start Loving ME again! I got a healthy dose of ‘tough love’ for ME from ME. The ‘tough love’ came in the form of being brutally honest with ME. I looked in the mirror that morning bundling all of problems and issues under one heading> TheFatGuy. TheFatGuy in the mirror had a lot of baggage to deal with but he was going to start dealing with it that day and it would be the first day of a journey he would take for the rest of his life. I started liking and loving ME a whole lot more that day and every day since. I feel I have become better at loving others since that day, because I now know I love ME and continue to build on the person I want to be and I love to be. I have become a better tool for helping others, loving others, and Loving God. The big constant in all of my ups and downs was prayer to God for guidance and wisdom. I do not know that I was always prepared for the answers or guidance God offered, but I do know I was prepared for it on March 2, 2009 thanks to God!

    To put things in a nutshell, Loving was a passive state for ME in 2009, while it is an active state for ME now. I am in a constant state of looking for ways to better improve and serve ME to love ME, and in turn to better serve and love God and others.

     

    Note to ME and YOU: Are you Loving the way you want to Love? Are you Loving the way you can Love?

    TheFatGuy

  • LIVING, LOVING, LOSING, LAUGHING! All in an Instant!

    I was doing some ‘self-research’ this morning and ran across this post from 2011. I was 2 years into my journey of weight loss, health, and fitness at the time. I needed this post then and needed it again today!

    Living, Loving, Losing, Laughing! is not just the tagline on my website, it is something I have thought about and strived to live by these past two years. I continue to explore me and how these words apply to my life. On Thursday at 1:05 PM  these words all came crashing together at one instant!

    My wife, Polly, called to let me know that her father, Garvin, had just died. The feelings I experienced at that moment were more overwhelming than I had expected. It has been a long year in anticipation of Garvin’s passing. We were told in early June of 2010 that Garvin had less than 3 months to live. The news was tough. Polly and I wanted to make his time with us as comfortable and happy as possible. We also wanted to help her mom, Effie, with her desire to see Garvin pass at home in Pickens. Armed with the knowledge that Garvin only had 3 months with us we were all pretty worn out by month 10. It took a  mental and physical toll on everyone involved in the situation, especially Polly’s mom.

    Garvin Christmas 2010As I experienced all the emotions that go with losing a loved one, I immediately thought about my tagline and how it applied to my relationship with Garvin. Since 1982 Garvin has LIVED life with the thought of staying sober and helping others find sobriety. He has used his story to help others learn to LIVE life without alcohol. Garvin and Effie welcomed me into their lives in 1984 and almost immediately we developed a caring LOVING relationship that I have been blessed to experience these past 27 years. The LOSING part is the tough part. LOSING Garvin and all of his Garvinisms (the old sayings only he could generate) is a difficult task. I can only cope with this loss knowing that his suffering on earth has ended and he is in a much better place with God. I hope and pray I will see him there one day. LAUGHING is the easy part for me. Garvin could ALWAYS make me laugh. Whether it was the first time I heard a story or the 1,000th time I heard a story, I always laughed at the way he would tell it. I might know the punch-line, but I could never replicate the delivery.

    I have learned much more about life from Garvin than I can include in this one blog. He has dealt with more demons in life than most of us and still was able to carry a smile and a kind word with him wherever he went. His life helps me on my journey and helps me to keep things in perspective in my life as I deal with
    the ups and downs of weight management and life management.

    My favorite Garvinism is ‘shake hands with the men and hug the women!’ I cannot do it justice in this blog, but I can see him smiling as I write it!

    Note to ME and YOU: Part of taking care of ME is letting the people in my life know I love and care about them. NEVER HESITATE TO DO THIS!

    TheFatGuy