2 1/2 years I've lost 160lbs, and maintaining perfect now.
JeffStandley
Posts: 16
January 4th 2011 I began a journey to finally lose the weight I had been carrying for more than 10 years. Today is June 13th 2013 and I have officially lost 160+lbs and have been maintaining for 4-5 months now at a comfortable weight.
For more than 10 years I was anywhere from 330lbs to 355lbs at my highest and had tried everything to lose that weight. Around December of 2010 I was watching a show with Tim Ferriss where he was explaining his new book The Four Hour Body, and once I heard him explain the diet it just clicked and I said to myself "Holy hell, I can do that!". I literally stopped the show I was watching, ran to the book store and bought the book in that same hour, brought it home, finished the show and began flipping through the book. Spent that week preparing, buying food, getting rid of junk that was keeping me fat and never looked back for the first time on any diet I had tried.
I lost around 70lbs in the first 6 months, 25 of that in the first month alone. Thats when the real life crept back in with most diets and I began to flat line. I was in the process of looking for a new job, driving back and forth across the state interviewing, moving my family, life stuff, etc, and wasn't really able to keep up on the diet as much as I wanted too. But the crazy thing was, this time I was not going back up. I spent about 8-9 months traveling back and forth and looking for a new job which killed my progress, but I still kept to the main eating lifestyle which surprised me the most. Within that first 7 months I had trained myself to eat better and follow a healthier eating lifestyle which stuck.
Once I got settled in the new job, new house, and back with the family, I was dead set on getting back to the diet 100%.
I started to prepare my meals again and started hitting the gym again and began to lose around 10lbsa months again consistently until I hit what I thought would be my goal weight. When starting this diet I wanted to get back to 225lbs. I was around this weight 15 years ago and thought it looked good. Once I got there though it wasn't enough so I figured I would try and get down even more and set my new goal weight of 210-215lbs. But again once I hit that weight I still had some fat to lose and the diet was so easy by that point I started toward 200lbs even, a weight I had not see in more than 17 years.
Almost two years to the date, January of this year, I hit 200lbs even and have been maintaining ever since. I did go down from 200 a bit hitting 192 but found that it was too low and I did not like that weight and have since brought it back up. I began lifting weights around November of this last year but wasn't really serious about it. Then about 4 months ago I started to hit the weights seriously 6 days a week and have only missed 4 days in that 4 months and I feel absolutely amazing!!!
The biggest thing for me and the one thing I tell everyone now is to not look for a diet, but an eating lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life. For me, I love pizza, hamburgers, doughnuts, all the stuff that I shouldn't eat ever again
These are items which I always wanted but could never figure out how to incorporate into a diet the 10 years before. It seems simple, but still I could never figure it out and eventually add all lost weight right back on. Tim's diet broke it down for me in a way I could understand, eat healthy six days a week, one cheat day a week where you eat anything and everything you want. Hell, how could I NOT love that?? This is where I say find an eating lifestyle that works for YOU. Because some people don't need that cheat day once a week, some people don't want pizza and hamburgers, they just need portion control. This diet would not be for you then most likely. I knew I was going to cheat eventually on a diet, which always threw off progress for me in the past, but Tim said something that really stuck for me and that was "You know you're going to cheat so why not schedule it?" Simple as that is it really put it into clear and simple terms that finally made sense and I have done it ever since with great success.
LOOSE SKIN!!!!
This is a big question from a lot of people and this is an area where I am very great full I took the diet so slow. I look on the internet and see horror stories of loose skin or hanging skin and I was so nervous that this would happen to me.
Even after losing that much weight I did it so slow that my body had time to recover and readjust to this new body and it shrunk pretty well. I have some extra skin but I do not have near the issues I thought I would. I hope to post pictures of my current status to show what it looks like but I am building the nerve to do that one.
If I was too take of my shirt I look like a slim gu7y with a small gut, no hanging flaps or anything like that. My wife was shocked. I am hoping to remedy some of the gut issues with my new weighting obsession and reverse what little damage I have left.
