The story so far....part 1

A few weeks back, months now to be honest, I was running for the bus I could see down the street. I became aware that there were parts of me moving that really shouldn't have been. By the time I got to the bus stop, I could barely speak I was so out of breath.

I knew I wasn't in the best of shape, I'd have been stupid not to realise that. I've never been thin, well not since I was very young. My adolescence was a period when I grew outwards more than upwards. Ispent many years sharing diets with my mother and sister. My mother and I always found it hard to lose weight, my sister not so due to her reliance upon nipping to the bathroom straight after eating.

Then came uni and my discover of both alcohol in vast quantities and toast and noodles. For a couple of years I lived on a diet of both, the latter so I could afford the former. During this period I was quite active, cycling to/from lectures, playing football on a Sunday in the local league and using the gym (free of charge) in the YMCA where I lived and worked (for beer money/free rent).

During this period, I was able to fit into 36" waist trousers - which while not small were about average, and medium/large shirts.

My diet finally got the better of me, I found that I was skipping lectures to recover from the night before, at the worst times I was drinking in excess of a gallon of beer per night. I was now no longer in 36" waist trousers, I was closer to 40", had lost my place at Uni and was working full time at the YMCA.

After a couple of years I moved home from Uni and enrolled at another Uni to continue my studies, this time I lived with my parents so I didn't do the same thing. This time I was more successful, only dropping out when I realised that I really didn't like the subject I was studying. During the time I was there, I was working part time in a camera shop, Saturdays/holidays. I took a full time job there and remained for several years...about 5.

I moved on to a career in IT, where customer attitudes towards me were barely better...but I was now in a job where I was sat down for 8-9 hrs a day.

Shortly afterwards I got married, my weight has been increasing gradually over the last 7 years.