From obese to triathlete

I always was a lover of (doing) sports, and (dare I say) I was a good at it until my early student years. As a student I gradually gained weight during the years; I never learned to become aware of what I eat, probably because I burned massive amounts. I got in a depression and exercised less and less. I picked up smoking. I went from 76 kg when I was 18 to about 95 kg when I was 25 (I am 186 cm long). Two years ago I stopped smoking and I gained more, becoming 106 kg when I was 26. I felt miserable; moving was hard, I had problems with my joints and a lot of people were commenting on my looks.

It was then that I rediscovered how important exercising and being fit is to me. I started walking every day; to university, to the supermarket, random walks in nature, etc. I learned about CICO and started improving my diet. After losing some I started running again. When this was routine for me, I started swimming, and later started cycling. I love all of these sports, so I decided to do a triathlon.

My first triathlon was last september, and olympic distance. I finished in 2h 33m, about the middle of the pack. It was awesome to be able to do this. I knew that I had attained my goal of becoming as fit as I was. I was around 88 kg around this time. As I mentioned, I used to weigh 76 when I was 18, and while I realized that this was not attainable (due to increased muscle mass), I decided that if I lose some more that I become even fitter, thus able to become the fittest me!

So now I find myself doing a handful of triathlons this year. I just did my 3rd and I was 25th out of 136 people. I am 84 kg, losing my final 4-5 kg and also doing everything else I can to become stronger & faster.

I feel much more potential, making me feel confident that I am able to continue this trend so that I can finish in the 90-95th percentile, something I never expected 2 years back. I might even win some races.

Losing weight (+ quitting smoking & all other lifestyle changes I made to improve my health) has improved my life so much. It's not only that I love doing triathlons now, but I also love just being able to move so much easier, to look much younger and feel more in control of my life.

This forum has helped me from the start, from when I was quitting smoking until now. I learned so much from you and I got so much support. Thx a lot for that, I hope to stay around to finish my journey, to continue learning & to give something back to the community!