fat to fit NSV - and a thank you.

I have two related "fat to fit" NSV's.
a) I made a quick run to Best Buy yesterday.. while there, I bumped into the guy that does server support for the company my wife works for. we chatted for a bit on various gizmo's and i headed home. The NSV was when i heard about it from my wife. I guess he told my wife he saw me, and he barely recognized me because I was all "buffed up".

About a week ago, I was talking to a friend of a friend about diet/exercise. Not sure if you guys are like me, but I find I talk about this with great passion because I know the difference it has made in my life. Anyway, I thought i was doing a good job of encouraging/motivating him but then he said "that's easy for you to say, but i'm not all jacked up like you are". I then showed him my before and after pics and he said he could not believe that other guy was the same person.

I am not a big ego fed beast. and really hope that i do not sound vain by posting this. I just realized this morning while talking to my amazing wife that my original mental picture is starting to come true. When i started this journey about 1 1/2 years ago, I stated that I desired to go from fat to fit. I guess i should explain what i visualize when i say that. I have friends that are literally marathon runners, but still obese. one of them in particular looks very unhealthy to me in terms of skin tone, etc. I wanted to still eat real foods, but change my relationship with food. My wife and I are doing this as a team, and we eat very clean most of the time (lean protein, lots of veggies) but we still are able to have our favorite indulgences. the big difference is that we understand that they are treats, and not things we can eat every day. we both work out hard, and also are both in the habit of weighing ourselves daily (it works for us). I started in size 49 pants, and I am now in 34's. I no longer make strange noises trying to get up from the couch, I enjoy feeling fit and strong, and having my doctor tell me that i "aced" my physical this year was wonderful. The people on MFP have been great overall, and we feel this shared goal has introduced us to some new friends. I do NOT describe what we are doing as a "diet" or even try to think of a goal weight. I think of this as a journey, where we will reach various milestones, and continue on this journey for the rest of our lives. I guess i see "diet" and "goal weight" as sounding temporary.. Diet is avoided because I see plenty of ways one can drop weight, drink a shake and a balanced dinner, buy our packaged meals, etc.. I firmly believe that anyone CAN drop weight with those methods, but I personally do not think I could maintain that for the rest of my life. I dont like saying my "goal" weight, because I visualize a player giving it all they have to reach the goal line, and then realize that when they reach the goal that they STOP. Mind you, when my wife and I call our eating habits a "lifestyle" it does sound a bit cheesy at times.

this was not meant to lecture, or to brag, but to say thank you for our fellow MFP members that are trying to make positive changes in their life with a core motivation of just wanting to feel better and live a healthy life.

Thanks again,
Mike