I'm 47% of the man I used to be, my two year journey!

BigMech · May 2012

As of this week, I've hit my latest weight loss goal, and I will probably stick at this weight for a while.

I've always been big, both height and weight. In March of 2010 at the age of 37, I weighed 490lbs at 6'6" tall. Several things came together at that point in time to finally make me realize that if I wanted to be around for my kids and wife, and set a good example for them, I needed to make some changes and I needed to make them now!

I started watching what I was eating and starting getting up early in the morning several days a week to go walking. First 2 miles, then 3, then 4. In April I started using the workout room at work in the afternoon to lift for 20 minutes or so, 3 days a week. By June, I had lost about 25 lbs.

In June, my wife got us a family membership to Orchard Hills Athletic club, and then things really started to click. I started hitting the gym 4 days a week, doing cardio and heavy lifting. I also started watching what I was eating more closely, and was limiting my calories to 2200-2500 a day, with as much protein as I could get. Within 4 months I was going 5 days a week, and between cardio and lifting, I was putting in 2+ hours a day at the gym. By December 30th 2010 I had already lost 100 lbs and was down to 390lbs. With this regime I was losing between 2.5 and 3 lbs a week!

In April of 2011, I ran my first full mile (at 340lbs), and started building up my running millage as well as hitting the gym, reaching 6 miles running by July. In August of 2011 I ran my first 5k in 38 minutes, and did another in October in 32 minutes.

It was September of 2011 when I hit my original goal of losing 220lbs, for a weight of 270lbs. When I started, I had a hard time imagining I would even get here. When I saw how much extra weight I was still carrying, I set a new goal of 245lbs, which would be half of my starting weight. I reached the 245lbs goal in December of 2011, and then 240lbs in January of 2012. I stayed at 240 for 2 months, but then decided I still had some more to lose, and set my sites on 230lbs, for a total loss of 260lbs.

I reached 230lbs this past week! The last 10lbs came off much slower, but that was intentional, as I didn't want to give up any of the muscle I have worked so hard to build up during these 2 years. I went from a size 62 pant to currently wearing a size 36. My chest has gone from 60 inches to a solid 46.5. My arms from 21 to a solid 15.5". I'll be 40 at the end of this month, and I'm in the best shape of my life!

I still go to the gym 5 days a week, for roughly 2 hours at a time. I do about 35 minutes of cardio, and the rest is heavy lifting on 4 day split. I also run 2 or 3 times a week, usually 5 or 6 miles at an 8:40 per mile or so pace. I did a 5k this past weekend in 25:52!

While going from 240lbs to 230lbs, I was eating 3,600 calories a day, with about 250g of protein. MFP was great for tracking this. Now that I hit 230, I've upped it to 3,800 calories, and will up it another 200 if I keep losing.
The difference this has made in my life has been amazing. I haven't weighed this little since junior high school, and I was much shorter then. I have so much more energy now, and feel so much better about myself, so much more confident. My kids have picked up my healthier habits as well, and we are a healthier family now. My wife has lost 40lbs so far as well.

Just wanted to share this with everyone, and let you know that with hard work and determination, it can be done. You've just got to want it and work for it, and it will happen!

Enough Rambling, here are some pictures:

Here is me at 490lbs at Disney World:

Here is me in December of 2010 at 390lbs:

This is when I hit 270lbs:

245lbs with my old pants (Size 62 to size 38 in this picture)

These are me at 230!

This is a collage of pictures from start to finish that I took with my webcam: