I hope my story inspires others.

I wish I could say the process and lifestyle change was easy. It wasn't. In 2005-06 I walked into a gym with my cousin who encouraged me to make the trip and hopped on the scale at 352lbs. I damn near had a heart attack. He showed me the ropes and I became obsessed with weight lifting. I dropped all the way down to 250lbs by my 22nd birthday. Weight lifting and working out with others became my strong suit. However, nutrition WAS NOT and even tho I lost 100lbs I didn't see any of the results I anticipated. It was frustrating/heartbreaking. Weight fluctuated for the next 6 years. In and out of the gym, eating "clean" and having cheat days as if the world was going to end. And then my world came crashing down. I lost my mother in 2013 to cancer. Gym and diet was an afterthought for over 2 years. I gained all my weight back. Working 2 full time jobs. In 2015, another cousin of mine(frank) approached me and asked if I could show him the ropes in weight lifting. I was happy to do it and to be back in the gym. I gained a lb in 2 months. He asked me if I ever tried counting calories but I was always lazy to do so. He introduced me to an app, "myfitnesspal" where you can log in your food and it helps keep track of your desired caloric intake and does the counting for you. Life changing. Day 1: food diary: 6000+ calories and I was supposed to be at a deficit