The 4th of july is my independence day as well.

vanessalillian82

That's an amazing change - well done!

I saw people being surprised at your starting weight - I'm just shy of 6'2" myself and people are always shocked to hear what I weigh, too. You can hide a lot on a tall frame, which is probably part of how I got into this mess in the first place!!! It's also harder for people (and for you) to see any real progress because it's a smaller percentage of your overall mass. But man, you've hit it out of the park! Go you, and all the best for the next goal

sandilee27

Incredible story! You are an inspiration!!

JTutz

Dude! You are KILLING it! Congratulations and keep up the good work!

itsanatalia

What an amazing job! Have fun on Sunday!

FitnSassy

Cheers to you and your independence day! You look great! #congratulations

cssyti

Absolutely a wonderful job!!!!! I salute you sir

calibriintx

Congrats and great work!

Buddhasmiracle

Great real life story about how enlightenment, vision and empowerment can work towards self improvement and just general positivity. Not easy --isnt for any of us -- and I really respect your determination and discipline. Pics really do highlight points of a story, dont they?
Well done!
Continue on and enjoy!

cheers
b

Well said! Congrats on your accomplishment of fitness and great health!

thewordwarrior

This is such a great story and such amazing progress. Way to go!!! Happy independence day!!

ajominy

Amazing Job! Yo Are So Right About Not Having To Be So Strict All The Time With Eating & Excercising. Glad To Hear That Has Worked Well For Others As Well. I Have No Doubt You Will Reach Your Goal! You Are Definitely Doing It The Right Way! Keep It Up!

marlo665

Absolutely amazing!

nchappynurse

Thanks for the inspiration!!! How wonderful!

Sparlingo

Wow! You look GREAT!

Congrats on your many successes so far, you will surely reach your goals !

manda2980

Congrats! You look HOT! : )

maQmIgh

That is an amazing achievement!!!!

Well done
xx

littlelaura

congrats, you look great!

msjames1999

Wow! Quite an accomplishment. Keep up the good work!!

sevsmom

ROCK ON!!! You have done an amazing job!! Can't wait to see your "made it to goal weight" post. You are an inspiration!!

DaniDC28

You look great!!

tkloss04

Thank you everyone!!

Brandon2117

INCREDIBLE work, bro.

HollisGrant

Hey Everyone,

this is my first post and I felt like I needed to do this because MFP has helped me so much I feel. Last year July 4th 2012 I decided to quit with the excuses and go back to the gym. I can't say it was always easy this last year and I definitely had my times where I slipped up a bit but it the end it has been 100% worth it and I'm never going back to the old me.

When I started this journey I was 453 lbs, I can say that my weight never really bothered me to much, I would still go out with friends and all that but I just never realized how big I was. When I got the the gym on this day last year the first thing i did was weight myself and when I saw 453 I couldn't believe it. That was the motivation I needed, right there staring back at me was what made me say "lets do this, i'm never going to see this number again".

Here I am now a year later and 104 lbs lighter at 349lbs. I still have another 99 lbs I want to lose and I will no doubt, within the last year I've run my first 5k and am doing an 8k on Sunday. I am also training for my first half marathon in April as well as my first triathlon in May.

I want to say that you can do this, you don't have to be super strict with your diet and you can take a day off from working out and you should. I tried to stick to my calorie count and I made sure to work out atleast 5 days a week.


1 year progress by tkloss04, on Flickr

You look fantastic! Congrats for getting your life back and being such an inspiration to the rest of us!! Keep it up!