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‘My Health Was in Jeopardy’

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The Wake-Up Call

On April 17, 1995--the day after my 29th birthday--I had a motorcycle accident.

I was placed on a stretcher, and it took five firefighters to lift me. To make matters worse, the medical technician attempted to put on a neck brace, but couldn’t. Because of my weight, I didn’t have a neck. And when she tried to put me on an IV to stabilize me, she couldn’t because she couldn’t find a vein.

Days after the accident I went to a doctor. I weighed more than 400 pounds and had a blood pressure reading of 230 / 120. For the first time in my life, I realized that my health was in jeopardy.

The Commitment

On May 31, 1995, I decided that although I had failed a thousand times in the past to lose weight, I would try one more time. But this time I would do everything in my power to succeed.

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The first 100 pounds were lost by learning how to eat better--not by going on a diet, but learning about good nutrition with the help of my friend / nutritionist Sheri Keller. I started writing down what I ate, keeping my daily caloric consumption between 1,200 and 1,500 per day. Because of my size, the only exercise I could do was walking.

The Experiment

What kept me focused was my addiction to my own results. The feeling you get when you go through the transformation process is amazing. I would describe it as a high--the compliments from my friends, my family, my co-workers, and the feeling of being a source of inspiration to others.

The worst feeling was in the beginning. I could only weigh in at hospitals or clinics because only they had the capability to register more than 350 pounds. I remember one week when I went into a local hospital to use the scale and I weighed 349 1/2 pounds. I was so happy.

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At the start of my second year, I joined a gym and started a high intensity cardiovascular program, in addition to a strength-training program. This was how I lost my second 100 pounds.

Currently, I do weights three times a week and 60 minutes of cardiovascular workouts, four to five times a week. My cardiovascular workout consists of high intensity treadmill and the Lifecycle.

The Eating

By far the hardest thing to master was my eating habits. I didn’t know how to eat, and I was completely ignorant when it came to nutrition. I used to eat out every day because it was convenient. I didn’t have to cook, and a value meal in a fast food restaurant was pretty affordable. What I didn’t know was that fast food is notoriously high in fat, calories and carbohydrates.

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Being Hispanic didn’t help either. Traditional Mexican food can be detrimental to your weight if consumed in excess.

Looking Back

Sometime after the accident, I played a game: I pretended how my life would be five years into the future. I saw myself obese, lonely, in physical pain. Ten years into the future, I saw myself dead. This did the trick. So on May 31, 1995, I made a decision. I told myself that today was the day I would change my life. I would do whatever it took to change my life because if I didn’t, the ultimate price I would pay would be my own life.

Today, I realize that it wasn’t about losing weight. The experiment was in conquering impossibilities and, in the process I got to meet a great person: me.

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The Vital Statistics

Name: Juan J. Partida

Age: 31

Occupation: Operations supervisor

Old Weight: 412 pounds

New Weight: 205 pounds

Time It Took to Get There: 2 years, 3 months

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