340 days 158lbs down

My Story take what you want from it!! Video of pictures at the bottom cut and paste old school style



Not any heart pulling story here just a morbidly obese guy who decided he'd had enough.

Last october around halloween I was sitting around eating candy and feeling depressed but happy to have something tasty to eat. I thought to myself why not just put the candy down and go healthy for a week. What's a week? A week is nothing compaired to our lifetime. So I went to the gym at work and weighed myself HOLY CRAP 357 pounds I thought for sure I was going to be a 400lb'er but the number still shocked me. So I had Subway turkey subs with veggies and mustard only on wheat bread (my main staple for over 6months for lunch btw) I always loved subway but instead of getting all the crap on it I skipped it. For dinner I ate sensible size meals with plenty of vegetables and not as much meat. Cut out a lot of bread, no chips, no soft drinks, no sugar, no fatty meals, no high calorie content stuff like ranch dressing. Breakfast I had fruit or oatmeal and lotsa coffee with sweet and low, no more 6 teaspoons of creamer and 3 teaspoons of sugar ( yeah I have no idea how I did that now lol) A week goes by and I go to gym to get on scale. BLAMMO I lost 5lbs. I was so freaking excited. Cause what I had done was soooo easy and easy to follow. I was eating what I wanted but within reason and making the healthy choices. I didnt cheat at all that week and even though I knew how to lose weight I didnt realize it was that easy. So being so excited I decided to see what kinda crap I had been putting in before, ya know something that counts calories. I found a strange yet quaint website called My Fitness Pal. It wasnt the prettiest or best known one but hey who doesnt want a pal right. I created an account plugged my numbers in and then looked up what I had been eating before. I was taking in around 4000 calories a day. For a then 37yr old that was a huge number compared to the 2200 it just said I need to lose 2lbs a week. I took it in stride I knew I was eating like crap so the numbers didnt depress me they informed me. So decided to try this out for a week and see what happens. I logged as much as I could some days everything some days a few things but I always knew my calorie count and never went over it. To this day I dont log everything cause this website and app have helped teach me what to put in to get where I need to be. This website is a tool I never wanted it to be something I felt I needed to absolutely do everyday. I needed to teach myself how to eat not rely on a website. While I love this site at some point soon Im going to have to let it go. Ive already been weening myself of it and have been doing well on my own.

So a few hurdles and things Im proud of.

First hurdle was learning that 350lb guys shouldnt jog. Hurt my knees a bit but nursed them back by walking religiously for 3 months 3 to 4 times a week for at least 35min. I had tried to use C25K. Put that off till after the new year.

Holidays I allowed myself to eat as much stuff with positive nutritional value for just those days. Plenty of turkey and vegetables and other things to eat. No rolls or desert, got to full on turkey no potatos and gravy either, that one hurt.

I can count on on three fingers the number of times I have eaten fried foods. If I eat fast food it was always chicken wraps of some kind. Havent had a burger and fries in a year. Havent had a real soda beverage in that long either.

I quit drinking alcohol until I went on vacation two weeks ago for a Marine Corp Reunion. No hangovers which was weird.

I completed C25K.

I ran the local Warrior Dash. I wasnt fast but I wasnt out to set any records either. Thats next year

I completed insanity with no issues. Toned up, gained lean muscle, got a 6 pack that is still slightly covered by that last little layer but you can feel them

I feel better than I have in 15yrs.

I have not struggled with this at all, Ive consistently lost 2 to 5lbs a week. I never tried to out do the 2lbs a week it would just happen. Say one week I lost 1lb but the next I would lose 3, that kinda thing.

I dont care if you read this or not. Im posting this for me. I promised myself I wouldnt let this get to me while Im still losing but right now I might be crying People have said what Ive done is amazing or incredible. If I let that sink in I may have quit. Well Im done and its sinking in.

Im not looking for freinds, I dont have any magical answers. Im tired of telling people how to do this and then they dont try. So why bother.

I did this all on my own sure I tracked using mfp but Im the one who made myself go to the gym. Im the one who said not to eat certain things. Im the one that motivated myself to do this. I didnt do any fad diets. I just made a plan and stuck to it EVERYDAY. This frickin works only if you make it work.

I have a lot of pictures but hardly any from the 350 to 250 range, sad about that. I cant post them all so I made a youtube video. Probably have to cut and paste link cause Im lazy

http://youtu.be/Gb1kaoVlOnc