I Never Thought Possible!!! 20 years Overweight....Now This!!!

Fattonz

In May of 2015 I decided it was time to take my life back after nearly 20 years of being obese. With my wife having been diagnosed with diabetes in 2014, and my daughter living with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, I decided it was time to be a role model.

In addition I am a HUGE fan of higher intensity sports such as motocross and mountain biking. I decided I wanted to be more active in these sports once again.

So here are my results to date. Pictured here is me in May of 2015 @ 208lbs and again in December of 2015 @ 151lbs:









I snapped this one in the mirror yesterday. Something I never, EVER would have even dreamed possible is now becoming a reality:








I keep myself in a caloric deficit and eat a balance each day consisting of roughly 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbs. I rarely eat processed foods. I eat a meal every three hours consisting of a lean protein, fibrous carbs and a starchy carb.....basically at eat meal I try to make my plate look like my daily macro nutrients goal....if that makes sense. I log every item I eat and supplement one meal a day with a shake consisting of Whey Protein Isolate, frozen fruit, and egg whites. When I decide I really want something, like pizza, or a Big Mac, or some potato chips, I have them and then I carry on with my routine. I have learned that, at least for me, deprivation does not work, but rather balance and moderation are key. In the past I would beat myself up and likely quit working out if I indulged with junk food, but now I just think about all that "fuel" I just consumed and channel it into a kick *kitten* workout.

I do 30 minutes of cardio 5 days a week, usually elliptical, sometimes treadmill. I really like dumbbells and body weight resistance training. As such I do 95% of my workouts at home.

I absolutely cannot wait until spring arrives to put my new body to work doing the sports I so love. In the meantime I have been putting in some time this winter giving my favorite bike a transformation of it's own. It's going to be a real treat to ride:

Peaches160

Congratulations man you and your bike Rock!!!!!!
P.S. Anyone ever told you that you look like a younger Bruce Willis or Micheal Keaton?

ransaka

Mate, that's epic. Huge congratualtions!

cponeill89

Congratulations, and I'm jealous of your KTM

88meli88

Amazing and so fat! Well done.

WindyCityGal160

Way to go- that is awesome! Go out and enjoy that bike. Thanks for sharing!

sparrish531

Congrats! Very inspirational. Thanks for posting this!

natajane

Wow, fantastic! Well done to you, and thanks for giving me hope.

ShaneLynch1972

@Fattonz Awesome job!!

Fattonz

Wow! So many great replies! I hope I can be as inspirational to all of you, as your replies are to me

I also wanted to mention a few more things that I forgot to include in my original post. First, my age. I will be 42 in a couple of months. In addition to my daughter, I too have been diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, albeit a milder form than my daughter's. Thirdly, my wife too has made great progress and has dropped over 60lbs to date:

Linseymout

Wow!!!! Awesome. Well done to both of you fantastic work!!!

MKEgal

Way to go!!!!!
You're both looking great.
Have fun this coming summer with your new, more energetic & capable bodies.

RodaRose

Love the pictures. Keep having fun.

cmsu64113

wow Amazing!

klkarlen

Congratulations to both of you!

craignev

Awesome transformation.....congratulations!

My Wife's diabetes diagnosis a month ago is what kickstarted our change in lifestyle too. I'm also 42 and have a similar amount of weight to lose so this is one of the most relatable success stories I've seen! Thanks

Your wife looks great too. Have her diabetes stats improved since she started?

Jlefevre5

Awesomeness by you. Can you describe your dumbbell and body weight workout. We are the same age. Can you give your height? I'd like to see what is possible for me if I am committed!

desert_mom

Fantastic job! You look so much younger!

Fattonz

craignev wrote: »

Awesome transformation.....congratulations!

My Wife's diabetes diagnosis a month ago is what kickstarted our change in lifestyle too. I'm also 42 and have a similar amount of weight to lose so this is one of the most relatable success stories I've seen! Thanks

Your wife looks great too. Have her diabetes stats improved since she started?

Thanks for the encouraging words Craig! Yes my wife's stats have improved dramatically since her diagnosis in 2014. Her A1C's are always awesome and she so longer has to take insulin. She has a very good handle on it, but she has the advantage of having had previous experience with diabetes when she was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during all three of her pregnancies. All three resulted in very high birth weights...9lbs 3oz, 9lbs 4oz, and 12lbs 4oz respectively. All three were c-section. In addition she attended university for Nutrition and Dietetics back in the day. I believe all of that has really shaped her wisdom. Her doctors often refer to her as the model or quintessential patient...lol.

But it still bites her from time to time so it is really important she stays on top of it by taking certain precautions before engaging in certain activies, such as exercise, etc... Seasonal changes always seem to cause variables to shift which keeps her on her toes making constant adjustments.

subversive99

Fan-freaking-tastic. So inspiring. Thanks for posting.

