I originally wrote this for Reddit.
Hi r/Loseit! I’m Tom. How's it going?
First, here's some background information –
Starting weight: 326 pounds (23 Stone 3 Pounds)
Current weight: 200 pounds (14 Stone 3 Pounds)
Height: 6ft 3” (Though people say I look taller now)
Also, i'm not a doctor. We're all different, what worked for me might not be suitable for others.
A couple of days ago I finally reached an “ideal” weight (Which to be honest is probably the nicest thing my Wii has ever said to me).
I haven’t shared any of my progress here yet because of my lurker tendencies and I found this place fairly late so I thought I may as well get where I wanted to be before I shared my progress. I remember when I started I used to look around at “Before and after” pictures quite a bit to see what a transformation might look like, so hopefully this will help.
I first started about 2 years ago, back then I knew that I was pretty heavy but I avoided checking the damage on the scales due to fear of how terrible it would be and also my pro-procrastination attitude at the time didn't help when it came to exercise and eating more sensibly (I still have my moments of over indulging, but i'm only human). I used to keep telling myself “Meh, you’re only 24 we can get rid of it before you're 30”, I later found out that this wasn't my subconscious but actually the sugar talking.
Anyway, like most life style changing decisions I was shocked into abandoning my procrastinational attitudes on my one fateful morning in June 2012. At the time I was reading an article on Lifehacker.com on the health benefits of push ups. Knowing that I was a larger man and believing the articles insistence on how easy it was to implement them into a daily routine I decided to give them a go.
Getting into position I lowered myself towards a better me, “one…OK almost one… ONE”, suddenly something clicked. Not in the jolly “By Jove, he’s got it!” kind of way but the bad, “Uh oh, that body part isn't supposed to make that sound” kind of way. I could feel blood trickling at the back of my nose, but weirdly nothing was leaking from the front.
After a couple of days leaving it and hoping that it would heal I decided to see my doctor who kindly informed me that I had high blood pressure. Which to be honest was slightly embarrassing for a 24 year old. She asked me to come back in a week to double check the results. When I went home I decided to revisit the scales for the first time in a while… 23 stone and 3 pounds. I was horrified, last time I’d checked I was only about 21 stone (Which is still horrifically heavy but not 23 stone heavy).
I will happily admit that what I did next was incredibly stupid, I wouldn't recommend anybody else do this because… well there’s so many different ways it could have gone wrong. I didn't go back to my doctor; I knew that she was going to tell me “You’re too fat, you need exercise” (Or the same thing but using nicer yet colder more scientific terms).
When you’re big burning calories is quite possibly the easiest thing in the world. I easily burned 1000 calories a day at the gym, every day for 6 months. In 2012 I lost just over 4 stone (or 56 pounds), going from 23 stone 3 pounds down to 18 stone 13 pounds (322 pounds > 266 pounds). Food-wise I was eating more sensible portions, I allowed myself one cheat day a week where I could indulge in anything I wanted. Other days I would give up sugar and eat a sensible and varied diet.
Then disaster struck in the form of Christmas, that magical time of the year when food is everywhere. I was derailed; I’d burnt myself out mentally at the gym so started taking longer and longer breaks from exercise, it was completely my own fault as I hadn't given myself any rest days. I’d become bored with the constant exercise and obsession with hitting the 1000 calories a day target. My exercise routine was in ruins and I fell back into bad food habits. I’d failed.
There was an article on Cracked.com which mentioned that something like 95% of people who lose a significant amount of weight manage to gain it back within a couple of years of losing it. I remember scoffing at the suggestion and declaring to myself that I’d never let myself slip back to where I had been. Oh man, how wrong I was.
Over the course of 2013 the weight crept back on, when I checked the scales in December 2013 I’d managed to rise back up to 20 stone 9 pounds (289 pounds), something had to be done about it. I renewed my gym membership and dived straight back into my old routine (This time being a tad more relaxed on targets and the occasional day off). The weight melted away quickly at first at a rate of a stone a month (A stone is 14 pounds), I soon passed my original loss mark from 2012 and once summer arrived I was now lighter than I was in High School. I made the mistake of reintroducing sugar into my diet about that time and ended up in a bitter stalemate with my body to burn the last 14 pounds during the last couple of months to reach my ideal weight according to the BMI thingy. Giving up sugar 2-3 weeks ago suddenly lead to the weight shedding off pretty quickly. At the moment i’m still exercising pretty much daily burning 800-1000 calories at the gym through cardio.
My goal for the future is to lose a bit more to give me an appropriate “buffer” for when I start taking up weight training properly to tone up. Reading up on bits and pieces it looks like it’ll require eating large amounts of protein so it’ll be nice to eat more but in the safe healthy weight zone.
Right now I am the happiest and healthiest that I have ever been in my entire life, It’s awesome! I look like completely different man and this is going to sound fairly vain but I've grown quite fond of my new face (I get to have a chin now!). I still have a lot of my old clothes but really can't be seen out in public with them now. It's cost quite a bit changing over my wardrobe, but worth it for how great it feels :D.
Eating less and exercising are pretty much necessary together to lose weight. One without the other might work for some people but I can’t seem to get results without tackling both at the same time. Also giving up sugar (Except fruit sugar) and stuff with sugar added. Trust me, when it comes to weight loss sugar is the devil… a delicious, sweet devil.
It’s OK to indulge from time to time. We’re only human and as long as we can get back to “normal” ASAP it’s fine to eat that thing that you like.
I haven't had any noticeable loose skin, I know that you sometimes see pictures where people have had bad problems after losing a certain amount of weight but mine seems to have shrunk down as I have.
People will think you look taller. I like to call this the rolled our sausage effect, it's probably due to better posture.
When you've lost a noticeable amount of weight there are some people who will tell you to stop because “You look alright now”. Ignore them, they have no idea what your goals (and will probably ignore you if you try to explain them. I've had people accuse me of developing an eating disorder... which is insane. I don't know if you picked up the vibes from this post but I still absolutely love eating). I usually put this attitude down to people not liking change rather than spite or jealousy.
Anyway enough of my story and general musings, I'll leave you with what you've all came here to see:hardcore nudity! (And also some tasteful before and after weight loss pictures): http://imgur.com/a/8Lyr4
Thanks for reading! I've been looking forward to writing this for a while.
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