90 pounds GONE! Goodbye obesity.

ucdpunk

New member
Hello everyone! I've posted before and after progress pictures in the past, but I feel like posting a more updated thread on my transformation.

I'm 19 years old, 5'11'' and up until these recent months I have struggled with my weight all my life. One day I took control of my body and buckled down and started dieting and exercising in March of 2009. 5 months of hard work, dedication, and determination have brought me to where I am right now, and I am truly thankful to God for giving me the perseverance to achieve my dreams.

I have never been so much happier about myself than I am right now. I won the battle against obesity, and I am truly blessed...

Here's my before and afters:

Before picture (I'm on the left): Late 2008
235+ lbs
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After picture: August 2009 (Present)
145 lbs
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I am living proof that anyone...ANYONE can win the battle against obesity. For those who are still struggling...I encourage you to NEVER GIVE UP. CONTINUE to PRESS ON towards your goals! Achieve your goals in a HEALTHY way! And most importantly, as a Christian I believe that prayer is highly beneficial! Live each day knowing that you have progressed closer to your goal than yesterday! If a once obese teenage kid like me can do it...so can you!

Update:
I have added more recent pictures that give an idea of my physique for those who are curious...These pictures were taken in September of 2009. Weight is 142 lbs, but it fluctuates between 142 and 143 because I am currently eating at maintenance.
Once again thank you everyone for the positive comments!!

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Congrats! It's great to see the change in your happiness and attitude due to the weight loss.

My only concern is how thin you've become. 145 lbs at 5'11"? I'm 6'0" and I was shocked when I saw that. Hopefully you're eating enough to maintain and you don't plan on losing anymore.

Again, nice work on the weight loss!
 
Wow, that's amazing! Can you tell us your specific weight loss program and how were you able to make it through those difficult days of wanting to give up? You are a little on the light side, but if you feel great, healthy and your doctor says everything is ok then that's all that matters.
 
Congrats! It's great to see the change in your happiness and attitude due to the weight loss.

My only concern is how thin you've become. 145 lbs at 5'11"? I'm 6'0" and I was shocked when I saw that. Hopefully you're eating enough to maintain and you don't plan on losing anymore.

Again, nice work on the weight loss!

Thanks for the encouragement! I completely understand why you would be concerned about my weight. It's basically due to a week-long summer camp earlier this month where I was a counselor. Every day was full of various activities like hiking, swimming, kayaking, basketball, etc. And on top of that I also ran every morning while I was up there. I was 150 lbs at the start of camp, and by the time I came back home I had lost 5 pounds, which explains my somewhat lower weight of 145. But yes I plan on maintaining for sure (and possibly regaining some of those pounds I lost.) I've already upped my calories considerably.

Wow, that's amazing! Can you tell us your specific weight loss program and how were you able to make it through those difficult days of wanting to give up? You are a little on the light side, but if you feel great, healthy and your doctor says everything is ok then that's all that matters.

that's crazy. what are some changes you made?

Starting in March 2009 I began to do some running cardio in the morning Monday through Friday for 3-miles. After a couple weeks, I added a 60 to 90 minute strength routine (lots of push-ups, lots of crunches, sit-ups, dumbbell exercises etc) on Tues/Thurs/Sat.

To this day, I have NEVER missed my cardio.

Diet-wise, I never really monitored caloric intake early on. I just started making healthier choices such as whole-grains, lean meats, oatmeal, lots of fruits and vegetables, water only. However, now that I look back...I think I was most likely taking in only about 1400-1500 cals per day at that time. I do not recommend you do this and I am very fortunate to have not suffered from any starvation issues at that time. However, since I was obese at that stage, I believe it wasn't detrimental and I was able to lose about 4 to 5 lbs per week with continued exercise.

After a couple months I educated myself more about nutrition and realized that a very low caloric intake is not healthy for the body. Since then I have slowly increased my caloric intake to more appropriate levels.

