200 to 160

T

tman1111

New member
I'm 20 years old. Over the past two years since I graduated high school I have noticed my health and fitness decline. I went from being a very strong 185 lbs to a weak 200 lbs. I attribute this to overeating, eating low quality food devoid of nutrients, and regularly consuming alcohol. Four months ago I decided that I must lose weight because I was too fat. This became my obsession and I have been working hard at it since. After losing 40 lbs and getting into the best shape I have ever been, I realized that it was never about the weight in the first place. This is about living a healthy lifestyle. It's about feeling good both mentally and physically. The fat was only a physical manifestation of everything that was negative and unbalanced in my life. I started out wanting to simply lose fat to "look better", but I achieved something so much greater. I plan to continue this process for three more weeks. After that I will increase my calorie consumption so that I may increase my strength. Eating healthy and exercise have become a part of my identity that I will be reluctant to give up. I look forward to helping my family members achieve their weight loss goals, but more importantly I look forward to helping them improve their health and happiness.
 
They look like father and son photos. Congrats you look great and have got the perfect attitude to keep the weight off. :)
 
wow. In just 3 months you did all this? That's unreal.

And yes, I agree to whatever you have said, 100%. I think fast food is as bad addiction as alcohol or cigarette.

What was your daily routine?
 
I'm 5'8". For the 1st and 2nd month I ate whatever I wanted but I counted calories aiming for 1500-2000. I did strength training 4 days a week with very limited amounts of cardio. I lost 20 lbs in 1 month just from that. The 2nd month I only lost about 5 lbs, so I decided to change my routine beginning in the 3rd month. I ate very nutritious plain foods (Fruit, vegetables, nuts, raw fish, brown rice, oatmeal) 6 days per week and one day per week I allowed myself to eat whatever I wanted. I lost about 10 lbs that month. Finally, during this past month I decided to eliminate my "cheat days." They served me well but I do not feel that I need them anymore. Of course I still crave "junk food" sometimes but I now have much more self control and trust myself to indulge in moderation. I have also decreased my strength training to 2 days per week and increased my cardio to 5 days per week increasing the duration each week. So this week I will be doing 1 hour of cardio per day for 5 days. So far this month I lost about 8 lbs so I'm currently at 157. If I could have done anything differently, I would not have cut so many calories right at the start, and I would have eliminated fast food/junk food immediately. You can lose weight eating brownies, cookies, french fries, double cheeseburgers with bacon etc. but as I said I don't think it's really about the weight. One of the most important things I learned from this experience is that eating healthy and exercising make you feel good in a unique way that is so hard to describe. I feel good 24 hours a day. Although it would be satisfying to eat a cheeseburger and french fries or drink a six pack of beer... I know it would make me feel terrible. I must have heard it a thousand times but until now I did not really understand the meaning of the phrase "You are what you eat."
 
anand said:
On your first week, you did "very limited amount of cardio"? Can you explain that?
Click to expand...

I ran one mile at high intensity about 4 times per week. In total I was doing less than 30 minutes of cardio during a whole week which is not enough in my opinion. According to the American Heart Association we should "Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week Or Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week."

 
I just ran a marathon 3 days ago. I did not achieve a time that I desired, however, I did complete the 26.2 miles injury free. My weight loss certainly allowed me to reach this goal.
 
My goodness! That is VERY impressive.

Congratulations to you on your transformed look, attitude and life. I'm sure you'll be able to help lots of other people on this site, as what you're doing clearly works.
 
WOW! Great work!

I started at 210 lbs, I look(ed) much like you in the first picture. And my target is also similar 160 or under. But I have given my self more than twice the time to it and I don't think that I'll never look as fit as you do in your after picture. Neither that I'll be fit enough to run a marathon. Wow! Congrats on finishing that one too! Very inspirational!
 
What was your ab routine? I'm curious to know if you had to do a ton of ab work to get that washboard or if it was more a factor of just losing the fat infront of it.
 
It was definitely just a matter of losing the fat to reveal the abdominals in my case. In my opinion most men should be able to obtain visible abdominals by losing a healthy amount of fat. However, those who have much less muscle mass would probably have to gain more muscle before they are able to see their abdominals.
 
SparkErosion said:
holy crap dude...

Incredible.....

Whats your bodyfat at?

Were you in very good fit shape before?
Click to expand...

I'm really not sure what my body fat percentage is. I have never been this fit in the past. I was stronger at one point, however, I was 25-30 lbs heavier (mostly fat).
 
tman1111 said:
I'm 20 years old. Over the past two years since I graduated high school I have noticed my health and fitness decline. I went from being a very strong 185 lbs to a weak 200 lbs. I attribute this to overeating, eating low quality food devoid of nutrients, and regularly consuming alcohol. Four months ago I decided that I must lose weight because I was too fat. This became my obsession and I have been working hard at it since. After losing 40 lbs and getting into the best shape I have ever been, I realized that it was never about the weight in the first place. This is about living a healthy lifestyle. It's about feeling good both mentally and physically. The fat was only a physical manifestation of everything that was negative and unbalanced in my life. I started out wanting to simply lose fat to "look better", but I achieved something so much greater. I plan to continue this process for three more weeks. After that I will increase my calorie consumption so that I may increase my strength. Eating healthy and exercise have become a part of my identity that I will be reluctant to give up. I look forward to helping my family members achieve their weight loss goals, but more importantly I look forward to helping them improve their health and happiness.
Click to expand...

This is really true and really touched me! Thanks for sharing your success. Excellent job!
 
those are AMAZING results. good for you, especially within like 4 months. and to run a marathon. impressive. keep up the good work, and positive attitude, and maybe you'll be on the cover of a mag one day ;) lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top