Losing Weight Spotlight: Paul's Story

Hi All,

Hope everyone is kicking ass on their weight loss journey. Well, I have something SUPER special for you. My first male feature!!! So I have been following Paul on Instagram for quite some time now, and he has really stuck out to me. His perseverance is incredible and I get so excited to see how much he has transformed. I am super happy to present Paul's story:

Hello my Name is Paul Fee. Before I go and tell you about my weight loss journey let me first tell you about myself. Life has never been easy for me and it all started right out of the womb. I was born with hydrocephalus which means that I had excess water on my brain. This was a result from my spinal meningitis which I was also born with. So from the beginning I have had to learn to be a fighter. As a result of the hydrocephalus my brain had to manually rewire itself and thus a learning disability of ADHD formed. Through elementary school, I always had to fight in order to stay on pace with the other students and tasks that seemed easy to others weren't always easy for me. But, I fought because I knew that I could do it and although it wasn't as conventional as the other kids I made it through and graduated with not only a high school diploma but also a bachelors degree in Sociology. Yes me, the kid who since kindergarten through high school was always told that either I would never graduate or if I did there would be no way that I would be a success in the real world. So I did it. I'm a success now right. Wrong.

Just like any kid with a disability, of course I was made fun of. Of course I have always been one to shrug it off and not let it bother me, or so I thought I was. I never realized as a kid that the thing that I was turning to in order to make all of it just go away was food. Food was honestly my best friend (And here I thought my best friend was a guy named Andy) Food got me through the and told me that everything was going to be okay and everything was right with the world. I graduated high school I believe at about 325 lbs and to be honest I was weirdly okay with it because I kept telling myself, well, at least I'm not 350. If I get up to 350, then I will go on a diet and try and lose the weight. Right now I'm just “big boned.” Well 350 came around and well the excuses once again came and went. Then 360,375,390 then POW! The true slap in the face I needed. It literally came in one simple word. “OH!”I remember this I was stepping on the Doctor scale and the scale only went up to 400 lbs and I had maxed it out! Not only had I maxed it out but they had to add weight to the scale in order to weigh me. How embarrassing  is that! So then I get to have this lovely appointment with my doctor while he goes on to explain to me that I need to lose weight blah blah blah… By this time my ADHD has kicked in and I'm just pissed that I let my weight get this far and he wants me to do all of these certain items and see all of these specialists and I was having none of that so I decided that I was going to do my follow up with a new DR. So I literally went online and looked for a doctor that looked like he was overweight and would finally understand me! I found my guy and scheduled an appointment with him and my first appointment with him was amazing! We talked about my weight and instead of talking about everything that HE was going to do for me he talked rather about what I can do for myself because he believed that I could do this for myself but I need to be willing to put the work in! Wait what was that Doctor? You believe in me and that I can do this and I'm just not a 3:00 appointment to you? Okay world look out here comes Paul! I went home and told my wife all about the doctors appointment!

OH MY GOSH MY WIFE! How can I forget about her (Just kidding dear I was just looking for the perfect time to talk about you!) I must say I am the luckiest guy in the whole world. My wife is the greatest cook that there is. Honestly I was spoiled with home cooking beforehand with my own mother but my wife takes the cake! (My own mother would agree with this) Anyways I came home from the appointment and Serena and I talked about it and we agreed not only that I could do it but we could do this together! So this is where our journey to lose weight began. Alone we knew that we could each do it but together we would be unstoppable. And let me tell you guys the cooking quality didn't change one bit! Her cooking became healthier but it still tastes so amazing! Every day I am so proud of her! Honestly she is my motivation to keep going now. This journey no longer became about me. It became about making sure that I can live a full happy life by her side! We are both hoping that one day we can start a family together and nothing more would make me more happy than that!

So now I guess you are asking, Paul you still have not told us HOW you are losing weight. Okay I will do that now to wrap it all up. So after my doctors appointment, Serena and I the following Saturday came into weightwatchers and got our first official weigh in. We both weighed in and a few days after, Serena started to tell me how she joined Instagram in order to have a weight loss accountability. I just thought this was the silliest thing in the whole world. Who just posts how they are doing on their weight loss for the whole world to see. Well before you know it I was in a Monkey see Monkey do situation and I was on Instagram and I cannot begin to tell you the impact it has had on me! I have met so many great people through this and so many not only inspire me but also (Unlike school) tell me that I am a huge success and I inspire them. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for Instagram and the people I have met on here! Oh and about my weight loss I am not one of those stories who has completed their goal! I have lost almost 70 lbs and am still going!!!! I am almost in the 330’s and cannot tell you how excited I am to never going to have to see that 350 again!! Thank you all for listening and I appreciate you Sarah for wanting to feature me on here!