153 lbs in 365 days (pics)

Yeah, 153 lbs in 365 days of logging food on this site.

No, no surgery. No, no miracle shakes or pills, or anything like that.

I earned every... last... pound of what I have shed from my formerly rotund body.

1 year ago today, I closed out my first day on Myfitnesspal. I was tipping the scales right at/above 337 lbs.
Why did I start? My wife and I had visited our favorite spot here on the NC coast. It was superbowl weekend, so there had been plenty of overindulgence.. and.. while it was great; I realized that I didn't appreciate it.

I had become a glutton.

I could feel my blood pressure skyrocketing. I knew without question that if I kept on living the way that I was, I might have another 10 or 15 years before my heart gave up.

Was I unhappy? Not at all. I was, and have always been, the funny fat guy. I blame the Goonies for expectations of me being funny because I was fat. Poor Chunk. It's all because of the truffle shuffle, amiright?

This was the last photo that we had taken of the two of us before we knew what we were going to do.


Yeah, that's me. The big guy. Full of cake, steak, chocolate, and beer. Being silly.

In fact, this is me in 2011 after my awesome wife graduated from Grad school. We were in Philly. It was hard to walk around to all of the cool stuff there. We did have some great food though.

And then at our wedding in 2008... this was a shot of me being fat and happy with some damned fine cake.


Plenty of pics of my wife and I, doing cool things, being fat and happy. Those were easily 44 waist pants and that was 3xl shirt.

So, we started MFP the following tuesday. I look back at my food diary now and realize I didn't have to fall into the eat less to lose more mindset. We all make mistakes. I'm not here to preach, but to celebrate.

At the first, I was dropping 20lbs per month. I was huge, I checked with my doctor, I did things as they needed to be done (and how it's typically recommended). Safety, boom. There it is.

At the two month mark, this was how huge my head still was. The stache was in its infancy. Cute dog too!


It was also about this time that I started walking. No, not for the first time ever, for exercise.. silly. I walk a whole freaking half mile. It only took me 30 minutes. It amazed me. I wanted to do more.. so I did.

Normally, three days per week, I was walking that same half mile. Just out there trying to make it happen. It was like magic, I could move and it didn't SUCK!

Mid april: Same big ole noggin, bigger stache.


By May, I was somewhere around 260 lbs. Breaking through the 300 lb mark was huge. No pun intended. My head was shrinking, the stache was growing. Walking got somewhat monotonous, so I tried to jog.

It stuck. I liked it. I NEVER have been a runner, but hey, here we are. We started jogging regularly. 2 miles turned into 3. Then we got to where we could do 3 miles in the same amount of time it took to do 2.
June strolls in and BOOM, people are already telling me "You've lost enough weight, blah blah". Here we are getting ready to dive into some seafood. Why? Cause it's good. I was at the 80lbs lost mark at this point


The whole thing, it really snowballed. We got fitted for proper running shoes (after buying the wrong ones because they looked freaking cool)... and then signed up and trained for a 5k.


This was my first ever. Me. Right here. Number 139. This was August and I was right at 220lbs. Over 110 lbs less of me. No, I didn't pin that through the man-nips. Just sayin.


So I was losing more weight. Bloodwork was awesome. I had lost a 110 freaking pounds at this point and wasn't ready to slow down. So we kept on. It was slowing down though, but I'll take it.

August rolls around and my head is shrinking even more. I mean, it matches the rest of me, but I don't like pictures of me. Ever. So. yeah. I was about to break into the "I weight less than 200lbs" group. I had sent my membership fee, was just waiting on the card.


October strolled in and I busted myths. I was unamused at doing such. Number one myth busted? You don't have to do stupid things like Green coffee Bean extract up the butt to lose weight. No, I didn't test it. I DRINK coffee. By this point I was hovering around 197 lbs or so.


Oh yeah, I also ran an 8K. Kick-*kitten*.

It was FINALLY at this point that I decided "Hey, since we're getting faster and lighter, let's get strong!" so I started lifting. I checked out Stronglifts, signed up, and off we went.

November, Movember. Whatever. I grew a beard because running outside makes the face cold... and it looks pretty sweet. This was the "me at 192 lbs" mark. It was pretty cool. Notice the shirt from the 8k? That's awesome, eh? Damn right it is. This dude ran a freakin' 8K.


I was also realizing how much fun picking up heavy stuff was.

THEN I ran another 5k and beat my previous record. Also, broke a record for the worst facebook mirror instagram ever.


It was at this point that I really looked deeper into what I was eating, how much I was eating, and what my body needed. This is the point that I signed on to the TDEE -20% / HelloitsDan's IPOARM.
It was amazing, I was able to eat more food.. or more calorie dense stuff that I had shunned.. still maintain a deficit, still lose weight, and get a lot stronger.

So I guess this is where I pony up and say "Look at me now!" right?

Well, this is me as of this morning..



I'm slowly watching my bodyfat percentage dwindle away, but I realize that it's a work in progress. The pics up above are my new starting point. New goals.

So as of my weigh in this morning, I'm at 186 and an oz or two.
I've gone from a 46 waist pant to a loose 32 (which I've never worn in my entire adult life)
My bloodwork is spotless.
I feel incredible.
I sleep well.
I still will have cake, or burgers, or beer. No, not diet versions of any of those, but the real honest to goodness versions.
I haven't existed weight this since my freshman year in high school... or longer than that.
I still don't know what my goal weight is, and at this point, I don't really care. Didn't see that coming? Yeah, I didn't either. Sure, I'd like to lose a bit more and have it show up on the scale, but that isn't my goal anymore.

I want to be faster. I want to be stronger. I want to be healthier so I can live longer and do all of the things that I appreciate SO much more now. I want to be able to live knowing that I'm less likely to have to deal with dying from the things that killed my grandparents because I'm living a healthier life.

... and even more than that, I want you all to know that if I can do it.. there is absolutely no reason that you can't.

What have I learned that makes a difference?
Trust the people here that don't coddle or baby you. They've been down the road and know what they're talking about. There are a great many people who have given incredible advice, but can't post here any longer because some special snowflake got offended by their posts.

It's a shame. They were some of the folks I've added to my friends list and that I interact with because they give good advice.

This isn't a journey. I hate that term. This is living. Calling it a journey implies that there is an end/destination.

That being said, no one here can do it for you. Not on this website, not your friends, not even your family. At the end of the day, each and every day, you're accountable for you. Make the decisions that you need to make, or don't. If you want to be healthy, you can. You just have to be an active participant in making the move. It isn't magic and you can't find success in a pill, on a forum, or on TV. You've gotta dig down inside and figure out how bad you want it.

But tonight? I'm celebrating. Time for a beer, maybe some cake, and a steak.