9 months in... Progress is awesome!

Thank you! I've posted this on a couple of other Fitness and/or weight loss related forums and this is the first one that somebody has actually replied to and within just a few minutes of me posting! Thank you for that! :happy:

Thank you again everyone! Kritkit34 you can expect much more of that from me! I'm so motivated in this journey to keep pushing forward that nothing I can control will get in my way and I enjoy motivating and inspiring others probably more than anything else other than my family!

Can you tell us a bit more about how you've achieved this? You look great, the transformation is incredible.

Well that is easy and hard to answer. I have struggled with my weight my entire life. With that I have done every crash diet, severe calorie cutting, extreme workout regimen, etc etc you can possibly imagine! Every single time I gained every pound back and in some cases even more. It's was never a question to me of can it be done... I lost 109lbs in 3 months back in 2004 granted I was 24 years old then and literally cut my caloric intake down to 1300-1500 a day all while doing extreme workouts 7 days a week! This of course worked, but I gained it all back and then some. So... How I changed my perspective and in turn my life was simple. I changed my focus from deprivation to moderation. I have always been a work horse in the gym with a never say die attitude so even on an off day I still spend at least an hour and a half in the gym busting my butt... That has never been an issue. Food was and always has been my biggest combatant. I still enjoy the things I love even the ones that aren't necessarily good for me, but I do it in moderation. Instead of sitting down and eating an entire container of pringles 4 times a week I may have 1 or 2 servings of pringles a week with a lunch meal and by servings I mean literally a serving as it is outlined on the package so 11-13 chips. I have an enourmous sweet tooth, so I found alternative methods to satisfying that sweet tooth as well as still endulging in my classic favorites such as M&Ms or Twix, but I buy either the small bite size packages and have one or two when the craving strikes or an alternative such as a Quest Almond Joy which is a recipe I found via thefitbaldman.com where you take a chocolate chip cookie dough quest bar, cut it into 6 pieces, put a small layer of shaved coconut on top of it, and coat it in melted stevia chocolate chips, and toss it in the freezer for an hour... wahlah bit sized protein packed almond joys! So, for me it's been a combination of educating myself on how I can still enjoy food even the things I "shouldn't" be eating in moderation while creating healthy alternatives, and simply busting my butt in the gym. I think the one part of all this I am the most proud of is even though I have only lost 77lbs of my ultimate goal in 9 months I have cut my body fat literally in half and that is where the bulk of my body change has come from. I change up my gym routines weekly going from complex routines such as the Gironda Method 6x6 to extreme hard core routines like CT Fletcher's Iron Marathon. I am always challenging myself and working towards progess daily be it a few more reps than I did last time, or running a mile 10 sec faster today then yesterday, or even adding a few pounds to a set. We only change when we present new things, challenging ourselves to continue to improve, and most importantly and a huge key at least for me is STAYING MOTIVATED! Don't let life get in the way... Make time to improve yourself. Sometimes that means training late at night or super early in the morning, but DO IT! Your self confidence, your self worth, and your body in general will thank you for it! YOU DESERVE TO BE A BETTER YOU!

Thank you and it's truth. No gimmicks, no diet pills, no crash dieting. Just hard work and I used MFP to keep track of my caloric intake until I really felt like I had a grasp of it on my own. I still feel it is very important to track your intake, but now that I'm pretty well versed in what the things I regularly eat "cost" so to speak I record everything in a pocket notebook instead of the app simply because I find it easier to flip back in my book and look at past meals, days, etc etc if I'm looking for something in particular and I feel I personally keep better track when I write it down myself. Why I don't know it's probably all in my head, but it works for me.

Hey Thank you and great job yourself Lonnie! This life is a wild ride and making the best out of every minute is what it's all about. Keep pushing to your goal sir! Keep me posted as I'd love to celebrate with you when you reach it!