Daniel's story -> 240 and depressed to 180 and feeling fine~

BrillFit

Hi again friends,

I was here a couple years ago. I vanished for a bit. Now I'm back.

To some of you - this story might be a repeat. To everyone and anyone else who reads this.. I hope I can inspire and motivate at least 1 of you.

I'm Daniel. I'm 26 years old and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A couple of years ago - I was 240 pounds, 35% body fat, depressed, lacked self confidence and self worth and was pretty much a hermit (played video games and stayed in my room as often as I could).

I realized that I was sick and tired of being ashamed of how I looked and it was time to make a change.

With hard work, self control, determination and a whole lot of screwing up and getting back on track, I was able to cut down to about 170 pounds and about half the body fat.

Here are some pictures documenting that transformation:








The way I achieved my success was pretty simple. Counted calories on MFP based on a TDEE - 20% (total daily energy expenditure minus 20%, if you don't understand this I am happy to explain) and worked out, hard. I changed my lifestyle and stuck to it. It was simple, but definitely not easy.

Unfortunately, around August of last year I broke my wrist playing hockey. The next few months were very difficult on me. I started falling back into old habits and without being able to lift and continue to go hard at the gym, I slowly started gaining weight. I am happy to say that over the last year I more or less maintained, and didn't fall back into old habits.

I am back now to ensure my success and to reach my goal that I originally set out for myself. To get abs!

Some of the things I did to achieve my weight loss:

Cut out all the garbage food I knew I shouldn't be eating. That included fast food, sodas/pops, and processed items
Replaced the above with complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats and LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER. I actually also began cooking and making my own food.. This helped A LOT.

Calculated my BMR/TDEE, and tracked calories with My Fitness Pal and weighed my food ACCURATELY. This means getting a food scale!

Introduced exercise into my life. Whether it's going on a walk a few times a week, lifting, HIIT, sports, running.. Whatever it is.. Do anything. Personally, I now love to lift heavy things, and then put them down. Then I lift them again.

Take progress pictures. This was imperative and paramount to my success. THIS ALLOWED ME TO SEE WHAT MY MIND WOULDN'T LET ME SEE, KEPT ME MOTIVATED AND KEPT ME ON TRACK. When you're overweight - you are hard on yourself and you only see the negatives. Pictures dont lie.

Didn't give up when I ****ed up. And I ****ed up lots. It's okay to have a cheat meal or a cheat day and enjoy yourself from time to time. This has to be about a LONG TERM and SUSTAINABLE lifestyle. This isn't a quick fix. Otherwise, you will gain it all back.

This is not about perfection. This is about changing your LIFESTYLE for the future for the better.

If anyone has any questions, comments, or needs help to get on the right track.. PLEASEEEE MESSAGE ME. I am more than happy to help you.

With love,

Daniel

dubbodu

Very Motivating info .Thanks for Sharing and Congrats for you achievement

TinalynM

I'm in this massive rutt right now after loosing 97lbs. It's been so hard to dig myself out. I find motivation in your story!

TinalynM

Could you possibly make pizza not so delicious?

BrillFit

Could you possibly make pizza not so delicious?

Why not make fresh and healthy pizza and have it be delicious and fit into your calories?

quellybelly

Danielllll you are amazing. Glad to have you back on MFP hehe. You already know that your story inspires me. You always motivate me to kick my butt into gear and to give my all into my workouts. Thanks to you, I now also enjoy lifting heavy things up, and putting them down. Then lifting them up again. And it has done wonders

I'm proud of you for getting back at it even when you feel like you've mess up. That's something I need to work on myself. I know some days it's a struggle but fall 7 times, get up 8!

I am honoured to have been a part of your journey thus far. Keep it up my fit friend

mchristo918

Thank you for sharing your story, I'm new here and rely on these types of stories for motivation. I have never taken photos of myself to chart my progress, and have refused up to this point. However, four months ago I was adamant about never running, and now I run 4 days a week and love it. So, I think I'll go snap my first selfie! Thanks again for sharing, have a gorgeous day!

BrillFit

Danielllll you are amazing. Glad to have you back on MFP hehe. You already know that your story inspires me. You always motivate me to kick my butt into gear and to give my all into my workouts. Thanks to you, I now also enjoy lifting heavy things up, and putting them down. Then lifting them up again. And it has done wonders

I'm proud of you for getting back at it even when you feel like you've mess up. That's something I need to work on myself. I know some days it's a struggle but fall 7 times, get up 8!

I am honoured to have been a part of your journey thus far. Keep it up my fit friend

Thank youuuuuuuuu so much for your kind words It's an honor to have you as a friend and as part of my life

BrillFit

Thank you for sharing your story, I'm new here and rely on these types of stories for motivation. I have never taken photos of myself to chart my progress, and have refused up to this point. However, four months ago I was adamant about never running, and now I run 4 days a week and love it. So, I think I'll go snap my first selfie! Thanks again for sharing, have a gorgeous day!

