In the beginning, there was a fat man.

(Originally posted on my other website)

I have been overweight most of my adult life. Although I was a skinny kid, I reached 220 pounds as a sophomore in high school. I joined Weight Watchers then school and promptly lost 40 lbs. Unfortunately, I didn't stick with it when I got to college. When I began college, I weighed 235 pounds; however, playing offensive line on the football team, my weight quickly balooned to 280 lbs., which is what I weighed when I met my wife Heather (and she loves me anyway). At the time I got married, I weighed approximately 350 lbs., and my weight fluctuated weekly since then.

In January, 2003, my weight reached an all time high. I weighed myself at the hospital where I worked and my best guess is that I weighed between 365 and 370 lbs. (the scale wouldn't go that high). My knees hurt constantly, I had a hard time breathing, and I was wearing 4XLT shirts and a size 52 inch waist. I knew I had to do something about my weight, so I visited with my doctor. He said to me, "perhaps it is time to consider gastric bypass surgery."

I took these pictures around that time to motivate me to move lose some weight.