184 pounds down in 7.5 months , type 2 diabetic reversed, New shot at life

bigr5705

I've always been a big guy my entire life , I was a 6'3" 265lb freshman in high school football and due to scoliosis in my spine I opted not to continue football after that season...over the next couple years I put on over 100lbs. I worked in a factory at the time and they had a Biggest Loser contest for prizes and I decided to enter and spent 2 months losing 106lbs . Of course I won the competition very easily but I immediately stopped working out etc after the victory. I spent the next 10 years gaining back all the weight plus some and finally ending up at my heaviest 430lbs in the summer of 2016. The dr had notified me that I was on a bad path and blood work determined I was a type 2 diabetic who also had high blood pressure and cholesterol issues. The news wasn't exactly shocking to me as I kind of knew how my body was reacting. Type 2 diabetes runs through my entire family bloodline, both parents, grandma and grandpa , and aunts and uncles. It seemed inevitable that I would be next in line for life until the day my Dr really put things in perspective for me and used the only thing he could to get through to me and that was my daughter. He told me that if I wanted to see my daughter graduate in 16 years that I better shape up and change my life. At 30 years of age at that moment, it really struck a chord with me that he doesn't think at my current pace that I have another 16 years in me . It made me feel like crap, I knew then and there that it was the moment I have been looking for forever. I was going to do what I have to, to keep my family together , job together, and I WILL see my daughter graduate. I went out and purchased me and my wife a set of bikes to start riding in our spare time. We road as often as we could with our daughter all around town, without to much effort I managed to lose 18lbs over 3 months but my numbers weren't any better on the blood work yet. My dr gave me 1 month to change my numbers or he was putting me on insulin. I walked out of the office that day on a mission, although I felt defeated, I knew I could do it all again as I did 10 years ago. But this time had to be different, this wasn't for a competition, or money, this was for my life and family. It was important that i approached this as a life change rather than a diet . Mentally I was ready and set out September 8th, 2016 officially getting a gym membership and starting our life change. My wife knowing how hard it would be for me to complete my goals by doing this by myself took it upon herself to join me on this journey to make things easier with the household being on the same page. Over the next 30 days I would lose 35 pounds. Completely shocked at my progress, my DR had restored his faith in me and kept me off insulin pending more time to change. I was eating better, measuring portions, and working out 5-6 days a week for a couple hours. We had chose to do a low carb life to help get back on track. My wife started dropping weight quickly as well and we were both in the zone. Over the next several months , we would grind out day after day of working out and eating completely better, passing up the indulges at birthday parties and weekends with friends and family and we did our best to control the urge to cheat on our meal plan. By the end of month 4 I had lost 112 pounds since September, I was now sitting at 300 pounds even, my wife had managed to lose 35 pounds and was sitting at 159 pounds. I had another dr appt and this time he couldn't believe his eyes, the nurses were extremely shocked as well at both of us. By then we had tons of friends and family who were all following and trying to start changes of their own . As time went on over the next couple months I had managed to chisel off another 35lbs and finally hit my original all time goal of 265 pounds, same weight I was as a freshman in 2001. My wife had managed to lose another 6lbs as well, being so close to finish line she doesn't have a lot to lose anymore . We hit our goals on March 5th and our new mission was just to continue living healthy and see how far we could go as well as trying to change our focus on working out and losing weight to building muscle and toning out. A month after my goal weight i am currently 245 pounds and still losing weight slowly each week, it's extremely hard to pull the big number anymore in Month 7 of this lifestyle change. Trying different foods and incorporating new things in our life is currently what we are doing now. My numbers have never been better . In a matter of 7.5 months I have managed to lose a total of 184.2 pounds. My wife has managed to lose 45 pounds and is currently 149 pound and has been feeling better than ever. Life has been restored for both of us and we see a long future for our family. I am currently no longer a diabetic, no cholesterol issues, no blood pressure problems. I am in the best shape I have ever been in my life and feeling pretty dang good. We still look forward to the gym each and everyday and won't stop for nothin, it's not about the numbers completely, it's everything involved, how I feel and look and new amount of energy. I encourage anyone who can relate to our story that you give your life a new meaning and make the change. Even if you don't have much to lose , a low carb lifestyle is convenient for all. We want to thank everyone and anyone who has followed us or our story and look forward to working out for as long as we can amongst all of you. Hoping for nicer weather to be able to do more outside conditioning .

psychedmom

Congratulations on starting a new healthy life together! That's fantastic! Great job!

philsadude4life

Congratulations that's incredible

fitand50inSD

Wow ... that is incredible. Life is a lot easier when everyone is making healthy choices together. Keep up the great work. You have a beautiful family!

Out_of_Bubblegum

I want to awesome this 1000 times - I am inspired. Thank you for sharing!

debtay123

This is amazing- wow- you are Fabulous!

ldtamika31

Awesome

LillysMomma09

Job well done. Congrats!!

bigr5705

Thank you all for the kind words, it definitely has been a journey and I feel like a new shot at life, the thing I wanted to tell everyone which I don't think I did in the story is this was all done with old fashioned hard work and eating better, no pills or wraps or advocare meal programs nothing, just knowing what to eat and not to eat as far as lowering carb intake and working out, your body will do the rest.....juggling life isn't easy sometimes and you will have to make adjustments on the fly but I promise it will become second nature and more of a life change Vs a diet.....thanks again everyone I will update as we continue, thanks for all the support

schtump

At my heaviest I was about where you were at your heaviest and we're both about the same height so it's really cool to see what you have done. Thanks for sharing that was good motivation to get where you're at.

judydj1220

AWESOME!!!!

conniehv40

Take a moment every day to be SOOOOOO proud of yourself! This is a great gift to yourself and those that love you!!! Awesome!

LINIA

You are AWESOME....It sounds like you know this, but it's really true "MAINTENANCE" is much harder than losing, congrats --all the best.

Remember your body will try to regain, so stay vigilant. Beautiful Pictures and thanks for sharing.

Landofkim

Congrats on you lifestyle change!

wsandy8512

You and your wife were a beautiful couple before the weight loss, now you're both hotties! Your daughter is an absolute doll, btw.

What an inspiring family story and personal story. You two will both be around for a very long time.

shakenbake57

bwmalone wrote: »

I want to awesome this 1000 times - I am inspired. Thank you for sharing!

Same here!!!

knittingdianne

Congratulations! What an inspiring story! I wish you and your wife much happiness in your new lease on life.

shawnele

Awesome job - both of you!

oceanblue6

What an incredible story. You have given your daughter a tremendous gift-- two healthy parents and an inspirational example. You have a beautiful family and I wish you many happy and healthy years together!

bigr5705

Thank you all, definitely gives me and my wife more fuel to keep going and surpass our goals, thanks again for all the kind words

bigr5705

Currently down to 228.6, trying to maintain and tone out.....down 201.4 total pounds