I have started to document my progress forward on a personal blog where I post everything from pictures, stats, progress, food, etc. Check it out for a few more photos too.
http://www.4hourjourney.me/about/
And please feel free to ask any questions personal or not, I share everything about this journey because I want others to see how easy it really CAN be.
For more than 10 years I was anywhere from 330lbs to 355lbs at my highest and had tried everything to lose that weight. Around December of 2010 I was watching a show with Tim Ferriss where he was explaining his new book The Four Hour Body, and once I heard him explain the diet it just clicked and I said to myself "Holy hell, I can do that!". I literally stopped the show I was watching, ran to the book store and bought the book in that same hour, brought it home, finished the show and began flipping through the book. Spent that week preparing, buying food, getting rid of junk that was keeping me fat and never looked back for the first time on any diet I had tried.
I lost around 70lbs in the first 6 months, 25 of that in the first month alone. Thats when the real life crept back in with most diets and I began to flat line. I was in the process of looking for a new job, driving back and forth across the state interviewing, moving my family, life stuff, etc, and wasn't really able to keep up on the diet as much as I wanted too. But the crazy thing was, this time I was not going back up. I spent about 8-9 months traveling back and forth and looking for a new job which killed my progress, but I still kept to the main eating lifestyle which surprised me the most. Within that first 7 months I had trained myself to eat better and follow a healthier eating lifestyle which stuck.
Once I got settled in the new job, new house, and back with the family, I was dead set on getting back to the diet 100%.
I started to prepare my meals again and started hitting the gym again and began to lose around 10lbsa months again consistently until I hit what I thought would be my goal weight. When starting this diet I wanted to get back to 225lbs. I was around this weight 15 years ago and thought it looked good. Once I got there though it wasn't enough so I figured I would try and get down even more and set my new goal weight of 210-215lbs. But again once I hit that weight I still had some fat to lose and the diet was so easy by that point I started toward 200lbs even, a weight I had not see in more than 17 years.
Almost two years to the date, January of this year, I hit 200lbs even and have been maintaining ever since. I did go down from 200 a bit hitting 192 but found that it was too low and I did not like that weight and have since brought it back up. I began lifting weights around November of this last year but wasn't really serious about it. Then about 4 months ago I started to hit the weights seriously 6 days a week and have only missed 4 days in that 4 months and I feel absolutely amazing!!!
The biggest thing for me and the one thing I tell everyone now is to not look for a diet, but an eating lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life. For me, I love pizza, hamburgers, doughnuts, all the stuff that I shouldn't eat ever again
These are items which I always wanted but could never figure out how to incorporate into a diet the 10 years before. It seems simple, but still I could never figure it out and eventually add all lost weight right back on. Tim's diet broke it down for me in a way I could understand, eat healthy six days a week, one cheat day a week where you eat anything and everything you want. Hell, how could I NOT love that?? This is where I say find an eating lifestyle that works for YOU. Because some people don't need that cheat day once a week, some people don't want pizza and hamburgers, they just need portion control. This diet would not be for you then most likely. I knew I was going to cheat eventually on a diet, which always threw off progress for me in the past, but Tim said something that really stuck for me and that was "You know you're going to cheat so why not schedule it?" Simple as that is it really put it into clear and simple terms that finally made sense and I have done it ever since with great success.
LOOSE SKIN!!!!
This is a big question from a lot of people and this is an area where I am very great full I took the diet so slow. I look on the internet and see horror stories of loose skin or hanging skin and I was so nervous that this would happen to me.
Even after losing that much weight I did it so slow that my body had time to recover and readjust to this new body and it shrunk pretty well. I have some extra skin but I do not have near the issues I thought I would. I hope to post pictures of my current status to show what it looks like but I am building the nerve to do that one.
If I was too take of my shirt I look like a slim gu7y with a small gut, no hanging flaps or anything like that. My wife was shocked. I am hoping to remedy some of the gut issues with my new weighting obsession and reverse what little damage I have left.
I have started to document my progress forward on a personal blog where I post everything from pictures, stats, progress, food, etc. Check it out for a few more photos too.
http://www.4hourjourney.me/about/
And please feel free to ask any questions personal or not, I share everything about this journey because I want others to see how easy it really CAN be.
