I've lost 228 Pounds lost in 12 months.

Unknown

A question I'm asked incredibly often is 'Dude! What's your secret!' like there is some magical answer to losing weight. My dudes, I'm here to tell you there is no secret. Everyone's body is different, has different nutritional needs, and so on. I'm telling you, you can lose every ounce of weight you have through hard work and determination.

I have lost 215 pounds in 11 months. I had zero clue about nutrition. So clueless in fact, the first day of my diet I downloaded the myfitnesspal app and started from there. My only criteria for losing weight? A self- imposed 1600 calorie a day diet, and a proclamation to never eat a cheeseburger or slice of pizza again.

Please, keep in mind the day before my first day, I literally ate $80 in fast food. My last unhealthy meal took place on January 25th, 2012. Let me walk you through my last day of eating unhealthily. Be prepared. Also, if this turns in to a TL:DR, you can skip to the bold for the grand total, and continue from there.

Breakfast: As soon as I woke up I began to obsess on my first meal. So what'd I do? I hit Arby's, I ordered as follows: a number three, large-sized with curly fries. A number three is a Max Beef 'n Cheddar combo. On the side I ordered a Chicken Bacon Swiss sandwich, with a large jalapeño popper with ranch dipping sauce. Since I needed to even out all that salty goodness, I ordered an apple pastry for dessert. Grand Total: $18.47. I ordered the same thing from Arby's every time I'd order, and I'll never forget that number. 3,840 calories. For breakfast.

Kyle! Stop dude! You're ****ing with me! No, my dude, I'm not. Oh, and that's breakfast. Allow me to continue.

Lunch: Okay, bud, I had Arby's for breakfast, and I'll have it again for my first dinner, but I need to change it up for lunch. After all, variety is the spice of life, and me, being a connoisseur of the finest fast food has to offer, I was always a fan of variety. I decide to stop at Mcdonald's. I get a Double QP meal, large-sized. Since I'm hungry (and ashamed) and don't want the person who works here to know I'm ordering the massive amount of food for myself, I cover my tracks. I order a 20-piece McNugget Meal combo, large- sized of course, 'cause, "Dude who works at McDonald's, my 'friend' is outside, you don't think I'm going to eat this all by myself, do you?!" Oh, gotta get the hot mustard sauce for those nuggets, too. Can't forget the two-for-a-dollar apple pies, either--far too good of a deal to pass up. I don't remember the price, but I just figured out the calories: 3,330.

Snack time! Triple Whopper Combo, large--thanks, Burger King.Snack time, you've gotta keep it light. My dudes, 2,310 Calories.

Dinner: Repeat Arby's. 3,840.

In this time I also ate 4 King Size packages of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Total: 1,600 Calories.

So, when all was said and done, at the end of a typical day--and my last day before I began my diet--I averaged 14,920 calories a day.

When I went to sleep at the end of that day I had no idea that the next day I would start eating differently. I'll skip how I decided to start my diet in this entry and get to my first day of dieting.

The first day of my diet, I decided to adhere to a 1,600-calorie a day diet, thanks to no nutritional knowledge at all. I ate one fried chicken tender with barbecue sauce, and it cost me 330 calories. It's not even 9 am yet and I've used up a major portion of my calories. Uh Oh. This is going to be a long day. It certainly was. Keep in mind, I went from just shy of 15,000 calories a day...to 1,600. Probably dangerous. Definitely painful.

Eventually, I'd start experimenting with other foods rather than the garbage I had been accustomed to. I ate vegetables to maximize volume of food while minimizing calories, which is just one of the little dieting tricks I learned along the way.

After a while of logging all of my calories, I reconnected with the woman who would ultimately become the patron saint of my life, Lauren. It had been years since I had last spoken with her. Our reconnection revolved around the story I had written for the forums at joerogan.net, which chronicled my weight loss to that point (which is detailed here) It was a pretty emotional reconnection, we discussed the main thing that would bring us closer than we had ever been before: food. Our love of eating healthy, and feeling better about ourselves ended up being a magnetic force in a rekindling our friendship. It was specifically her love of vegetables that really inspired me. Let me tell you, Lauren is one out-of-this-world-woman, and her love of food is incredible. People who know her are truly blessed.

It was hugely due to this reconnection with Lauren that I started down an even healthier path. I decided to go mostly raw, but still indulged in the occasional grilled chicken breast. Lauren was able to guide me, give me recipes, and inspire me to succeed. I often wonder, had I not had this reconnection with Lauren, would I have been able to keep on this successful road for so long? I don't know. It was her love and enthusiasm for all things food and health that kept me inspired in the doldrums and mundane of my diet. I thank her in my mind daily. Sadly, as of this posting we've lost touch again. I'm still very much in love, but fate is determined to keep us apart.

