CAN I HEAR YOUR SUCCESS STORY??!

Three years ago, I was in the worst shape of my life. The scale was “mean” to me every day, telling me I was 10 pounds over where I swore I would never be and 30 pounds over whereI WANTED to be. Plus, I was tired all the time, sick all the time, and really quite miserable. Then I went to the yearly health screening that my work puts on, and I got really scared. Their scale added ANOTHER 5 pounds, my BMI said “overweight”, and my blood pressure and cholesterol came back high. The nurse who was taking my measurements looked at me and said, “You better join a gym, because you are too young to be this out of shape.” That very afternoon, I did just that.

As determined as I suddenly was, though, I’ll admit: I had ZERO faith in my willpower to keep me going. I had joined gyms before, and they only lasted about two weeks before it became old. In other words, I THOUGHT I knew myself, and the myself I thought I knew was weak, lazy and unmotivated. I even went so far as to add a note on my calendar for four months out to “cancel gym membership”, figuring I wouldn’t go and not wanting to pay for the membership any longer than I had to.

Four months later, that calendar reminder popped up on my screen. I looked at it and nearly cried.By that time, I had become a regular “gym rat”. I had already lost 10 pounds and I was going to the gym every day on schedule. I never really changed my diet, though, so I plateaued at a 10-pound loss and never gained any significant muscle definition. I was still tired all the time, still sick all the time, and still pretty miserable – which seemed really unfair, since IWAS working out. That was supposed to be the magical fix, right?!

Four months ago, I got tired of it all. Tired of being stuck at 10 pounds down, tired of being sick and bloated, tired of being tired! I got to thinking that may be diet was part of my problem. Since most of my sickness was related to gastrointestinal problems, I decided to do an elimination diet to see if there was something I was eating to which I was allergic. I cut out everything except lean meat, vegetables, fruits and rice. Then I added Shakeology to bolster my protein intake and to add some very necessary superfoods to my diet.

It was four months ago when I started the diet, and I haven’t really stopped. The diet is really clean eating at its finest. No sugars and grains to raise the blood sugar, no junk foods, no processed foods,no ingredients I can’t pronounce – just clean meats and vegetables. Let me just say, I have NEVER felt better. I struggled with horrible bloating and abdominal pains for SIX years, and they went away in FOUR DAYS when I started eating clean and healthy. Plus the Shakeology gave me energy, kept me from being hungry throughout the day, and really just makes me feel GOOD. So many people have commented on how much clearer my skin is, how much more refreshed I look…they say I GLOW! I have so much more energy, I can remember things better now, I can focus for longer than two seconds, AND…I lostANOTHER 15 POUNDS!!

That still wasn’t enough, though. I was so close to my goal weight, but I still didn’t have any muscle definition. I saw that a lot of people were getting great results – including muscle definition –with T25, so I made a bold decision. For two weeks, I would quit going to the gym and try T25 instead. I’ve done home workout videos before, though, and hated them. The instructors always made me mad, and it was just so hard to motivate myself to actually do the workouts. I had already seen what my motivation could do at the gym, though, so I took the leap, fully believing in myself this time! I am so happy and so proud to announce that I LOVE T25! It has only been ONE week, and I ALREADY can see muscle definition. I actually do have ab muscles!!! I absolutely cannot wait to see what comes in the next 4 weeks of T25!! Go Team Beachbody!!

800 days ago, I discovered this little online app called My Fitness Pal. I weighed 456 lbs and had been overweight all my life. I had high blood pressure, sleep apnea, irregular heartbeats, bad knees, bad ankles, swollen joints and couldn't walk up one flight of stairs without stopping after three steps. MFP helped me learn how to eat correctly, I learned what my "kryptonite" foods were, I learned portion control and I competed with myself. MFP was easy to use, I could do it anywhere, so there was a better chance that I could be successful. I managed to loose 50 lbs just by eating better.
It was time to build on that success and added exercise into the mix. I started by climbing the stairs at work.One flight at a time, and slowly but steadily began to build that up. In 3 weeks I was climbing 30 flights nonstop and the weight began to fall off. I surrounded myself with a support group of people who were positive and encouraging, I'm very lucky about that.
Plateaus came and went and each time I hit one I'd change things up. In addition to the stair climbing I started doing cardio and weights at the YMCA 6 days a week.
So here I am 800 consecutive days later, I weigh 253 lbs, yes, I have lost 203 lbs and will soon be half the man I used to be. I have another 33 lbs to go to my goal weight. I no longer have any of the medical issues above, I save $300/month on medicines that I no longer have to take. I'm in the best health of my life and my only regret is that I waited this long to get started. But, I am enjoying so many things now that I could never do before. It's like getting a new start in life.
If you have questions or I can help in any way don't hesitate to contact me through my profile. I love paying back to others and helping others along the journey.

Unfortunately there aren't many pictures, I still have issues with being as big as I was.

I am sooo excited to finally share a success story! My before and after picture is my profile picture!! I began my "lifestyle change" almost 2 years ago with the mindset that i was NOT going to diet! and I have yet to do so and I have lost 51 pounds!!! I was overweight my entire life. I tried every fad diet, struggled with an eating disorder for a short time in highschool but overcame it. I finally lost weight the healthy way and have made it my daily routine. Portion control and burning more calories than I eat every day. Im still working on loving exercise, so I get my calorie burn and step goal reached everyday through cleaning my house, doing yard work and going on walks around my neighborhood. I just recently started doing Zumba at home on my Xbox to help me lose my last 10 lbs, but i do enjoy it so i will continue to do it to maintain my weight loss. It always drove me crazy when people around me would ask if what im eating is "on my diet" that drives me insane. If I want to have a a bacon black and bleu burger at applebees (which is like 1800 calories) then im going to have one! but i cut it in half, and do NOT order the fries. then I make sure to eat a light salad for dinner or just have fruit. I have not deprived myself at all and I think that is key. Because if you deprive yourself you end up overeating when you could have just had a little of what you wanted in the first place.

Good luck everyone!!!!

Wow everyone who has shared so far has just upped my motivation 100% I'm proud of and happy for each one of you and hope to add my story to the list one day! Thanks for sharing these wonderful words of encouragement and success!

Exactly! lol

"CAN I HEAR YOUR SUCCESS STORY??!"

Anyway, I also look to these boards for encouragement and seeing all of you guys really helps keep me on track! Keep them coming.

I like these threads too but every time this comes up I read it like this;



and it hurts my brain.

eta: there are dozens of these threads you can search in the box on the top right of the boards just so ya know

If you see it to that extreme than maybe I can see your point..... Actually nope, still don't. :noway:

You look great also by the way! Thank you for sharing. Since these threads are just so darn encouraging, the more the merrier. Newcomers show up everyday that appreciate it.

Why so serious?!