Breaking Away

As the story continues, I have turned 26 years old and become very restless. Through a temporary agency, an employment niche has been created through an assignment on the assembly line for Apple Computer. The job was a 6-month assignment in Fremont, CA. When the 6 months was up, I qualified for unemployment insurance. As a rule, temps at Apple were not permitted to return for 6 months after completion. So, for 3 years I was 6 months on, 6 months off with at least some income consistently.

At the start of the 1st employment period, I made a firm decision to finally, finally, finally move out of my parents' house. My body was swelling and my pride was shrinking. I had the very good fortune to move into a modest, but decent 1-bedroom apartment 10 minutes walking distance from my job. How nice for my first venture into living on my own!

There were two other factors I thought were very nice, as well. First, I was given the swing shift from 2 PM to 10:30 PM. Great! I could stay up late after work and sleep 'til noon if I wanted! And I often did. Second, my apartment was literally across the street from a 7-11 store. Can you imagine the implications for a person with my appetite of 24/7 access to pure processed crap as a reward for crossing the street? Sure, I understand now, but at that time I thought I was golden! Everything was within reach and I barely had any incentive to do much besides go to work, sleep late, and eat junk. Remember that this was 1987-1991. When I was on unemployment, I filled my time by walking to the good old 7-11, renting the latest video cassette, grabbing a big bag of chips or tray of nachos with plenty of cheese and chili and a super big gulp, and living it up. There was also my old ColecoVision video games (anybody remember those?).

Of course, I got to know people at work and made a few friends. Throughout my life I've managed to maintain some thread of social life because I interacted with people as if there was absolutely no weight problem going on. A lot of my life was being spent in denial. To some people, this was impressive enough to make them think I was a pretty cool guy...for a fat dude.

In the midst of all this, at age 28, I discovered the world of tournament chess. The game had always fascinated me since I learned to play at age 9. However, the means to officially compete eluded me. Then I played in my first tourney. I was HOOKED! I went out of my way to play in every local event I could find and some not so local. Finally there was something new that I could sink my teeth into besides the next quarter pounder. Another community was accessible and there was a new dimension to my life.

Now chess is a wonderful game. Really, the greatest game there is in my book. But how much exercise does anyone get pushing little plastic or wooden pieces around a 2' X 2' board. The brain gets plenty of exercise, believe me, when competing for cash prizes and national rating points. However, this game is physically VERY sedentary. I've been in single games that have lasted over 6 hours. Talk about brain fry! Over a weekend it wasn't unheard of to spend 20+ hours in play. I had no time for exercise, I was too busy trying to move up in rating class!

Then there were the big tournaments in Reno and Vegas. Here were lots of excuses to scurry off to the land of cheap buffets... Nowadays, I still compete, but very sporadically when it doesn't interfere with higher priorities, like WORKING OUT!! It's very very true, all things in moderation. I can now enjoy chess on my terms and let it be a nice part of my life instead of practically the only part.

This gets me to age 30 and, supposedly, the prime of life. It's indescribable how it feels to be living a 2nd prime! Stick around to find out how the first one went.

The time was drawing near for my friends to break away from the gym they worked for and lauch the juggernaut that is FullForce Personal Fitness. RG was cracking the whip and I was responding as if I couldn't get enough. More and more people were stopping what they were doing to talk to me, encourage me, pat me on the back. I was often being invited to spend time outside the gym with many of these lovely people. This was, and still is, a very surreal experience for someone who had been very used to ridicule and negativity.

As RG drew from his inexhaustible supply of ever more challenging workouts, that first digit changed from 5 to 4, then 4 to 3, then... I had a plan for what I'd do WHEN my weight got under 300 lbs. This plan was hatched almost a year before it became reality, but when it happened, I did not hesitate.

When I first started training at 532 lbs., I didn't care one tiny bit about how I looked to other people there. This lack of bashfulness was amplified when I weighed in at 297 lbs! I had not been under 300 for 20+ years. Well, what would you do? I got a big white board and wrote a big "297 lbs." on it with a colorized, circled and underlined 2. Then I walked straight through the front door of the gym, lifted the board over my head, and paraded around like a rock star on stage! I charged into one of my friend's office while she was with a client (oops!). Thankfully, she and her client forgave my rudeness as smiles lit our faces. It was like a damn Rocky movie!

Of course, this was not the end. There was (and always is) more work to do. As my friends began their foray into the business of fitness with their unique, personable, professional approach, I began splitting my time between the gym and the new personal fitness facility.

More to come...