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Hi guys,
My name is Ernesto Ballesteros. I'm a 24 year old male, 5'10", and currently 260 lbs. I've been a lurker for quite some time (way back to 2003), and decided that since I finally seriously dieted, I should at least intorduce myself. Let's see, I'm a military brat, so I've lived all over, but I currently reside in San Antonio, Texas, where I've been in school for quite some time pursuing my doctorate. I have a BS in Electronic Commerce Information Systems (with an emphasis in software engineering), midway through my MS in Information Assurance and Security (which is NSA certified), and plan to get my Ph.D in Information Technology/Computer Science afterwards. I was born in Panama city, Panama, however I'm not Panamanian. My father is from Guadalajara, Mexico, while my mother is from Indiana (which explains why I appear to be completely caucasian). I'm the oldest of five siblings, so you can say that I come from a big family.
College seems to add a great deal of weight to certain people, and I guess I fit into that category. The heaviest I've been so far was back in August of 05, where I weighed a whopping 370+. Last summer, during the break, I really fealt exhausted from the past semester, so much that I would feel faint quite often.... Well, because I had been on a fastfood marathon throughout the school year, I actually caused my liver to get "fatty" (if you've ever seen the movie "supersize me", multiply his experiment by a whole year of the same eating habits). It scared the **** out of me, so I went cold turkey from that day on and haven't cheated once. I have to tell you, the first 3-4 weeks were ****, I honestly believe that I had developed some sort of chemical addiction to whatever is put into fast food (I honestly feel that there is something there to cause such an addiction); nose bleeds, vommiting, headaches, and crankiness were the norm.
So, it's taken me 9 months, but I've gotten to the point where food isn't what rules the day. It used to be that if there wasn't food involved, there really wasn't anything to do (I also got to the point where I just didn't like to go out in public because of my self-image). I'd be lying if I said I worked out the whole time, because I've only been hitting the weights for the past six weeks, so my results aren't what they could have been. Again, I weigh 269 now, but my body is naturally built big (I was once into all kinds of sports from football to amature boxing), so I only forsee going down to 210 at the most (my current stats are: waist - 40", Shirt Size - XL-XXL, my forearms - 15", neck - 16", upper arms - ~18"... more to come when I have the time).
I guess you could say that I had a bit of a revelation over the past year, regarding the quality of life I want and the quality of life I had and would have had if i were to continue. Like I mentioned before, I'm pusueing a doctorate so that I can be a professor, which takes up all of my time and efforts these days. I have come to learn that no matter how educated and well-diciplined you are, being overweight can definately taint perceptions of others. Being overweight doesn't really help your love life either, so that was another motivation... I don't blame anybody for not wanting to enter any relationship with somebody that is overweight, because attraction is a must. Most of all, I really want to be healthy, so that I can enjoy the benefits that will come from my sacrifices (I'm practically giving up my 20's for school). What is the point of doing what I'm doing, if you are in such bad shape, that you can't enjoy life?
I'm doing this for my future, not for any instant or immediate gratification. I want my future wife to feel comfortable around me, I want to feel comfortable with myself, and I want to be able to be there for my kids (when I have them) instead of being a burden.
Before: (June of 2005,weight = 370)
During: (Feb, 2006 and weight = 275)
My name is Ernesto Ballesteros. I'm a 24 year old male, 5'10", and currently 260 lbs. I've been a lurker for quite some time (way back to 2003), and decided that since I finally seriously dieted, I should at least intorduce myself. Let's see, I'm a military brat, so I've lived all over, but I currently reside in San Antonio, Texas, where I've been in school for quite some time pursuing my doctorate. I have a BS in Electronic Commerce Information Systems (with an emphasis in software engineering), midway through my MS in Information Assurance and Security (which is NSA certified), and plan to get my Ph.D in Information Technology/Computer Science afterwards. I was born in Panama city, Panama, however I'm not Panamanian. My father is from Guadalajara, Mexico, while my mother is from Indiana (which explains why I appear to be completely caucasian). I'm the oldest of five siblings, so you can say that I come from a big family.
College seems to add a great deal of weight to certain people, and I guess I fit into that category. The heaviest I've been so far was back in August of 05, where I weighed a whopping 370+. Last summer, during the break, I really fealt exhausted from the past semester, so much that I would feel faint quite often.... Well, because I had been on a fastfood marathon throughout the school year, I actually caused my liver to get "fatty" (if you've ever seen the movie "supersize me", multiply his experiment by a whole year of the same eating habits). It scared the **** out of me, so I went cold turkey from that day on and haven't cheated once. I have to tell you, the first 3-4 weeks were ****, I honestly believe that I had developed some sort of chemical addiction to whatever is put into fast food (I honestly feel that there is something there to cause such an addiction); nose bleeds, vommiting, headaches, and crankiness were the norm.
So, it's taken me 9 months, but I've gotten to the point where food isn't what rules the day. It used to be that if there wasn't food involved, there really wasn't anything to do (I also got to the point where I just didn't like to go out in public because of my self-image). I'd be lying if I said I worked out the whole time, because I've only been hitting the weights for the past six weeks, so my results aren't what they could have been. Again, I weigh 269 now, but my body is naturally built big (I was once into all kinds of sports from football to amature boxing), so I only forsee going down to 210 at the most (my current stats are: waist - 40", Shirt Size - XL-XXL, my forearms - 15", neck - 16", upper arms - ~18"... more to come when I have the time).
I guess you could say that I had a bit of a revelation over the past year, regarding the quality of life I want and the quality of life I had and would have had if i were to continue. Like I mentioned before, I'm pusueing a doctorate so that I can be a professor, which takes up all of my time and efforts these days. I have come to learn that no matter how educated and well-diciplined you are, being overweight can definately taint perceptions of others. Being overweight doesn't really help your love life either, so that was another motivation... I don't blame anybody for not wanting to enter any relationship with somebody that is overweight, because attraction is a must. Most of all, I really want to be healthy, so that I can enjoy the benefits that will come from my sacrifices (I'm practically giving up my 20's for school). What is the point of doing what I'm doing, if you are in such bad shape, that you can't enjoy life?
I'm doing this for my future, not for any instant or immediate gratification. I want my future wife to feel comfortable around me, I want to feel comfortable with myself, and I want to be able to be there for my kids (when I have them) instead of being a burden.
Before: (June of 2005,weight = 370)
During: (Feb, 2006 and weight = 275)
*Melinda*
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