The measurement of health gain and weight loss that I have decided to use is The Vest method. I will very simply track my nice vest over time and see if I can’t get it buttoned up one day.
It will be a very long journey and to be successful I will likely need to lose somewhere in the neighbourhood of 155 Pounds, 70.3 Kilograms or 11.07 Stone.
Basically a UFC lightweight, in other words.
I have a Scully 2XL vest that I wore in 2013 at my CD release concert. Nope, I couldn’t button it up then either, but it was a lot closer to being buttoned up then than now. Seeing as I’ve put on about 50 pounds since 2013 that is no surprise.
My current Vest is 30cm or 12 inches apart at the bottom button which will be the hardest one for me to close.
When it comes to weight loss, I have tried nearly every method there is. I have watched inspirational videos, followed wonderful stories, watched the blood sweat and tears of reality weight loss shows and seen the rise and fall of all of those outcomes. Some people have remained successful, many have ended up worse off than before. I, myself, have lost as much as 80 pounds on one diet and then gained back over 100.
So why The Vest method for me? Don’t I want to write a book or become a YouTube sensation with my incredible weight loss story, inspire people and help change lives? Well of all that, I wouldn’t mind simply helping people make a change. But what remains first and foremost is that I simply want a better life.
Absolutely everyone that I know in my life accepts me as I am. No one is asking me to change. I feel no pressure from anyone or anything. Other than some basic realities. I want to be comfortable in my own skin. I would like to fit into clothes comfortably and not be miserable on a hot day. I would love to be able to travel on buses and airplanes and use only the space in my own seat, and not be in someone else’s space simply because I’m too big.
There are a million reasons why I want to change my life.
Even as I started to get bigger after college I could feel myself being excluded from many activities. I hope you don’t think people excluded me. They didn’t. I played a lot of tennis and golf after college, continued doing karate and many other fun things. But very slowly, activities started to crop up that were not a good match for my slowly blossoming size. Some friends would want to go rock climbing or caving.
It wasn’t for me anymore because of simple physics. In the words of John Mayer, Gravity. And while we’re on the subject of John Mayer I wasn’t bigger than my body, my body wasn’t a wonderland, I also wasn’t in love with the shape of me. I was beginning a slow process of self inflicted exclusion from things I would love to do because I was not, and still am not, in control of my eating and general health.
The Vest Method is a plan to slowly move my vest to the closed position over time, and then keep it there. I’m not going into a water tank to calculate my mass, I’m not buying fat calipers and I’m not torturing myself with before, during and after pics. Well maybe I might take a face pic once a day lol. Who knows. But I’m not going down some rabbit hole that will cost me heartache and wasted time and treasure. Extreme Weightloss Makeover, the Biggest Loser and more have all had people’s journeys meticulously documented. Use your imagination. My simple plan is to take care of myself, eat better, live better, enjoy life more, do more, play sports again, hike wild places again. That’s the stuff I want to show you.
The Vest will attest to my victory or failure.
Whatever your struggle. Whatever your demon. I wish you life with all my heart.
Bug
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