Chronic pain? Read this. 6 months, 74 lbs. (with pics)

I joined MFP on February 19, but had already been "dieting" for a week, so today is the 6 month mark for my lifestyle transformation, and wow, has it ever been an awesome 6 months!! I haven't missed a day logging into MFP since I joined, and today it is at 176 consecutive days.

Here's my story: overweight my entire adult life, and suffered from major low self esteem because of it. I also had an untreated lower back injury 20 years ago, and the extra weight and inflammation of my joints resulted in osteoarthritis in my SL joint that caused chronic pain in my lower back, thighs and groin for 3+ years. I felt like I couldn't exercise, yet still ate like crap, and eventually ballooned up to 262 lbs (I'm 5'9"). On top of all this, I have smoked for 25 years.

Shortly after turning 40 at the beginning of this year, I had a major wake up call, realized I was slowly killing myself, and that the best thing I could do was lose weight. I didn't think I could exercise, so I decided to make diet changes, and MFP became an awesome tool for tracking food. After 2 weeks, I had the most amazing thing happen: the chronic pain was gone. I couldn't figure it out at first, but some research showed me that my diet changes were the cause of this. All the fatty processed food I had been eating for years were the main cause of my enflamed joints, and by changing the way I ate, my SL joint was very grateful. I started walking every day, and on March 1 I went to the gym for the first time in 10 years, and have never looked back.

I have lost 74 lbs so far, and umpteen inches (have never measured that, but it's significant). I exercise every day for at least an hour, and although I still enjoy food, I am pretty consistent with keeping 300-400 under my net calorie goal for the day. I alternate between 60 mins of cardio one day, and 30 min full body workout and 30 mins of cardio the next. I still feel self conscious about my small belly and love handles (and stupid stubborn back fat!) but those things will be gone in the next few months. I also still need to quit smoking, and have Labor Day slated for that. I've slowly been replacing all of my clothes, and I'm sure the people at Goodwill have been grateful for my weight loss as they've gotten A LOT of donations from me. I feel better than I have since I was a teenager, and never want this feeling to go away.

Sorry this was so long, but I hope it can help inspire people with chronic pain. Weight loss and lifestyle changes are purely about mental discipline and not giving up. You need to push your body to its limit each day, and then do it again the next day and the day after that.

Not ready to post pictures with my shirt off, but here are a few before and after shots...




New Year's Eve



January 28



August 31



July 1, 2011 to July 1, 2012