Getting closer to goal, progress since beginning of march 2015

bhokanson2015
bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
in Success Stories
So, I am blown away when I look at the threads here, you guys are doing so great. And I decided I wanted to jump in the pool and share some of my journey. Although, now I wish I would have taken more pics along the way, but honestly when I started this I hated the way I looked and didn't really feel like posing for a lot of pictures, and would have a mini panic attack anytime I got a facebook notification that someone has added a picture of me. I would think, ohh no, how bad do I look this time and how many people saw it before I could untag myself.

Anyway, so this is a good indication of where I started out. Its not taken at the exact time I started this phase of my life, but I had been hovering right at around 300 pounds for around 2-3 years. I am 6'6" by the way for those wondering, if anyone was.

Big_Ben.jpg

It kind of pains me to even look at it, how big I was, how out of control I had let myself be.

So that brings us to today, as I sit here I am down 74 pounds to 226 and I took this pic this last week when I was traveling for work

IMG_2062.jpg

And this one

IMG_2045.jpg

I am not yet to my goal. But I am so happy I have done this. Its a huge life upgrade. I went from not being able to run for 90 seconds (when I first started couch to 5k) to now completing 5k in under 25 minutes... I know there are a lot of people faster than me but I can't even believe I typed that last sentence, and on saturday I got a personal best for a mile @ a 7:20 pace.

Maybe this helps someone, maybe it doesn't. It feels good though to put all of this down somewhere and share it.

I am so grateful for MFP and the great people I have met on here who continue to inspire me
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Replies

  • kcampbell1969
    kcampbell1969 Posts: 29 Member
    Holy cow! Excellent job in such a short amount of time! You can't be too far from your goal!
  • RolemodelmomT
    RolemodelmomT Posts: 107 Member
    You look amazing and you should be totally proud of your achievements!!
  • enterdanger
    enterdanger Posts: 2,447 Member
    That is awesome. I still haven't gotten under 10 minutes on a mile. Be proud. You look great and I will dance a freakin jig if I ever run a 7:20
  • tacosandbeerthatswhyimhere
    tacosandbeerthatswhyimhere Posts: 75 Member
    Wow! You look great. Running is so hard. I'm trying to get better at it as well.
  • BeefSwollington
    BeefSwollington Posts: 4 Member
    Great job! With the shape you are currently in, this would be a perfect time to start a recomp and shaping your shoulders / arms. 6 months of that and you will look badass next summer.
  • CarrieA180
    CarrieA180 Posts: 903 Member
    Amazing results! Well done! :)
  • efrensgirl2015
    efrensgirl2015 Posts: 480 Member
    Kudos to you!
  • bhokanson2015
    bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
    Thank you for the feedback :) You are very kind
  • NextPage
    NextPage Posts: 609 Member
    Wow - great job.
  • shrcpr
    shrcpr Posts: 885 Member
    You look amazing. Thank you for sharing!
  • IILikeToMoveItMoveIt
    IILikeToMoveItMoveIt Posts: 1,172 Member
    Very nice!!
  • ajgordo150
    ajgordo150 Posts: 79 Member
    This makes me want to work harder
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    Wowowow! You've done so well! Thanks for sharing your story!
  • Blake3693
    Blake3693 Posts: 56 Member
    Freakin' amazing progress, man!
  • wateryphoenix
    wateryphoenix Posts: 644 Member
    O_O are you the same person? Very inspirational! x.x great job!
  • starryeyedsnoozer
    starryeyedsnoozer Posts: 89 Member
    Holy cow! You did that in 6 months?!
  • FitRoberta
    FitRoberta Posts: 73 Member
    Wow, fantastic job! You look great and your fitness gains are impressive! (I am the queen of the ten-minute mile!)
  • ellerist
    ellerist Posts: 28 Member
    Fantastic results! All your work has paid off tremendously!
  • sambabyno1
    sambabyno1 Posts: 1 Member
    Great man! I m on the same track these days and..viola! half way to it o:)

  • hsuarez1991
    hsuarez1991 Posts: 56 Member
    Thank you for sharing!
  • jamesha100
    jamesha100 Posts: 214 Member
    That is great! - I would have liked to see more progress pictures but I can understand why you do not have them - I am reluctant to take them myself.

    Was running your only exercise and at what point did you start feeling slim? - I am 5'11' and have dropped 50 pounds from 254 but still have a belly whereas yours is flat :)
  • MarietjieHoward
    MarietjieHoward Posts: 214 Member
    Great job!!! you look amazing
  • joinn68
    joinn68 Posts: 480 Member
    edited September 2015
    Do people even recognize you?? :o
    How much weight did you lose before people started thinking twice before calling your name or people didn't even recognize you anymore. What's been your experience after your amazing transformation?
  • bhokanson2015
    bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
    starryeyedsnoozer wrote: »
    Holy cow! You did that in 6 months?!

    Yes, well just over 6 months :)
  • bhokanson2015
    bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
    jamesha100 wrote: »
    That is great! - I would have liked to see more progress pictures but I can understand why you do not have them - I am reluctant to take them myself.

    Was running your only exercise and at what point did you start feeling slim? - I am 5'11' and have dropped 50 pounds from 254 but still have a belly whereas yours is flat :)

    Running hasn't been my only exercise, its the hardest exercise I do, but prior to running I was strictly walking. Walking a lot actually, in the past 6 and a half months there has only been a handful of days that I didn't get my 10,000 steps in a day, most days in that time have been closer to 20,000 steps a day.. I started running actually because a good friend here on myfitnesspal reached out to me and encouraged me to start running, and I am ever so grateful that happened, I really enjoy running and how it makes me feel

    I also have been using the 7 minute workout app on my iPhone on days that I don't run

    As for when I started feeling slim, I don't know its really only been recently that I have had any notion that I am "slim" people tell me I am, but thats different than feeling that I am if that makes any sense..
  • bhokanson2015
    bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
    joinn68 wrote: »
    Do people even recognize you?? :o
    How much weight did you lose before people started thinking twice before calling your name or people didn't even recognize you anymore. What's been your experience after your amazing transformation?

    I just traveled for work and saw a lot of people who I havent seen since May, and there were quite a few people who didn't recognize me until they heard me speak. Which was sort of a bizarre experience lol.

    As far as my experience now vs when I first started this journey. I feel so much better, I sleep better. Prior to losing weight my doctor was going to send me for an expensive sleep study because I wasn't sleeping well, now I sleep like a log.

    Two years ago, I used tobacco and was fat, during a dentist visit when they took my blood pressure it measured at 160/120, now mind you when I went to the doctor after that it didn't measure quite that high, but it was still really high. I just had a physical this month now and my blood pressure measured 103/60, no medication or anything.

    And really the past 6 months has been an education, an education in what eating healthy looks like, what having self control feels like, and what feeling good feels like. :)
  • Chabela53
    Chabela53 Posts: 130 Member
    Wowzer! You look fabulous. I am always amazed at how DIFFERENT everyone looks at there goals, or all the changes along the way. Great job!
  • missmelissa919
    missmelissa919 Posts: 59 Member
    Amazing! You look great
  • bhokanson2015
    bhokanson2015 Posts: 75 Member
    An update on me: In the last two days I set both my 5k personal record and my 10k personal record..

    My 5k is now 24:03 and my 10k is 53:12 looking to beat both of those again by the end of the month.. I look back on how I was now and my life is so much different now than I expected when I first started logging my food with myfitnesspal, so much better than I thought it would be.
  • cmsu64113
    cmsu64113 Posts: 474 Member
    Amazing job!

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