So, what is my diet like now? It's mostly raw nuts, raw veggies, and chia seeds. My favorite item? Natural Peanut Butter (I love Koeze Cream-Nut, manufactured in Grand Rapids, MI. It's incredibly delicious, I don't know what they do differently--but it works!) I eat grilled chicken breast if I don't like how my Protein/Carb/Fat ratio for the day is looking. Recently I added hemp protein powder and unsweetened almond milk into the mix.

There is no secret weapon to losing weight. I've found the best attack plan is eating less of the right foods, and moving your *kitten* more. My knowledge of nutrition is still incredibly lacking, but I learn more every day and tweak my diet accordingly.

Thanks for reading. If I can clarify any thing I may have left out, or not elaborated on fully, feel free to post in the comment section and I will address it specifically there.

If you liked this story, I write deeper and more meaningfully at my blog not for profit, only for helping others, www.gainsthroughloss.com

akoteras

AMAZING STORY! Congratulations! You're such an inspiration!

sabimausl85

freaking awesome!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!

Unknown

how do i post pictures here?

Guamybear

wonderful story..you look fricking fantastic and I hope you can reconnect with Lauren..she sounds wonderful.. You are an inspiration to us all...

stadium1978

You have to use lower case letters in your img tags.

PumpGertrude

So sorry to hear you and Lauren have lost touch again...I really connect with that aspect of your story. There's a prayer that the teacher says at the end of a yoga class I sometimes attend that I thought of reading your story:

"May the long-time sun shine upon you
all love surround you
and the pure light within you
shine your way home"

Blessings to you, Kyle.

salgalbp

CONGRATS!!! Keep up the great work/s!

acogg

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful story and so well told! Congrats on your amazing achievement!:drinker:

thisisgreatsmile

Thank you so much for your post!!! You are an inspiration :flowerforyou:

NanaWubbie

What a story!!!You will be a great catch for some luck lady out there1

TerriAnne53

you are incredible. man you are just rockin' . I totally love your journey in the past year. you have made such an excellent transformation in your food choices and the way you look. I thank you so much for posting your story.

savingsunday

Incredible loss! Thank you for sharing your story!

marciebrian

WOW! Congratulations on your wonderful journey. AMAZING!

daborn526

Love this quote "There is no secret weapon to losing weight. I've found the best attack plan is eating less of the right foods, and moving your *kitten* more. My knowledge of nutrition is still incredibly lacking, but I learn more every day and tweak my diet accordingly. "
Your story is a HUGE inspiration! Keep up the great works with others and KEEP TELLING your story!!! People are listening!
bump

aawright39

You look wonderful!!! You inspire me!!

riccilynette

Amazing story and hot bod!!

BBeccaJean

Wow--inspiring for all of us!

zeleni

Absolutely amazing and so inspiring!! Thank you so much for sharing your story!

dangerxbadger

BUMPING LIKE WHOA FOR LATER.

Congrats, man. That is truly amazing! You are seriously inspiring. Way to go.

wikitbikit

Absolutely amazing, and I don't use the word "amazing" lightly. Congratulations on a whole new lease on life! You look fantastic and I bet you feel even better!

ChefTJP

Great Job Kyle!

samantha1242

I remember your previous post. No pics on that one though.

Mind = blown. Amazing.

RoseDarrett

I love your story!!You are so inspiring and you told your journey so beautifully!!
I hope you and Lauren find each other again.
Well done!

Pamko57

Wow! Great job, Kyle! Thanks for posting. I'd love to hear about what made you decide to make the change.

droneofvelvet

Wow!! Amazing I love to hear inspirational stuff like this. Brought some tears to my eyes. :sad:

michellekicks

I'm going to suggest Lauren enjoys what she sees

Great job! That's an amazing story.

Denverjuls

I wish you lived in Denver!

Unknown

Can I resize the image somehow so it's not cut off?

treineck

Great job Dude!! I really enjoyed reading this, and I'm super curious as to what changed...what gave you that push to change so dramatically? You look fantastic by the way!!

Willowana

One of the best success stories I've read. Your journey is very inspiring, and there is great depth to your writing. I'm definitely checking out your blog. You deserve every bit of praise you get. You've done a phenomenal job. And...not only are you handsome on the outside, there's also a spark of greatness within you that shines when you write. Keep writing, dude.

I can totally relate to your recount of fast food. I've ordered food and another whole drink when ordering at the drive thru so no one would suspect that Wendy's triple with cheese large meal, three chicken to-go wraps, and large vanilla frosty were for me. How embarrassing. I don't want to live that way anymore. It's a blessing to see someone like you break out of that self-inflicted torture. Very few of us really do.

Good luck with Lauren. I hope you guys reconnect.