A friend of mine weighed in at 145kg (320lb) in July last year and with a lot of work has lost 40kg. He is currently struggling with depression from a lack of direction and purpose.
Like many people he struggled to make the first step. He had tried to get help from personal trainers, but was overwhelmed to the point of failure while also struggling to get his diet under control through misinformation and noise from gym and fitness wu. I spoke to him about it on occasion for about two years while I lived in another city, and when I moved to his city again last year I said I'd be willing to help him, all he had to do is show up.
He showed up and he spoke to me about concerns with his blood pressure, diabetes, his parents' concern about his longevity, money, debt and his future. I started by helping him see through the noise and to take control of his diet. His exercise regime was extremely basic with a very high focus on injury prevention due to his size. These two things saw an immediate change, his weight began to fall off immediately and he was motivated by his progress. Over the next few months we made very small changes to his diet and exercise further improving his physical capacity as he continued to lose weight - all of which he tracked.
When he hit 120kg (264lb) his attitude broke and he was hit with severe depression. He nearly stopped altogether, but he took my advice and sought medical help and is on anti-depressants. With the help of my fiancee we've persisted in dragging him out with us to walk and do staircases. Even when he really didn't want to, and so he has continued to steadily lose weight.
Over the last few months talking to him about it I've come to gather that his primary demotivator is a lack of purpose - like others I've seen he is overwhelmed by both his sense of success and sense of failure. He feels successful having lost the weight but is disappointed in himself for being so overweight at all.
Today he ran 1500m in 12m50s - the first continuous run he has done in decades. I see what he's achieved and it blows my mind and I want to share it with everyone because I think his purpose is to show people that its not too late to get your life back on track, that change is possible and no one is alone.
I don't use reddit, I signed up specifically to share his story because I believe it is of value to everyone and I'm hoping that a few people will be interested in how he is progressing so that I can give him a reason not to stop now. More than that, I want him to show everyone that it is possible. He constantly denigrates his progress attributing it to me instead of taking ownership that he has done these things. Due to my work I will be leaving soon, and I want him to see that he doesn't need me, that he has something to contribute to himself and others. I hope that some people will see what he has done and show some support so that he can see himself from the outside. If there are some replies and questions I'll show them to my friend so that he can take ownership of his achievements and share with you how he's done what he has done.
I hope that this is something that will motivate some of you out there.
Thanks for reading
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from loseit - Lose the Fat http://bit.ly/2SpNdKv
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