Raw_Forever

Very very impressive , I'm inspired

marcelo_templario

Honest congrats....burn some rubber with that bike...good luck sir.

Topsking2010

Awesome job!! Very impressive!!

TriShamelessly

Awesome results!

Fattonz

Jlefevre5 wrote: »

Awesomeness by you. Can you describe your dumbbell and body weight workout. We are the same age. Can you give your height? I'd like to see what is possible for me if I am committed!

I didn't really start with the weights and body weight resistance training until October 23rd 2015. So from May 2015 up until that point was mainly elliptical and cycling. In August 2015 a bad dirt bike wreck left me with a badly broken and displaced collar bone which I had to have repaired through ORIF surgery:








That of course made it impossible to do any type of upper body training, but I stuck to my routine cardio exercises as best I could. When I was cleared by the Dr. at the end of October, I decided I wanted to step up my game. I started incorporating some weightlifting and resistance movements into my routine. But honestly, I really had no idea what I was doing. At the time I owned one set of 20lb dumbbells. Basically I would do my 20 or 30 minutes of elliptical, then I would do some simple exercises like dumbbell bicep curls, wrist curls, shoulder presses, push ups, leg lifts, crunches. I had no idea about taking the movements to failure in a given amount of reps/sets and would basically just pump out reps to get through the workout. But I was having fun, and I was seeing results.

More recently I have started watching calisthenics videos on YouTube, and also following a trainer on YouTube who's channel is called Athlene-X. He advocates clean bulking and a lot of his suggestions you can do at home with basic equipment.....you just have to ignore his promoting his product talk....lol.

So I stepped things up and bought myself and incline/decline bench and a better selection of dumbbells:










I also installed a chin-up bar in my house and fabricated myself a store away dip station that hangs on my chin-up bar and then easily stores away when not in use. I really didn't want to clutter up my house with tons of big equipment:










I use resistance bands, but mainly as a form of assist. I can step into this band to assist me when doing pull-ups and chin-ups. This allows me to do more reps, thus training the muscles to eventually be able to graduate into being able to do full sets, unassisted. So I try as much as I can to include the classic dips, push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, sit ups, etc... Into my routines. In addition I aim for full body workouts using mainly Dumbbells using movements I have learned from the abundance of available videos on YouTube. I work out three days, take one off, work out two days, take one off, then repeat. If I am working a certain muscle group, say chest, I will pick two to four chest exercises and perform 3 or four sets for each, consisting of 10-12 reps. I select a weight that lets me fail in that 10-12 rep range. On the last set of a given exercise, as soon as I hit the last rep I can possibly muster, I drop the weight down and immediately pump out another set to failure with the lower weight. Sometimes if I am ambitious enough I will, drop it down another time with yet a lower weight, and take another set to failure. When I am done that body part is on fire and complete mush....lol. I split up the muscle groups to try to attain appropriate rest between workouts. I have a gym at my work and that is where I do legs. I will mostly do leg presses, extensions, and leg curls using the hi tech equipment. I bought one of those nifty little ab wheels, and I gotta say I love that thing and thus incorporate it into my workouts.

As far as what's possible through commitment. ANYTHING! Really, I know that sounds SO cliche, but I have witnessed it in so many forms throughout my life. I once slugged it out for 18 years trying to support a wife and three kids as a poor carpenter. Bills were always behind, never knew if I would have employment next week or where I would be working. In 2011 I decided it was time for change. I went to night school evenings and weekends while working full time. I sold most of my personal possessions at one point to avoid losing the house as the mortgage was 3 months ish behind and creditors were phoning constantly. But I made it through and am in my fourth year of enjoying my lucrative and stable career as a power engineer. I am able to provide VERY comfortably for my wife and kids, plus have a little fun besides. A couple years earlier I never would have imagined it possible in my wildest dreams. A career change, a six pack belly? Those things were unicorns to me. So believe me....ANYTHING really is possible.


I am 5'-7".

Jlefevre5

My man Fattonz --You are an inspiration to fat guys everywhere who need a kick in the pants to drop some lbs. Many thanks!

Fattonz

Jlefevre5 wrote: »

My man Fattonz --You are an inspiration to fat guys everywhere who need a kick in the pants to drop some lbs. Many thanks!

Seeing you folks all inspired inspires me! So I thank you.

Hey go back and have a read once more of my last post. I edited in another paragraph or two, just seconds ago.

Enjoy

SoDamnHungry

Fantastic post!!

sijomial

Top work - well done, you look so much younger.
I was fat from 31-51 and really regret not sorting myself out earlier.

Enjoy your fit 40's, you've earned it.

rdgfreshstart2016

Thanks for the great post and congrats on the success

bikinivirgin

congrats you went after your goal no excuses even with an accident and family health and made it a reality nicely done.