What a difference a year makes!

Greetings to you all! My name is David and my weight loss journey began in January on 2010. There are many reasons that influenced me to change my life. The main thing is the realization that I would be dead in 10 years if I continued down my current path and a doctor's visit where I read morbidly obese on the chart, which scared the F out of me. Since that time I took it upon myself to change and enjoy living once again and not be controlled by my size and unhealthy lifestyle. In a year and 2 weeks I went from 351lbs to 164 lbs and now I am gradually gaining lean muscle mass. When ever I am asked how I did this or whats the secret? I joyfully smile and say "the secret is there is no secret!!" I have only done this through sweat, pain, and sacrice.

I had lost weight before, but I gained it all back, and back, and some more back. So, I knew what I needed to do. I just had to get started. I began doing 30 minutes of cardio and lifting weights 5 days a week. I gradually increased intensity and duration. I LOVE to eat, so this aspect was most difficult to change. I am becoming better and better with my diet and I love finding new meals and snacks to eat. As for motivation, I felt I had no choice since it was basically life or death, but now I look forward to working out and especially running! I look forward to learning from you guys and sharing what I have discovered. This looks like a great forum.

Here is a before picture....


This is last month after finishing my first 10k race...