Currently my diet mainly consists of clean foods such as:
milk, eggs, turkey, tilapia, chicken, salmon, various vegetables and fruits, natural peanut butter, whole-grain cereals, whole-grain breads, oatmeals, cottage cheese, yogurt and much more

Of course every now and then I've allowed myself to eat things like cheeseburgers, pizza, etc. Moderation is key.

I've had a check-up with the doctor in early July. The doc said that I had excellent blood pressure levels, a heart-rate comparable to those of athletes, and she also said that I was at a healthy weight for my height. However, at that time I weighed 160 lbs. According to BMI though, I'm still at a healthy weight so I'm not too concerned. I'm focused on maintaining where I'm at right now, and possibly putting on lean muscle in the future.

Thanks again for the positive responses.
 
Thanks for the info. I am also on a 1,200 to 1,500 calorie intake a day and so far it's working great and feeling great. I hope to one day show results like you.
 
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!! INSPIRING!!!! :party: Great JOB!!! I really want to change this year as well!!!...I think if I focus like you!!! OMG :eek2: WOW!!!....I want it bad....how would you motivate yourself to get up in the morning?...What was your turning point to start losing the weight?:cheers2:
 
Holy **** you look great now, just a little on the skinny side...lol
Now you just need to pack some muscles on...GJ and keep us posted...:D
 
You look fantastic! You must be very proud.. and rightly so! I don't think you look *too skinny* like a few people have said, but I guess it's a matter of opinion.. to me you just look really athletic. :)
 
Very motivating! Well done. I can almost feel how happy you are by reading your story. Congratulations.
 
Wow

WOW, you are an amazing inspiration, i'm just starting to diet, i'm currently 5'11" 237 lbs, i was wondering if you could give me any tips or a good plan to folow thanks.


feel free to PM me anyone :)
 
Great work man, it's brilliant that you turned your life around.

Just throwing it out there that I'm an atheist and lost 100 lbs, so imho counting calories, exercising, hard work and perseverance are a lot more beneficial than prayer.

Never the less it seems you did all of those things, congratz!
 
YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!!!!! INSPIRING!!!! :party: Great JOB!!! I really want to change this year as well!!!...I think if I focus like you!!! OMG :eek2: WOW!!!....I want it bad....how would you motivate yourself to get up in the morning?...What was your turning point to start losing the weight?:cheers2:

To be honest, I actually had tried to lose weight MANY times before! I'd start jogging everyday...and then I'd lose a couple pounds...then somehow I'd just lose motivation and start gaining weight again!

In March 2009 during Spring Break I was totally BORED OUT OF MY MIND! I didn't have a job at that time and I didn't have any homework to do. So I told myself... "since I'm so bored, I might as well do something productive." So I started doing a little jogging everyday for the hell of it. After a week of jogging I started changing up the diet and eating a bit healthier...avoiding fast food/junk food etc.

So after doing this for a couple weeks, I noticed on the scale that my weight started dropping! When I saw that, I told myself "you know what....this time, it's FOR REAL! There's no turning back! I want to be a healthier me!"

So I kept on doing the jogging...the jogging turned into running...then I added some weights into my routine. Every time I stepped on the scale, the number was a TINY bit lower, and every time I looked in the mirror, I looked a TINY bit better. I took every TINY improvement and saw each and every one of them as a FREAKIN HUGE VICTORY! And that's what kept me motivated to keep moving forward and losing that weight!

As days, weeks, and months passed by, all these little victories kept adding up...and people around me started to notice the changes in my appearance...and they started giving me really encouraging compliments about my weight loss. These compliments were DEFINITELY great sources of motivation as well.

And that's what got me goin every morning...the motivation and desire to move one step closer to making my dreams a reality. When I look back...I see it as a truly amazing journey!

do you happen to have any loose skins?
Initially I had some noticeably loose skin around my abdomen area, but over time it has greatly improved and tightened up. I'm guessing that my skin is still fairly resilient because I'm still young.
 
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