Why I Want to Lose Weight

Last year, my grandpa was told he had to have bipass surgery. He was very active. At 80 years old he went for walks everyday, still mowed his own lawn, had a wood working shop in his garage and made beautiful furniture. This was a shock to all of us. He was thin and in seemingly good shape. He went in for surgery and they found that there was a lot of blockages throughout the arteries and veins that cannot be fixed. They did what they could. He had a lot of complications and was in the hospital for months, we thought we were going to lose him, but he's a fighter! He doesn't have the energy that he had pre-surgery, but he's still doing great for his condition. His Dad had the same problem.

About a month ago my grandma started having chest pains. Grandpa took her to ER and they said that she had had a heart attack. She also has blockages in the heart. They immediately performed surgery to take care of that. They fixed what they could. She seemed to be doing ok until a few days later she caught pneumonia in the hospital. She's been through breathing tubes, feeding tubes, and now she has a trach until she can breathe better on her own. She has Osteoperosis and her bones were so brittle they had to insert a metal plate to hold her chest bones together. But Her bones are so brittle that didn't hold like it should. They had to perform surgery again, and there's not much they can do about that. She'll just have to be careful when she recovers. When they got her up to walk about 5 feet, her heart rate went up to 220 and her blood pressure dropped. They're working on getting her medicines right so hopefully that doesn't happen anymore. She has diabetes which makes her higher risk. She's still fighting, but so tired.

My mom has a plethora of health issues. She has what's called Sarcoidosis and has to seek special medical attention for that. She's had numerous organs removed because of that. Thankfully, none of the vital ones. But she is missing her spleen so has to be extra careful not to get sick. She has blood work done every week. She also has a condition where she can develop blood clots randomly, I can't remember what that's called. So they're constantly changing her meds because her blood is too thin or not thin enough. She has terrible migraine headaches. She was even diagnosed with Osteoperosis also. She's only 49. She's not morbidly obese either. What causes these things? I feel so bad for my mother. It really wears her out, but she's still giving her all to care for her parents in another state. She's truly a wonderful person.

But the point of writing all of this is to say that these illnesses may run in my family. I have more than one relative with diabetes. Obviously, Osteoperosis is common as well. If any of these things can be prevented by eating healthfully, I want to do that. I want to lose this weight because we know that there are so many obesity related illnesses out there also. Knowing that both grandparents have had heart issues is a wake up call to me. I want to get my heart healthy. I want to exercise and eat right. I want to lower my blood pressure. I also want to help my Dad learn healthy habits. He needs help the most and he knows it, but just can't find the motivation to continue a plan. I wish we were closer so we could work together, and he says the same thing. I want to lose this weight to show him that it can be done. Lead by example, right?