From 461# couch potato to 225# marathoner (pic eavy)

sm1zzle

100% awesome.

Nice work man.

amosmoses88

Wow! Impressive! Congratulations on your weight loss! YOU LOOK FABULOUS!!!

jigsaw_me

WOW - Seriously impressive!!! Well done!

MinimalistShoeAddict

Amazing transformation! Enjoy your new healthy lifestyle!

mellowadam

Awesome!

Mellyajc

Very awesome!

I love running, it truly is a life changer. At some point I want to start a running therapy group to help people make the shift to "I CAN!" and grow their self esteem!

How did you make the shift into running after the knee injury/surgery stuff? It sounds like you don't have problems with it anymore?

Also, very personal question, but I'm curious (don't answer if you don't want)- sounds like you lost the weight very quickly. How did you deal with loose/excess skin issues? I'm down less than 10 pounds lost slowly and have issues with that!

griffithm1

Amazing! What a testimony for the glory of God! Blessing to your wife and your family.

teachmom32

Your story is a true inspiration. Placing your faith and your future in God's hands is a really tough thing to do. I've asked God for help this time, and I'm hoping I have the same success that you have. You look amazing, and so incredibly happy! God bless!

Goal179

WOW! You kick *kitten*. So proud of you. I love being inspired by people like you. It makes me realize that we can do this if we just put our minds to it. Love your story.

SapiensPisces

Incredible progress! Congrats!

Trissyboo

Amazing!! All things are possible through Christ who strengthens us. Thank you for posting your success story and also your beliefs. CONGRATS

Mia_RagazzaTosta

There is so much awesome in this I don't even know where to start. Congratulations on all of your achievements!

Topsking2010

Most impressive transformation I ever seen!!!

AbbyCar

Bump

minky_r

SPEECHLESS!!

Healthydiner65

This was the most inspiring post ever! As years roll down my face I am in awe of your accomplishments and vow to do better and not give up.Thank you a thousand times/Cindy

Rastamann

Amazingly Awesome!

kampshm

Thank you for sharing your amazing story! Not only have you changed your life, but you will continue to change the lives of those around you and others you may not even know on here! Wish you all the best and you will make an amazing personal trainer

melissafaith24

thats amazing! great job!

MMulder68

You are in inspiration!! I am so proud for you and your wife!

MissySpring

Wow! You are truly an inspiring person of faith. Congratulations

statickey

Great story!!!

TheRealJigsaw

Well done! Congrats!!

docdrd

I love seeing stories like yours. I so admire people who quite literally save their own life. GREAT job!!! Keep it going. And just for funny perspective, you have lost the equivalent of me 1.5 times over :-) Just astonishingly great!

bikermike5094

Holy weight loss batman!!!!!! You look freaking awesome!!!!

harphy

Bloody epic, man! :flowerforyou: :drinker:

grillnchill

You are AMAZING! Truly inspiring. Happy New Year and wishing you continued success.

DeputySox

Hardcore! You rock my friend! Drive on!

phytogurl

Truly amazing accomplishment!! Thank you for sharing your story...totally inspiring!!

farfromperfectdottv

Very awesome!

I love running, it truly is a life changer. At some point I want to start a running therapy group to help people make the shift to "I CAN!" and grow their self esteem!

How did you make the shift into running after the knee injury/surgery stuff? It sounds like you don't have problems with it anymore?

Also, very personal question, but I'm curious (don't answer if you don't want)- sounds like you lost the weight very quickly. How did you deal with loose/excess skin issues? I'm down less than 10 pounds lost slowly and have issues with that!

My knee injury was about 10 years ago, so time helped out. The surgeon worked miracles, and the physical therapist worked wonders. Surprisingly, my knee held up much better than it should have under my weight at my heaviest, but it's so much better now that I've lost it. When I did start running, I started out slowly. I used the Couch to 5K program and made baby steps the entire way to get to where I'm at now. I focused on endurance and stamina first instead of speed, and once I built a solid foundation, I started moving faster.

I get asked personal questions all the time, so nothing has surprised me or embarrassed me (yet, anyways!) How am I dealing with the excess skin? I guess I just do. It used to really bother me and I would try to cover it up with long shorts and sleeved shirts. Now, I've grown to see it as a battle scar now and take pride in knowing that the only reason I have it is because I've come as far as I have. I've battled insecurity, but one day during the summer I took a leap and bought some tank tops. The first time I wore one to the gym, I told my trainer I was uncomfortable with how the flabby skin under my arms looked. He told me- "Dude, don't worry about that. Look at how far you've come, you should be proud of that skin!" That really helped to boost my self-confidence, and I started wearing tank tops regularly to the gym and then out in public until I was comfortable with it and got over caring what other people thought.

As far as I know, when you lose that much weight there's really no workaround for the skin, it just becomes a part of life. When I run, most of the time I wear compression gear to hold it all on in, like why a woman would wear a sports bra. I literally have handfuls of loose skin on my midsection, I have saggy man boobs (although, not near as big as they once were), and I have excess skin on my thighs. I've accepted that I'll always have this unless I have some sort of surgery to remove it, which I probably won't unless it becomes a health problem.

One day soon, I'll be blogging about this question, since I get asked it a lot. Hopefully this helped out and answered what you were asking.