Being Overweight

[Fargo1]

Ah the age old problem. Just observations from a fellow big guy...

When I signed on the dotted line I was 19, 6'6" and 250-260 lbs (on or off season), a linebacker on my college football team and in about the best shape of my life. Before I joined, my recruiter told me that at 6'6" my maximum weight was 240 lbs. regardless of wrist size (how your wrist really relates to the rest of your frame I'm still confused). I was also eating upwards of 3,000-4,000 calories a day and would lose weight if I skipped a meal. Ah, for the days of a high speed metabolism! I dropped 10 lbs in 30 days to make weight for boot. Then in boot I lost an additional 20 lbs and looked like warm death...I was "in shape" but had lost much of my muscle mass and was actually weaker at the end. After getting to my first unit, I hit the gym every day, ran on the beach, swam in the ocean and lap pool and gained the weight back.

Interestingly, being put on the "Fat Boy Program" was a constant threat to many of my shipmates back in the day. Being stuck on a small boats or 110' to 210' cutters without weight facilities and really no place to run and all the greasy, fatty food you could want was a recipe for putting on the fat.

When we were young we were much more active than your average civilian. If you were still in the service in our 30's we were a bit less active (presuming we were now in managerial positions), but still more active than your average civilian. But all that activity has its price on the body with small niggling injuries to serious, long lasting injuries being common. If you were in a combat theater — those injuries are the norm not the exception.

Then, just like the professional athlete, when the season is over it is time to relax a little and eat all the things that you have been missing. When you muster out, there is no "next season." Add to that the natural change in metabolism and you get the balloon effect.

The simple act of walking is pretty important. The average American takes about 5,100 steps per day, Australian 9,600, Japan 7,100. The average Amish 18,000 steps! I don't know about you but I haven't seen a fat Amish guy. I guess I know why.

Now with all the bad knees and backs how can we get all those steps in? Not sure, but swimming is a good one. Not doing 100's of laps, just getting in and paddling around. Low impact, good resistance, and the cold water makes you burn more calories than sitting in a room.

Just a thought...

 

[Sarg]

Bad time of year for me to be talking food and weight. We got your home made tamales, fruitcake (yeah, I'm one of those fruitcakes that love fruitcake), Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at one of the better hotel dining facilities, Chocklet cordials, and on and on. Pork out like a champ. But I make it up the rest of the year by not eating enough.

That four dark years after my wife passed, I lost all my muscle mass. Now I look like a potato with four sticks hanging out.

But then I'm one of those "really old guys" that typically look like I do.

Sarg

 

[Jimmy1]

Rodluff,

First of all I will say welcome to the forum, secondly I will say who are you? I will say my mantra and keep calm.

I have noticed that you have found your way around the forum. You even managed to find your way to the Introduction threads, and even commented on one, but unfortunately it stopped there.

Could you please go there and write your own, you see we get all manner of people on here from grieving spouses who want their husbands to be normal again, we get trolls trying to upset us, we get students trying to pry information from us and we get kids who want a gory story. We pride ourselves on having one of the best forums you can find for veterans with PTSD. We don't have a lot of rules, but the main ones are that you have to be a veteran and you have to have PTSD as a result of being in combat.

Please don't take this as a personal assault on you, but I will ask you this. When you were serving and you joined your new unit, would you just walk up to a group of guys and start offering information without even saying who you were? No you wouldn't. So when you write your intro, all we want is what country you are from, what service you were in, and what conflicts you served in. Not much at all.

Now down to your post.

Obesity is a big health problem that cause various health complications specially heart problems, diabetes, and many other health complications. The main factors that contribute to the weight gain and obesity are the unhealthy diet, more usage of the fast and fried foods, lack of the exercises and physical activities and more usage of the alcohol and soda drinks. Avoid all of these factors to control your weight and maintain your fitness level.

