Rediscovering my Youth
It was a normal day in 1991 that changed my life. I was a member of the Security Police of the United States Air Force on regular duty. While responding to an alarm, I destroyed my knee and life started its change. With all of the doctors treating injured from Desert Storm, I was put on a shelf and the surgery was delayed. I chose the option of discharge thinking I would deal with it on my own.
I got home, enrolled in college, and started to talk to doctors. Most didn’t want to bother because of the liabilities regarding the injury happening on duty. I met with a doctor that had me go through physical therapy stating that it was the only course of action at this time. I was quickly discouraged and moved on with my life dealing with my pain whenever it flared up. Over the next 20 years, I ballooned from 155 lbs to 290 lbs due to fad diets and cheap fixes.
After being re-injured in 2009, I had the knee repaired the right way. The problem was, with all the extra weight, (I was 278 lbs at 5’3″ at the time), I blew out the other knee compensating for the injury. This also led to several herniated discs in my back and other health issues. Yet, I was still happy living as a fat man and not having a care in the world. After watching two of my lifelong friends die unexpectedly due to heart problems, I got scared. I decided that I needed to make a change. I needed to lose weight quickly to get the pressure off of my knees and back. My sister in law just had Lap Band surgery and was having tremendous success. I decided, I needed to do something just as drastic. I researched and came to the conclusion that gastric bypass was the best option for me.
In April of 2011, I had the surgery. At the time, I was 280 lbs and very unhealthy. I couldn’t walk for more than a 1/4 mile without being exhausted. I came out of the surgery determined to be the man I remembered when I was 21. I began to work out and try to get in shape. The problem I found was that the diet was very restrictive and I needed to get at least 75g of protein a day while not eating more than 5g of fat or 3g of sugar at any meal. Most bars are loaded with sugar and made me ill. This posed a giant challenge. I began to research for protein bars and supplements to help as I found with my workout regimen, I needed even more protein but still wasn’t real hungry or able to eat too much. Then I stumbled upon Quest Bars.
Most of them fell right in my categories, and filled me with just enough nutrients and gave me the energy I was craving without making me sick. I began to really shed the pounds and found myself wanting to run places versus drive and always looking for time to workout. This was a great feeling. From there, I took it a step further. At 41 years old, I enrolled in the local municipal police academy. By the time, I graduated, on Nov. 30, 2012, I was down to 145 lbs and felt like I was 22 years old again. I owe so much to my friends, family and supporters for everything I have accomplished. I also would like to thank Quest for their great tasting bars that have made this Quest a lot easier for me. I never miss the opportunity to promote Quest and give out a free bar or two to anyone interested to spreads the word.