Thank you! I am happy to hear I am pushing you on the right track. Keep up the amazing work and I look forward to your progress pics

Luuvy

Wow! You look amazing! Great transformation.

jkwolly

Weeeooo! Nicely done :drinker:

divainsneakers

Great job!

mandybear014

You, sir, are truly inspiring! I love your photos and your story.
Awesome job! :drinker:

rayonrainbows

amazing transformation!! you are beautiful in all photos and stages, but your happiness and light starts radiating more the closer you get to your goal~*~~*~

thanks for the reminder that i need to take some pictures today, before i actually start losing weight. they are so helpful in gauging progress and encouraging yourself & others!! thank you for sharing yours & your story of doing it the healthy way~*

also congrats on maintaining even when you were set back by an injury; i think that's the true gauge that you've created a healthy lifestyle change, not just a quick-fix diet~*~ xo

yasmine334

amazing transformation. Congrats :drinker:

holliebevineau

You look smokin' HOT!!!

__hannah_

Great work! Thanks for sharing.

BrillFit

amazing transformation!! you are beautiful in all photos and stages, but your happiness and light starts radiating more the closer you get to your goal~*~~*~

thanks for the reminder that i need to take some pictures today, before i actually start losing weight. they are so helpful in gauging progress and encouraging yourself & others!! thank you for sharing yours & your story of doing it the healthy way~*

also congrats on maintaining even when you were set back by an injury; i think that's the true gauge that you've created a healthy lifestyle change, not just a quick-fix diet~*~ xo

Thank you so much! That's incredibly sweet of you to say. Pictures really were probably the biggest factor in my success. Whenever I felt like I wasn't making any progression because I still looked "fat" in the mirror, I put some pics up side by side and I'd see it right in front of me. It became motivation to keep it up!

Thank you to everyone else for your kind words.

eoswald

Awesome man, I hope you understand how impressive your results are for such a relatively short period! What was your avg weight loss/wk? has to be at least 2 lbs a week. That first month or so must have been very difficult!

MisterZ33

Daniel,

what an awesome story and transformation. I dont know you but i am damn proud of you. perhaps it is because i look at your before pics and see myself.

youre inspiring. im going to add you.

Bonella

Thanks for sharing your story. You did it the right way and you're truly an inspiration. Congrats!!

dcristo213

Awesome transformation! I am where you were 1 year ago, and my goal is to get to 180. You gave me the inspiration that with time and discipline I will get there also. Thank you!!!!

cryptonyt

Fantastic work, Daniel! Holy smokes, what a change! That is very inspiring! Thank you for sharing!

sbrookes9

Great work, Congratulations!!

BrillFit

Awesome man, I hope you understand how impressive your results are for such a relatively short period! What was your avg weight loss/wk? has to be at least 2 lbs a week. That first month or so must have been very difficult!

For the first couple months, it was actually even a little bit more than 2lbs a week. Mainly because I shocked my body with such a drastic change. It slowed down towards the last few months and it was more like a lb a week.

Thanks for the kind words!

BrillFit

Daniel,

what an awesome story and transformation. I dont know you but i am damn proud of you. perhaps it is because i look at your before pics and see myself.

youre inspiring. im going to add you.

Awesome transformation! I am where you were 1 year ago, and my goal is to get to 180. You gave me the inspiration that with time and discipline I will get there also. Thank you!!!!

Much love guys, thank you.

yesmikan

This is seriously inspirational.

I started my weight loss around the same time, August 2012. I had great success for a year (lost 90 lbs) but like Daniel I got blindsided by a major life event and fell back into my old ways. Sweet Lord forgive me for being a diet backslider. Unlike Daniel (who says he maintained in the last year) I gained a whole lot. So I'm back on MFP.

Great photos btw. Can I ask what your start/end weight was in those?

hmrambling

Thank you for sharing your progress You look great.

BrillFit

This is seriously inspirational.

I started my weight loss around the same time, August 2012. I had great success for a year (lost 90 lbs) but like Daniel I got blindsided by a major life event and fell back into my old ways. Sweet Lord forgive me for being a diet backslider. Unlike Daniel (who says he maintained in the last year) I gained a whole lot. So I'm back on MFP.

Great photos btw. Can I ask what your start/end weight was in those?

Thanks for the kind words. We all fall off, just get back up and back on track my friend!

I started around 240 (september 2012, maybe even a bit more - i was embarrassed to step on the scale) and in july 2013 I was around 170 in those pictures.

Now I hover around 180, but I'd like to think I gained some muscle lol

Dourpussdora

well done, you look great :happy:

BrillFit

Bump

Thanks for the kind words