ManVsMood Ep 14: Point of Disgust
We've got the whole crew back together for this episode. Gen had Covid and gives us a recap of her experience with it. The big topic of the show is the "point of disgust".
What is the point of disgust you ask? Well, the point of disgust is that moment when you decide to confront your struggles and find positive ways to help begin the process of overcoming them.
This is a two-part episode because we went VERY long. We really dive deep into what the point of disgust has been for each of us.
This is Will and I can tell you exactly when I had the biggest point of disgust in my life. Now, to be certain, I’ve had numerous occasions in my life where I’ve been fed up with something and reached that point where things had to change. But, this particular point of disgust was when I made the decision that I had enough of being overweight and I was going to begin the process of changing myself at that very moment.
Here’s the scene: I’m somewhere north of 400 pounds and we just sat down to dinner. I’d grilled hamburgers on the good ol’ Weber and we made plenty of French fries as a side and milkshakes for dessert. I’m sitting in the chair, at the dinner table, with my family and I feel like absolute dog shit. I’m piling in bite after bite, hamburger, fry, sip the shake, repeat until every morsel of food on my plate is gone. In my meat sweats, anger begins to well up inside me, but not anger like I’m going to rage or start yelling. Anger at myself, anger at what I've done to myself and anger that I’m going to have to work my ass off for a very long time if I’m going to stop feeling, and looking, like this.
As I pushed the anger back down my throat, to linger in misery with my dinner, I hopped up from the dinner table and proclaimed to my family that I was going for a walk. There is no time like the present to begin anything. We’ve all had the “I’ll start on Monday” thoughts run through our minds but I’m not that type of person. I knew this was it; this was the point of disgust and I needed to embark on the most serious journey of my life at that very moment: to lose hundreds of pounds and get myself in some type of physical shape.
That evening I walked four miles around the neighborhood. And every evening after that, I walked and walked and walked. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of my battles with weight, it was just the beginning. I did manage to lose well over 100 pounds but this story doesn’t have a fairytale ending. I actually ended up gaining a lot of the weight back after I made one fatal mistake: I ate an Oreo when we were camping. ONE. One Oreo derailed me so badly that I jumped back to about 350 pounds. I wasn’t deterred though, I was depressed and upset with myself, but this led to another point of disgust for me.
This point of disgust though would be the last one I will ever have related to my weight. In 2014, I quit eating wheat, fully committed to exercise but most importantly, I leveled with myself that if I didn’t make a serious effort to be healthy, my life would end prematurely. I hit the road again, walking 4-6 miles each evening until I was at a weight I felt would allow me to lift weights and not get injured. Now, I’m in the gym five days a week to lift and average 4-7 miles of cardio 7 days a week. I love every moment of it, even when I don’t feel like working out because I know I’ll never be where I was and the journey made me a better man, husband and father.
Here’s some photos of where I’ve been and where I am now. If you’re in a similar situation, I know you can overcome anything. It’s not easy and you may not enjoy it all of the time but I promise you it’ll be worth it.
