Six months and 75 pounds later - pictures

olivegirlx3

That's my awesome husband! Way to go, Honey! You are amazing and inspiring to so many! You should feel elated, overjoyed, ecstatic...where's my thesaurus when I need it...Love you and so proud of you! xoxoxoxo forever...so glad we are on this journey together!

lisabell118

That's awesome! You look great

yspen42

Awesome!

JethroXP

Tremendous work! I bet you FEEL so much lighter with so much more energy! Question...besides being able to burn more calories in the same amount of time, why do you enjoy the elliptical trainer so much more than the treadmill? Ive never been on one to compare.

I have so much more energy and I do feel lighter. A flight of stairs used to cause me to breathe heavy, now I routinely go up 7 flights of stairs and feel great doing it. I feel strong, and light on my feet, like I did in my early 20's (and I'm double that now). Exercise has become my time machine, I really feel like I've rolled the clock back 20 years.

What I enjoy about the Elliptical is that I can go faster than I can on the treadmill because there is no jarring impact on my joints so I have no worry of injuring myself. If it weren't for my bad knee I'd probably be running. So to get the calorie burn I want from a treadmill I need to spend a lot of time on it, and that gets boring after a while.

On the Elliptical I feel like I can push myself harder because the percieved effort is less than compared to a treadmill, and it really pays off with the much higher calorie burn in a shorter period of time. Doing the math, I currently burn about 9.75 calories per minute on a treadmill. With the Elliptical I've been able to do about 13.5 calories per minute, that's a 38% increase. So I can now get my workout done a lot quicker, or burn a lot more calories in the same amount of time.

Given that I'm at my goal weight now I really wish I'd tried the Elliptical sooner because even though cardio will continue to be important I'm starting to transition into strength training as I go into "maintenance mode", so I won't be doing cardio six days a week like I have been doing.

ShawtyLatina

Big time congrats on your accomplishment! You look fabulous. Next step... Show off that handsome face by updating your profile pic. Yeahhh!

JethroXP

Just curious. I'm starting at the same weight, and doing the 2lbs./wk. How many calories did you burn on the average workout, and did you eat them? Keep up the great work! Good job.

When I first started I was burning about 300 calories per workout, and yes I ate every one of them I often tell people that I don't exercise to lose weight, I exercise so I can eat while I'm losing weight.

I still remember the first time I got that message telling me that I'd lost 10 pounds so I should recalculate my goals. I thought, ok, sounds reasonable, and after I did it suddenly my available calories went down. I was so frustrated! That made me not want to update my goals, but I found by not doing that, meaning not updating your effort and your intake to match your progress, you actually begin to see diminishing returns. So once I understood that I began to look forward to it.

As you lose weight, you will burn fewer calories from the same workout, and your BMR will go down too, meaning you have fewer calories in your daily budget to begin with. Fortunately, I began to discover that I was getting full on smaller portions as well, so it all balanced out.

Now I've progressed to about 900 calories burned in a typical workout, and I eat every one of those too. As I was getting close to my goal, around 70 pounds down, I found myself hitting a plateau, where I basically sat at the same weight for about 3 weeks. I couldn't figure out why, I was still maintaining roughly a 1000 calorie daily deficit. So I decided that maybe being so close to my goal was making me too aggressive, so I reset my goal to losing 1 pound per week, which gave me back about 500 calories per day. As odd as it sounds, once I started eating more suddenly my weight loss continued and I broke out of the plateau. I dropped that last 5 pounds in about two weeks after that.

The key thing to remember is that your body is very good at adapting to whatever stress you put it through, and if you keep doing the exact same thing your body becomes very efficient at doing that, so you begin to see diminishing returns. That's why you need to adjust your routine every couple of weeks, even indulge and go over your calorie budget once in a while, so that you are forcing your body to adjust to new input, rather than allowing it to become very efficient at the same old thing.

julie204

THAT IS JUST SO BRILLIANT THAT IS SUCH COMMITMENT WELL DONE :drinker:

niknak2308

You look fab, such a huge change! Well done and thanks for sharing your pics :happy:

Splinkysgirl2

Congratulations! Awesome job!

gailashton

Wow you look absolutely fabulous. Nice work, very inspiring!