Your preaching to the choir here. We all know that obesity is a big health problem, I think the whole world does, but the factors you talk about mean nothing to an untreated veteran with PTSD. Firstly they would be suffering from major depression which means comfort eating, they might have hypervigilence which would mean he wouldn't be too fussed about going to a gym or doing anything like that, and then there is the confusion and noise in his head which he will try and drown out by substance abuse namely alcohol and maybe marijuana which of course could cause the munchies which would be no good. I forgot that a lot of veterans could also have debilitating injuries which can affect the level of exercise they can do.

What you have failed to mention is medication. Some of the medication given by the respective VA's around the world have an effect on the gland in the stomach which produces the hormone which tells us we are full, its sort of a stop button. And for some of us, our short term memories are so shot we can't remember if we ate five minutes ago, so overeating occurs.

So mate, it's not as easy as you portray.

 

[vikingr12]

Tell it like it is, Jimmy. Nothing like a lecture about a weight problem to make your day. Rodluff, you have a firm grasp of the obvious.

I am well on the way to being really overweight. I have the habit of not dieting correctly (i.e. starving) to fix the problem. The med fight with the PTSD is a daily chore. Taking cortisone and hydrocodone for the injuries, well, it ain't pretty. I am learning to live without them.

So brother, hang in there and I will be watching to see how it goes.

 

[Bernard003]

Obesity is a big health problem that cause various health complications specially heart problems, diabetes, and many other health complications. The main factors that contribute to the weight gain and obesity are the unhealthy diet, more usage of the fast and fried foods, lack of the exercises and physical activities and more usage of the alcohol and soda drinks. Avoid all of these factors to control your weight and maintain your fitness level.

Any comment?

 

[Fargo1]

Any comment?

Just what Jimmy already said. Welcome to the forum and do us the courtesy of introducing yourself in the Introductions.

And, spamming "Any comment" on several topics could be (and is by me) considered rude. Perhaps a rethinking of your methods is in order.

 

[JarHed]

rodlu

What the f*ck are you selling??????????

If you're a vet, show some respect and post an intro. else, f*ck off!!!

 

[Chin Strapped]

See you on the gym haha.... He should try turning up too.

 

[Jimmy1]

My tether is extremely short atm and I have reported the MOFO for spamming multiple posts with his poxy arsed video about going to a gym. The fat f*cker.

 

[reddevil1111]

Cant stand this kind of crap very well. Someone should show the arsewit the door.

 

[vikingr12]

Any comment? None.

 

[SGT.Sunshine.]

You know I have been getting pretty sick and tired of being overweight. I have done the whole diet and exercise thing over and over and over and my MD has finally pinned it down to one medication, although nearly every medication I am on has ' Weight Gain' written on it as a side effect.

The best condition I have been in since discharging from the military was when i was an avid 'Pot' user, I didn't take any other medication, but I must admit, the cardio I did was heaps more too, but that was before my back was fused.

So what else have I tried. I have done every diet from weight watchers, Jenny Craig, you name it. Some of them worked, but were not manageable over a long time.

Right now I must admit I have fallen off the wagon with regards to what food I eat, but generally I only eat whole foods, naturally grown, no junk food, no deserts. I don't have sugar in my coffee and don't generally drink soft drink.

Suffering from depression does not help either. I remember about 10 months ago I went on a 12 week program set up by a fitness nut. I stuck to everything on the diet and did what I could in the gym. Cardio wise I did an hour in the morning of brisk walking up and down hills and then another 30 min at night. I did not weigh myself the whole time and was excited to see the difference. I had toned up a bit and muscle is heavier than fat, but what a let down when I found I had lost 500 grams.

So, now that my weight is affecting my past surgery, being back, knee's and abdominal wall, the recommendation is for a gastric band. Very few side affects and it can be reversed. Quite a few veterans who I know that have pretty similar injuries and psych conditions and are on pretty much the same medication have had a huge success with it. Their only comment is that they only eat kiddies meals now, but apart from that they can eat whatever they like. So I am going for it.

So my mother sent me this picture so I did not feel bad about weighing 120 kg.

View attachment 1351

I ballooned up to 242 from 210 when I seperated, then they put me on a combo of meds and my apetite went back to where it should be and I started excersizing in a year I came down to 185, So meds deff can effect for better or worse.