Losing weight is not impossible.

Darton2010

Hello my name is John, I will tell you part of my story. I'm 24 years old and have been very over weight my entire life, I actually convinced myself after many failed attempts my entire life that I would be heavy until the day I die. My father would try to force me to lose weight, he would get me a gym membership and force me to go a few days a week at least, I would try my best to cut back on eating but the hunger would always win. Long story short it wasn't until I was around 20 years old, 375lbs that I decided it wasn't worth it anymore, I was choosing food over my life, I made up excuses not to go out with class mates, buried myself in work so my schedule wouldn't collide with other people's, I isolated myself, created a shell and was content for a long time, never tried to date or get close to any lady because I wasn't happy with myself so how could I be happy with another person. I deleted Facebook around that time because I was spiteful that I couldn't live like other friends on there. I never fell into a depression but I put up one heck of a shell where the only thing that was important was work and food. I knew I had todo something because even know my belly was full I was dieing inside so right then and there for the first time I was truely going to stop eating, not for anyone else that said I have to lose the weight but for me so I can live a full life. I had diets, fitness plans, personal trainers you name it in the past and nothing worked, but with the help of my fitness pal community and the app itself I lost so far 95lbs, and gained 60lbs of muscle so that's around 150 pounds of fat lost so far, I'm finally on the home stretch now and I can't be more happy to have the Idea of a normal life, I have been so happy with progress I joined Facebook again today, it's been 6-8 years since I was on Facebook around the time I was considered morbid I deleted it. But this is how I did it and I really hope it helps someone else live there life and not just try to sit by and hit a fast forward button to excape reality. First off I will say it's deff not a easy journey, I have never gotten rid of the hunger pains, not fully anyway but every time I relapsed and binge ate I told myself your choosing this over a GF or possibly a wife and kids so getting back on track wasn't as hard todo when it comes from within, not because I cared what others thought about the way I look or they told me I need to lose the weight, no it was for me. I will tell you that being hungry most of the time and border line miserable is worth it than the alternative, I remember thinking when I was a kid my grandfather died, at his funeral looking at his casket, looked like a snug fit and he wasn't overweight like I was so would I have to buy a deeper and wider casket when I die, I was pretty young but can still remember asking myself that. But I can tell you the oppertunity to live a fufilling life has been worth it so far and when I'm walking down the isle or there when my child is born, that will make what I went threw to get fit seem like a small speed bump barely worth noting. I never had surgery but since I was 18 off and on used diet pills, off the top of my head I forget the name but it's like a generic adepex I think, proscribed by a doctor in a weight loss clinic and monitored by them also so everything I said about my progress has been recorded by them not myself, I go every 2-3 months for visit and refill, but when I was 20 the thing that changed other than the drive was the understanding about what the body needs and the cause and effects. The diet that best suits me was a high protein, low cal diet but only eating a hunters gathers diet or Palio diet, it was more or less following a body builders diet for losing. So lots of meats, eggs, protein powder and protein bars with some vegetables staying UNDER 50 carbs starting out, it was really tough, than slowly added carbs but staying under my calorie goal of 2000 cals and slowly lowered the calorie intake and raised the carbs a bit, I weighed myself daily and really focused on what the cause and affect was for what I ate and the exercise I did, this helped me understood what MY BODY needed to loose fat, not eat muscle and not shut down from under fed and undernourishment, my diet today even know after a year of logging and weighing I know what I can eat and can't, my diet is still all natural and heavy on protein, ball park 150g of protein a day but under 1600 cals, that may seem extremely low but I found out my body shuts down around 1000-1100 cals, burns fat without compromising muscle at 1200-1600 and I maintain my weight at 1850-1900 cals and with gain slightly at 2000-2100 plus cals, everyone is different which is why monitoring your own body is key along with fueling it with quality foods no processed foods, I cut those out altogether and don't miss them, I did but not anymore. I drink only water because I would rather eat my calories than drink them. Eating now is boring and not fun/enjoyable like it was, food was a high before, I would make Ramon noodles, at one time 4 packs in a sitting and when my body started to digest the food it was like a drug, I ate because I was addicted and hungry constantly but I took that away from myself, I don't reward myself with food anymore, this was a total lifestyle change, it's like quitting smoking at first, I was grumpy, agitated and short fused for a month or more, it's hard to reverse 20 years of pigging out 24/7 to all natural low cal and low carb. When I get to the point of going off on someone or getting short I removed myself because I know I was mad more at the hunger pains and lack of my normal high than that person, it's just a diff way of handling situations like that now also, they say you shouldn't move more than 500 cals at a time, so eat normally, log it and every 3-4 days up to a week drop 500 cals off until the scale goes down, drink plenty of water threw out the day, with the meds I take, water not only makes the meds more effective but helps with dramatically reducing harm to the kidneys. Try to get excercise threw out the week, I have never stepped into a gym yet during my journey, I do push-ups off the counter of knees on the floor, sit-ups ext. enough to keep the motabilizm active while keeping muscles and making sure the body burns only fat. Most important thing is it all doesn't have to happen at once, a true life style change can be done progressively over a few weeks rather than cutting back cold turkey. Also plenty of sleep can really affect the body as well. I'm far from done and falling asleep, I didn't proof read because sleep sounds better lol. Feel free to ADD me or ask me questions anytime if I missed something or was unclear. Thanks

John

carrotguy689

Wow man this was helpful. My goal weight is 175..funny thing is that wheni went to the dentist it said 182.2...i did not believe at first but then i realized that their scales be extremely accurate so i guessim doing ok because about a year ago last jan i was 236 went to the gym that summer for one mouth ....last year Xmas. ...went back scale said 196. In feb it said 187. This pass Wednesday it said 183.2. So i guess I'm 182.2. ...

mylifeisbeautiful

It is stories like yours that truly motivate me-thank you for sharing. Although you are a stranger, it makes me very happy to hear that you have worked so hard and improved your life and health so greatly. I wish you a rich and full life - lots of friends, wife, kids - everything you want! There is some great advice here especially the idea of observing what calorie range works for your body.

BelleCakes2018

What a lovely story... so in depth and detailed. Just what some people need on here. Well done, you must feel fantastic with what you have achieved and rejoining FB might seem a little thing to some people - but a major turning point for you. Brilliant

godlikepoetyes

Good for you!

Iamsimpleguy

Congratulations,Great work man!! attach your images know it will be give more impact to the newbies like me!!

Darton2010

Just a memory now, here's my new story

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10491628/im-still-alive#latest