Helice

Wow you look like a totally new man.
Thats AMAZING!!!
Way to go! ^-^ x

suzieduh

You look great, well well done

pholbert

Congrats. You will be an inspiration to people.

littlewrists

I lost 75lbs in six months and it landed me hospital threats. Why is it okay for some to do it and not others?

ltillman

wow, great job
you are handsome
i like both pics, you looked nice with a fuller face (slim face does too) but i am sure the slimmer you is healthier

congratulations

Irene8509

You rocked it Jethro!!! Awesome job. Congratulations on your hard work and determination. You look great:flowerforyou:

sharesb

you look absolutely wonderful! great job!

lucietot

Congratulations! this is what I have to do as well. Iam starting with Fitness Pal. I am not strong on exercise but based on your exemple, I could start on treadmill (I Have one at home) 20 minutes 3 times a week.

robbiefreeland

Awesome job man!! I started at the exact same weight 250lbs, and had lost 14 prior to joining MFP just using a sensible diet approach and Lipozene. Then I became concerned about the Lipozene and a guy from work turned me on to MFP. Now, including the 16lbs I have dropped since joining MFP, I'm 30lbs lighter and feeling like a different person. You are an inspiration to me my friend, I just want to see 200lbs again but would love to reach 175lbs or so. I have not been adding any routine exercise yet due to a issue with spurs in my foot which I hope to get attended to after the 1st of the year. So, I'm living proof that if you just eat healthy and make wise meal choices, stay under your caloric goal every day.....You CAN lose weight effectively!! It's most certainly a lifestyle re-programming!!

Tryin2findme

Congrats!!! You look fantastic

gargoyle999

You're making me feel BAD! I started in April and have only lost 68lbs so far!! lol Started at 245 and today set a new low at 177lb. But I just had to say NICE JOB! That is a big change in a short amount of time!

I wear a photo ID at work as well. It doesn't get looked at too closely by anyone so I'm keeping it as a reminder to myself of what was and what would be if I go back to my bad habits. I did update the picture that comes up if someone looks up my name in the company online database though.

I also noticed as I get close to my goal where I had stopped losing. So I am now at 1/2 lb per week loss and have started to lose again. I think you are an excellent example for everyone that if you change your diet and exercise regularly you can make big changes in a relatively short time! Again, very nice job!!

koolcat686

nice, good job. the weight loss goal i set for myself is 195 but ultimately i want to get in the 175-180 range nice to here it can be done and in a reasonable amount of time

spennato

Great Job!!!

H_Factor

wow! you have kicked *kitten*! way to be fierce for 6 months. So far, I have dropped from 252 to 182 (-70), but I started back in late January. I had a bout of complacency around the 45 pound loss mark that lasted several months. Fortunately, I found the fierce again and started rocking again. That is so awesome that you were fierce all the way through.

As you know, now is not the time to let up. If you let that complacency creep into your life, it will be easy to start gaining weight back. Keep control of your mind and your health.

cfergy

great job, thanks for the inspiring pics. I wish you continued success.

m1shootr

Just curious. I'm starting at the same weight, and doing the 2lbs./wk. How many calories did you burn on the average workout, and did you eat them? Keep up the great work! Good job.

When I first started I was burning about 300 calories per workout, and yes I ate every one of them I often tell people that I don't exercise to lose weight, I exercise so I can eat while I'm losing weight.

I still remember the first time I got that message telling me that I'd lost 10 pounds so I should recalculate my goals. I thought, ok, sounds reasonable, and after I did it suddenly my available calories went down. I was so frustrated! That made me not want to update my goals, but I found by not doing that, meaning not updating your effort and your intake to match your progress, you actually begin to see diminishing returns. So once I understood that I began to look forward to it.

As you lose weight, you will burn fewer calories from the same workout, and your BMR will go down too, meaning you have fewer calories in your daily budget to begin with. Fortunately, I began to discover that I was getting full on smaller portions as well, so it all balanced out.

Now I've progressed to about 900 calories burned in a typical workout, and I eat every one of those too. As I was getting close to my goal, around 70 pounds down, I found myself hitting a plateau, where I basically sat at the same weight for about 3 weeks. I couldn't figure out why, I was still maintaining roughly a 1000 calorie daily deficit. So I decided that maybe being so close to my goal was making me too aggressive, so I reset my goal to losing 1 pound per week, which gave me back about 500 calories per day. As odd as it sounds, once I started eating more suddenly my weight loss continued and I broke out of the plateau. I dropped that last 5 pounds in about two weeks after that.

The key thing to remember is that your body is very good at adapting to whatever stress you put it through, and if you keep doing the exact same thing your body becomes very efficient at doing that, so you begin to see diminishing returns. That's why you need to adjust your routine every couple of weeks, even indulge and go over your calorie budget once in a while, so that you are forcing your body to adjust to new input, rather than allowing it to become very efficient at the same old thing.

cecilia0909

Awesome work! You look great

summer827

That is incredible!! You did some great work!! You look great!

grannygethealthy1111

You look like a new (and younger) man! Congratulations. You look great.

nk17

I can't wait until I can show such results. You look so much calmer and happier. Thanks so much for sharing.