I have achieved .. ONEness

YOU... LOOOK.... I N C R E D I B L E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could shake your hand for this!! I COMMEND YOU 1 MILLION %!!! U are a TRUE INSPIRATION FOR ALL OF US ON THIS SITE!! WHAT A DEDICATION! CAN I ASK YOU, WHAT WAS YOUR MOTIVATION??
HOW DID YOU DO IT??
WHAT KEPT YOU GOING ON THE DAYS WHEN YOU DIDN't HAVE IT IN YOU?
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU??

THIS IS MY FAV STORY ON MFP SO FAR!!

TY FOR POSTING THIS!!

Kind of long .. but I want to answer the questions. If you want to know more .. ask or send me a message as I am always glad to help .. if I can.


My motivation was actually my friend. He started losing weight first and after he reached 100 LBS lost, I was interested. Knowing that he was eating 5-6 times a day .. and real food like meats and vegetables .. I wanted to know more. I got some information and then REALLY dove in head first reading everything I could. I developed a meal plan and food that worked for me .. and the rest, as they say, is history.

I can tell you that I found the weight loss to be about 80% kitchen and 20% gym .. meaning that you need to control the foods more that working out .. especially at first. Don't think of this as a diet, because you see an end point with a diet .. think of this as a lifestyle change. Get something that you can live with for the rest of you life. Don't deprive yourself, but don't give in to every temptation. For me, I eat about 40% protein, 35% carbs, and 25% Fats keeping my saturated fat below 20. Now, as far as the carbs go .. I try to make them count; meaning I want complex whole sum carbs (oats, beans, etc).

What kept me going was ... the progress. I was dropping pant and shirt sizes BEFORE I even wore all the clothes I bought. At that time .. I was single (too lazy to try and [probably] to fat to succeed) so when I started .. the FIRST time I could, I emptied the ENTIRE closet and went and bought new clothes. I did this EVERY TIME I could .. of course, I learned not to buy too many because I was dropping so fast in the beginning. The extra motivation was that I would NOT buy larger clothes!

How long did it take is a 2 part answer.
The first 140 lbs took about 16 months to get off. I held that weight / size for about 5 years .. then I slipped up and made a mistake. I was fooled by the product companies .. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray to be exact. I fell for the 0 calorie label without checking and properly reading. My mistake and it cost me. I put on some weight, now understand, I was still eating the same things and walking daily just like before .. but I was now POURING the butter on oats and vegetables. <BANGS HEAD ON DESK> I noticed that some of my shirts started to seem a little .. snug. I STILL ignored it (read; BIG MISTAKE)! The realization that there was a problem was when I had to buy larger jeans. I bought 2 pairs and SWORE to find the problem. I got revitalized in my diet because I wanted to know HOW this had happened. I went back to ground zero and started anew. I eliminated things and swapped things around then I got to the butter. Well, after eliminating the butter, in the last 10 months, I have lost another 60+ pounds (which was "butter weight" + 40lbs). I am now in smaller jeans than ever before and I have achieved ONEness! After dropping the butter and meeting my GF (on here I might add) .. I have moved from walking to running and soon to weights. I am excited to see where else I can go!

I said i'd post a more recent picture (post 199.5) since the other one was actually older .. so here it is .. but first:

I was looking for this photo .. this is the one that I hung on the wall to keep me motivated. For perspective, the shirt I am wearing is a 4XL and the puppy sure looks comfortable on my big belly LOL:




and this picture was taken about 10 minutes ago (post 199.5):
The shirt I am wearing now is a MEDIUM !!




(Note: I still don't like pictures of myself .. I don't find I am very ... photogenic .. lol)