Down 25lbs in 8 weeks! 5'10" M/33 Whole30

Since 2011 I had weighed around 225lbs. I was in a lot of pain because of a herniated disc affecting my sciatic nerve, this caused me to gradual stop working out. The weight started to creep up and the pain increased, the more weight, obviously the more pain. Because of said pain, I drank more than normally, which, also increased the weight gain and totally hampered any motivation to work out, pretty hard to do when hungover. So in brief, it was a whirlwind of factors leading to the weight gain and a series of bad habits that would take me 5 years to break.

During those five years I was married and I had a kid, so my life wasn't going down the tubes. But my health definitely was. I've tried dieting and working out here and there, losing 10lbs and then easily gaining it back. I've used myfitnesspal often, but my poor habits prevented me from making serious change. Two months ago, I committed to a serious change and it has worked.

Two months ago, April 20, I started the Whole30 diet. Look it up if you don't know what it is. It's a strict diet that limits you to meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts. No dairy, No alcohol!.... The no alcohol was one of the major reasons I liked the idea of trying this. I wanted to prove that I could limit myself with the drinks and also the food. While working through the 30 days, I found that I enjoyed making it through each day following the rules, and I could tell my clothes were starting to fit differently, which only motivated me more. With a new positive attitude and energy I decided to incorporate running into my lifestyle change. I started and completed the c25k treadmill version as I completed day 30.

The planning of the meals, shopping, and dishes!! My god, the dishes, was a lot of work, but very rewards. My wife and I learned many new meals and it broke us out of the lazy "let's just get wendy's" attitude. It's been a month and we are still cooking all our meals, not completely "Whole30" but pretty close. Speaking of my wife, I could not have done this without her. I would have found excuses if I was being held responsible to do this together.

In those 30 days, I went from weighing 222-201 (-21lbs) and gained a lot of stamina on the treadmill, I'm running 30 minutes straight now! My wife lost 18lbs also! Our lifestyle has changed completely and we both have continued to lose weight since the "whole30" ended on May 19.. I'm down to 197lbs as of today. I finally made it back to "one"derland.... it's been 5 years of excuses and feeling bad about myself.. but those habits have been broken and my healthy lifestyle has a clear road ahead..I'm looking to lose about 10 more lbs and I know I can get there now!... Thanks for reading... if you are starting out and are looking to get healthy, believe me.. if I can do it, so can you!

My profile picture is a recent comparison of before the whole 30 and now (June 15, 2016)

Mike