well i did it. 75 pounds

I saw a success story when I first started on MFP and I promised myself when I got to my goal weight, I would post. So here it is.

Rewind to the end of May 2012.

I weighed between 224 lbs to 234 lbs. I probably consumed between 3500-5000 calories per day. I did not exercise and I smoked about a pack of cigarettes a day. I could barely make it up a flight a of stairs without gasping for air. Looking back at it today, I punished my body and polluted it with smoke. I wore 38-40 men's size pants and XL to XXL shirts. I remember I looked in the mirror without my shirt on and never felt so unhappy in my life. So I took it upon myself to take a picture and change my ways.

So I tried the calorie counting thing without any friends for support and failed horribly. After 3 days of logging I stopped and went back to my old ways. Then MFP reminded me that I was 3 times more likely to lose with the support of others. So I said, screw it and introduced myself on the newbie board. I took it upon myself to quit smoking a few months later which looking back it today, I am so glad I did!

I made some great friends who motivated me and supported me. Obviously I did the same. I slowly changed my eating habits and started running. My first mile was like 13 or 14 minutes. For some messed up reason, I would assume I could "eat whatever I wanted" because I ran 2 miles. I learned that didn't fly after I gained additional weight. So I bit the bullet and I restricted my food intake. Don't be confused though. It took me a long time to figure out how to respect food and limit my eating. ****, I still have my insane calorie days. But it is few and far between.

I ran and ran and ran. 10 miles per week turned into 20 then 30 then 40 then 50 then 60 then 70. As I stated, I ran 13 minute miles at first and after 1 mile I thought I was gonna die. Not gonna lie though, I ran like it was my job. I raced a 5k after 4 months of training/dieting and clocked a 22:49. My training pace got quicker and quicker and after a year of running my easy pace was around 9:15/pace. After two years, it is hovering around 7:30-7:45/pace. I raced in a 5k on 07-04-14 at 19:38 (6:18/pace). For the past year, every 5k race I have entered I have either I placed in the top ten overall or placed 1st or 2nd in my Age Group.

Here I am present day. I weigh around 148 pounds. My waist size shrunk to 28-30 and I wear small sized shirts. I still run, but I am in off-season currently. So as I take a break from running, I do not nearly eat as much. Yeah it sucks!!

So what is the secret? You gotta think long term. Losing weight is hard as **** . If it was easy, America would not be going through an obesity epidemic. There were tough days and days I wanted to quit. All bull**** aside, it is hard and prepare to work.
Last, weigh loss is as much mental as physical. Discipline. Discipline. Discipline. Changing your ways and how you think about food. Eat to live and not living to eat. The food part of the weight loss journey was the toughest.

You can do it. Have a plan and accept there will be failures along the way. Figure out where you messed up, correct it and move on.

If I can do it. So can you.