GOAL achieved, but the journey continues (pics)...

Bud_ · September 2015

Well, I'm usually pretty private but I found these success stories so inspiring this year that I feel it's only right to add my own small success so far. I hope it helps others know that IT IS POSSIBLE!!

At the beginning of this year when I started this new lifestyle I was unhealthy and huge, having to squeeze into 46 inch jeans and struggled to manage 10 minutes on the rowing machine. Walking was more of a waddle

Today, 9 months on, I'm down 91lbs (so far) and so, so much fitter, rowing half marathons (1hr 30mins) most days!

My original 'goal' was inspired by thinking back to when I was last happy with my weight (25 years ago!!) and I knew I was in size 34 inch jeans - so my 'goal' was set to get back to that size. As I couldn't set this as a goal in MFP I took a guess at how much weight loss that would be. It has to be said that although I was determined to give it a damn good go, I wasn't convinced that I'd even get close.

This morning I'm sat here in my new 34 inch jeans!!

The journey is not over though... having got to this point I know I'm capable of so much more! I'm still going for my 102.9lbs target as there's still some excess that can go and I will probably go on after that, trimming away at body fat percentage.

So, goal achieved but I'm not getting complacent...

THANK YOU to all my MFP friends who have made this possible

. To have such great support has been invaluable throughout and I just KNOW I wouldn't have been able to do this without you all. Everyone is welcome to add me if you wish...

Mark_on_a_Mission · September 2015

Very inspiring Bud, you have done a great job and must be very proud! Try not to get too attached to the 34" jeans though, as you might be in 32" before long at this rate!

You mention a 102.9lbs target - thats not your target weight is it, as thats under 8 stone!

Keep up the great work

mamadon · September 2015

Outstanding job!!!

neldabg · September 2015

You look great!!

jamesha100 · September 2015

Great work and very inspiring!

Please can you tell us how tall you are?

Thanks for posting this.

mangrothian · September 2015

w00t! Congrats on the results of all your hard work!

Mark_on_a_Mission wrote: »

Very inspiring Bud, you have done a great job and must be very proud! Try not to get too attached to the 34" jeans though, as you might be in 32" before long at this rate!

You mention a 102.9lbs target - thats not your target weight is it, as thats under 8 stone!

Keep up the great work

since he's at 91lbs gone, I'm guessing it's a target loss of 102.9lbs.

honeybundle1 · September 2015

You look brilliant - very well done !

Mark_on_a_Mission · September 2015

mangrothian wrote: »

w00t! Congrats on the results of all your hard work!

Mark_on_a_Mission wrote: »

Very inspiring Bud, you have done a great job and must be very proud! Try not to get too attached to the 34" jeans though, as you might be in 32" before long at this rate!

You mention a 102.9lbs target - thats not your target weight is it, as thats under 8 stone!

Keep up the great work

since he's at 91lbs gone, I'm guessing it's a target loss of 102.9lbs.

Thanks Mangrothian, that makes more sense - should have thought of that

joinn68 · September 2015

And now the hard work: maintenance!

Just kidding. You look amazing and you are impressive to have done it after 25 years of weight gain. Just what I needed today in order to believe that it is possible. Thanks for sharing

alltheweigh170 · September 2015

Amazing! You look great.

mrron2u · September 2015

Wow! Amazing transformation! Thanks for inspiring us to keep working on this journey. Sometimes it feels like I have a long ways to go, but reading the success stories always helps to keep me motivated! Would you be willing to share a tip or two?

Nettabee · September 2015

You look amazing! Wow such a great transformation in what i'm sure felt like a long time but in perspective really wasn't! Thanks for sharing your story because it's just the on time inspiration I needed this morning....

krithsai · September 2015

Incredible! That's a mind blowing story!

HealthyGinny · September 2015

awesome progress, you look great!!

echmainfit619 · September 2015

Well done!

Bud_ · September 2015

Ah, thanks so much everyone

I wasn't too keen about posting but knew I had to as these sort of posts really did help me. Your fantastic comments show me it was worthwhile!

Yes, I set my goal as a 102.9lbs loss, which would take my 'final weight' to exactly 85kg (I started out originally using kilograms but changed to lbs after a while). A bit of a random number really but it was where I thought I'd be about the right size!

Height: 6ft exactly
Starting weight: 289.9lbs
Today's weight: 199.1lbs

Target weight still set to: 187.4lbs (85kgs)

I'm not getting too hung up on exact weight targets now as I know my body much better and know which parts need improving on. I'll just continue on with eating sensibly and watching the cals. This whole change has been brought about by following the 'simple' rule of keeping Calories In less than Calories Out - CICO

You asked for tip a two mrron2u... well, that seems kinda odd the idea of me giving tips(!!) and I really wouldn't like to think of myself as any kind of expert or advisor, but apart from CICO, there are a few things that I believe really helped me:

1. Have my 'official' weigh-in on a Monday morning as this keeps the weekends in check, which I needed to do!
2. Many may disagree, but drink plenty of water. I fill a 2 litre jug each day and make sure I get through that. I have no real proof that this helps apart from it's recommended everywhere and I noticed I felt loads better from day one of drinking that amount.
3. Finally, I never plan to have a cheat day, however, there were/are plenty of days where it all went a bit pear shaped and I would be well over on cals. I never let that bother me this time and just went straight back to it the next day. This was a stumbling block for me in previous years as I very much had the attitude of "Oh, I've ruined it now, I may as well eat what I want". Notice the benefits - ignore the slip ups

An interesting point of note for me was how this new lifestyle started: I was obviously seriously unhappy about my weight and at the end of last year and I was pushing for my Doctor to recommend me for gastric band surgery as I was convinced there was a real medical problem and no diet ever worked (I'd tried them all over too many years). Fortunately I had a Dr who was sympathetic but not entirely convinced. He asked me to log everything and go back after a few months and he'd consider the options. I thought "OK, I'll log everything exactly and show him there is a problem!". Fortunately I found MFP straight away and it was the perfect tool for logging my intake. After all those years of trying to diet MFP showed me that I actually had no real understanding of how poor my intake really was. Even after many years of abuse it really was just CICO - that's all; and I'm so glad I tried to prove the Dr wrong and failed!!