Daniel's story -> 240 and depressed to 180 and feeling fine~

Hi again friends,

I was here a couple years ago. I vanished for a bit. Now I'm back.

To some of you - this story might be a repeat. To everyone and anyone else who reads this.. I hope I can inspire and motivate at least 1 of you.

I'm Daniel. I'm 26 years old and I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A couple of years ago - I was 240 pounds, 35% body fat, depressed, lacked self confidence and self worth and was pretty much a hermit (played video games and stayed in my room as often as I could).

I realized that I was sick and tired of being ashamed of how I looked and it was time to make a change.

With hard work, self control, determination and a whole lot of screwing up and getting back on track, I was able to cut down to about 170 pounds and about half the body fat.

Here are some pictures documenting that transformation:








The way I achieved my success was pretty simple. Counted calories on MFP based on a TDEE - 20% (total daily energy expenditure minus 20%, if you don't understand this I am happy to explain) and worked out, hard. I changed my lifestyle and stuck to it. It was simple, but definitely not easy.

Unfortunately, around August of last year I broke my wrist playing hockey. The next few months were very difficult on me. I started falling back into old habits and without being able to lift and continue to go hard at the gym, I slowly started gaining weight. I am happy to say that over the last year I more or less maintained, and didn't fall back into old habits.

I am back now to ensure my success and to reach my goal that I originally set out for myself. To get abs!

Some of the things I did to achieve my weight loss:

Cut out all the garbage food I knew I shouldn't be eating. That included fast food, sodas/pops, and processed items
Replaced the above with complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats and LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER. I actually also began cooking and making my own food.. This helped A LOT.

Calculated my BMR/TDEE, and tracked calories with My Fitness Pal and weighed my food ACCURATELY. This means getting a food scale!

Introduced exercise into my life. Whether it's going on a walk a few times a week, lifting, HIIT, sports, running.. Whatever it is.. Do anything. Personally, I now love to lift heavy things, and then put them down. Then I lift them again.

Take progress pictures. This was imperative and paramount to my success. THIS ALLOWED ME TO SEE WHAT MY MIND WOULDN'T LET ME SEE, KEPT ME MOTIVATED AND KEPT ME ON TRACK. When you're overweight - you are hard on yourself and you only see the negatives. Pictures dont lie.

Didn't give up when I ****ed up. And I ****ed up lots. It's okay to have a cheat meal or a cheat day and enjoy yourself from time to time. This has to be about a LONG TERM and SUSTAINABLE lifestyle. This isn't a quick fix. Otherwise, you will gain it all back.

This is not about perfection. This is about changing your LIFESTYLE for the future for the better.

If anyone has any questions, comments, or needs help to get on the right track.. PLEASEEEE MESSAGE ME. I am more than happy to help you.

With love,

Daniel