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Replies
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Absolutely tremendous. You look great. Congrats!0
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Thank you for sharing your story! Congrats on your accomplishment !0
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Dayum! Good job! You look amazing0
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WOW!!! Amazing story and success! You look great! I'm glad you found a lifestyle that works for you. That's the key to success right there.0
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You owe your wife a 2nd honeymoon with her new hot version hubby!!!.......:blushing:0
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MyFitnessPal has been great in all this too. I use it mainly to plan out my calories through out the day since I monitor them so closely now lifting weights. I run a fine line now of wanting to build mass but not wanting to gain the bad weight back again. Crazy, I spend all that time taking it off and now I am trying to figure out how to put it back on properly. LOL0
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You owe your wife a 2nd honeymoon with her new hot version hubby!!!.......:blushing:
:happy:
You don't know the half of it. She has been absolutely amazing through all this and still loved me even at 355lbs. She is in heaven now that I have lost it all and began lifting weights seriously. 0 -
Wow!!! You look great! Congratulations on all of your hard work
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that's awesome, thank you for sharing 0
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congrats !0
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Wonderful!! You look great! Thanks for sharing : )0
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that is absolutly amazing, great work0
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Awesome story!! Congrats of your success!!!!
Herb0 -
Fantastic job!!!! :flowerforyou:0
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Wow..I am inspired....nicely done you my dear are amazing!!!0
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I would also like to stress that there were no diet pills involved, no surgeries, nothing but diet and later diet and exercise. You can achieve weight loss the proper way.
Just wanted to highlight that since I see so many people seeking the easy way out, as I have done in the past as well.0 -
What an amazing transformation...mentally and physically! Thanks for sharing.0
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Love it! Great job and thanks for sharing the HOPE.0
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Great transformation, people like you inspire the rest of us to keep plugging away.0
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Excellent work! I do have one question. On the chart on your site, it looks like you actually had an increase in the rate of weight loss in the latter part of your loss phase, specifically from Aug-Oct 2012. Usually the biggest gains are at the beginning but yours were at the end (if I'm reading the chart correctly). Did you do anything different during that time or what would you attribute the increase in rate of loss to?0
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Congratulations, that's a great job.0
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You look amazing. Thanks for sharing your journey. :drinker: :flowerforyou:0
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Excellent work! I do have one question. On the chart on your site, it looks like you actually had an increase in the rate of weight loss in the latter part of your loss phase, specifically from Aug-Oct 2012. Usually the biggest gains are at the beginning but yours were at the end (if I'm reading the chart correctly). Did you do anything different during that time or what would you attribute the increase in rate of loss to?
Here is a better look at the charts from the first 6 months and the last 6 months. I was thinking 70 in the first 6, but it looks like it was 60lbs the first 6 and another 60lbs the last six months, I think it just looks different on the larger scale. Here the two graphs a little larger.
I'm actually heading to the gym right now but I will be back in a few to explain the differences between the graphs, exercises, and eating later.
The first 6 months, January 4th 2011-July-ish
The last 6 months, July-ish to January 28th 2013
Real quickly, here is the almost year long plateau, July-ish - July-ish Only 20lbs lost over this year.
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You don't even look like the same guy, wow!! great job, you should be very proud of yourself (as I am sure you are 0
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That is incredible! Well done! It's good to know that if weight is lost lower than one would like, it can prevent too much loose skin. That's been one of my concerns too..0
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So inspirational. Awesome work. I have been a slow loser too and I think it has helped me with skin issues. I am greatful for that as well. I also think it is easier to adjust overall when you are a slow loser (I keep finding positive spins on slow losing to keep myself calm and patient). I've also recently started lifting heavy. I am following Nia Shanks "Beautiful Badass" program. I am hoping this will help in toning and tightening. My husband has also been awesome. Congrats on your success. Nicely done.0
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Good for you....what an inspiration. I only had to lose 10 lbs but I think the maintenance thing is way more challenging than losing. Nice to see your success..0
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This is amazing! great story! Thanks for sharing, i wish to share this type of story some day.0
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Congratulations!!! You look amazing!!!0
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