One Year Later: 3,000 cans of Coke per year VS NO Soda for a

2Bgoddess

you have done something wonderful, for yourself, and for anyone here reading about it. you didn't just loose weight (which is hard enough) you became a stronger person, inside and out. thank you for sharing, I am bookmarking your thread. can i be your friend? (request sent

hewhoiscd

Thanks again everyone for the kind comments

lol on the manscaping comment. I was surprised by the practicality of it in every day life and working out, it feels a LOT cooler. It's not just vanity, even if that's why I did it at first

*kymarai

I am trying to inspire my husband to join my journey to get healthier as well. He is the same size as you were. He does pay more attention to his choices in eating, now to get him to exercise.

Any suggestion welcome!

Well, for me, it was something that came from with in. No one could make me exercise and follow a healthy lifestyle, I had to decide to commit to that myself. That said, you could casually mention this thread and show him the pics, might kick him in the right direction

You could also try some subtle approaches like: Every time you take a pic of him for any reason try to make it as unflattering as possible (sounds mean, but many people get motivated when they see an unflattering pic of themselves). Talk about how good you feel after a workout. How glad you are you started exercising again. Talk about *your* successes and hopefully that will inspire him. Basically, lead by example and hope he follows along some day.

Anything too direct, if he is a typical guy (and most of us guys are typical :laugh: ), will just entrench him further into his current habits. My opinion any way

*iamtippicanoe: Of course we can be friends

kittuk86

**Whistles**

questionablemethods

Dang! You are like a walking billboard for quitting soda! I mean, I know you did a lot more than that, but going from a 6-12 can a day habit to cold turkey is no joke! And it clearly did wonders for you!

Excellent excellent job!

suzieduh

*wolf whistles*

Amazing - very inspiring, and done in a sensible way :happy:

miadvh

When I saw your first "Now" picture, I had to scroll back up and see what you said your age was again. I was thinking "No way that's an older man!"
So basically, you've done an awesome job!

hewhoiscd

Thank you ladies

When I saw your first "Now" picture, I had to scroll back up and see what you said your age was again. I was thinking "No way that's an older man!"
So basically, you've done an awesome job!

Thanks...I think....:laugh:

mcjabber

Great post, Chris. It's been amazing to see your transformation

Glos1976

Am amazing transformation!

I'm trying to slowly give up Pepsi Max. It's been quite a struggle so far!

LTRUITT3

Wow....good job. WTG!!! You look marvelous!!!

Gerald_King

AWESOME

hewhoiscd

Thanks again It feels great!

Am amazing transformation!

I'm trying to slowly give up Pepsi Max. It's been quite a struggle so far!

I tried to slowly give up coke for 15+ years...slowly wasn't doing it for me That's why I decided to just quit cold turkey. You can do it!

TavistockToad

Vital Stats: 6’2”, 72” wingspan, 34” inseam, frame size small to medium

Nothing special about me, other than I finally decided to commit. If you commit, then you can do it too.

A year ago today, a little before my 40th birthday, I looked at myself in the mirror after a shower and decided, NO MORE. I was tired of barely being able to put on my 36” relaxed fit jeans. I was tired of the simple act of tying my shoes being such a chore. I was tired of having to wear dark XL T-Shirts to disguise my gut. I was tired of needing a break after climbing up a flight of stairs. I was tired of wearing out before anyone else did. I was tired of not feeling like I could be at the pool without a shirt on. I was tired of being embarrassed about what I saw in the mirror. I was tired of being tired!

I remember as a Teenager and in my early 20’s, looking at the older adults around me and vowing to myself to never let my jean waist size be bigger than my inseam. My jean size at 20 years old was 30 to 32 and my inseam was 34 and I couldn’t conceive of even the remotest possibility that my waist would ever be larger than 34”! Well, my inseam has stayed the same…but 20 years later my waist size had grown to be 36” relaxed or 38” regular fit.

How did that happen? How did I get up to 210lbs? How did *I* let that happen? Neglect, that’s how. I hadn’t paid attention to my health and fitness, and it had obviously gone downhill over the previous 20 years. That day, one year ago from the time of this writing, I decided to take back control of my health and fitness. I was going to get rid of that gut! It wasn’t going to get any easier the longer I waited.

The obvious 1st step was to quit drinking Soda and Sweet Tea. I literally had been drinking 6 to 12 cans of Coke a day, been doing that for 15+ years. So, I decided NO MORE. Not even one. I knew from past attempts to cut down my habit that I might be able to get down to a few per day, but that it would just ramp back up again. I felt the only option for me was to just quit cold turkey. It worked. I haven’t had any soda (not even diet) or Sweet Tea or any caffeinated beverage, since then. The first 3 weeks was tough! But I did it ‘cause I finally realized I had to. It was either the coke or me…and I like me much better than any inanimate object, no matter how good it tasted or felt to drink

I also started what I called My Get Fit Plan. The 1st month I did light cardio (Wii Fit Plus), the 2nd month I did Wii Gold’s Gym Cardio (Boxing Cardio), then I did 3 months of P90X Lean and then 2 months of P90X Classic, then 1 month of intense cardio with the odd strength training thrown in once a week Early on I joined MFP, which was a huge part of my success. I also took vitamins and nutritional supplements of course. Eight months after I made the commitment, I reached my Goal weight of 170lbs. That’s 40 pounds in 8 months, or a little over a pound per week.

I floundered around for about a month trying to decide, “what now?” I kept making good choices with my food, and stayed active, but I basically cruised for a month trying to figure things out. I finally decided on a strength training program focusing on gaining muscle mass. I did that for a month, but I pushed myself too hard and tweaked my knee and left hip a bit, which scared me. I’m 40 years old, almost 41, not a 20 something any more, lol.

So, I then spent a month on light cardio and light strength training, while focusing on Yoga as well. Basically, trying to maintain where I was at while giving my body a chance to recover from all I had put it through. I was still making good food choices, and still maintaining between 170 and 175 lbs the entire time. After that month, I had gotten to the point where I felt I could try to ramp it up again.

For those keeping score, we are now 11 months in

So, for the 12th month (this past month), I have gone back into strength training mode, but focusing more on good form and technique. Doing total body workouts 3 days a week, and 20-25 minutes of interval cardio about 3 days a week, every now and then I throw in a Yoga X session. My routine is still evolving, and I’m sure it will never stop evolving.
Now here I am, one year later. I feel like a totally different person now. I often think of the time before last year as a past life. I find it hard now to believe that it was really me in those before pics! That’s why I keep looking at them, I don’t want to forget again the price of neglect.

I am currently at 168 pounds. Current goal is to lose still more of my body fat and gain more muscle mass.

Enough words! Here are some Then and Now pics

wow, you look great! you have the body of a 20 year old!

chedges9090

Great Job! Funny how many of us love soda. I just started my weight loss program.. and haven't had soda for over a week now. I am ADDICTED to Coke. I won't quit--but, it will be counted into my daily calories. ! ANYWAY.. you look awesome. Good for you!!

hewhoiscd

wow, you look great! you have the body of a 20 year old!

Thanks Part of that is my smallish frame I think. I don't mind having a body of a 20 yo at almost 41yo now

Great Job! Funny how many of us love soda. I just started my weight loss program.. and haven't had soda for over a week now. I am ADDICTED to Coke. I won't quit--but, it will be counted into my daily calories. ! ANYWAY.. you look awesome. Good for you!!

Thanks We all have to decide on what is best for ourselves...but I encourage you to quit Coke all together. I don't want Coke to have any type of hold over me at all. I'm happy to say, that a year after quitting it, I have no urges at all for it any more. Quite the opposite.