My Transformation: A Before and During

smokey2

smokey2

New member
Hey everyone.

My name is Jeremy. I have been lurking around this forum for the past 2 months, when I decided I was going to join a gym. I was curious to see results people had, figuring it would give me some much needed motivation. I was excited to see the amazing results people had, and was ready to begin my own journey.

I joined the gym on October 26th, 2009, with a starting weight of 347 lbs. As of December 22nd, I am down to 315. I usually go to the gym at least 5-6 times a week, 1 hour per day. I have been watching what I eat, including eliminating chips and pop.

My BMI has gone from 47.1 to 42.8.
Fat Mass has gone from 175.21 lbs(50.5%) to 153.81 lbs(48.7%)
Fat Free Mass has gone from 171.81 lbs(49.5%) to 161.81 lbs(51%)

Overall, I feel a lot better about myself, and I like the person I am becoming. I get up every morning, excited to go to the gym and continue my transformation.

Here are some pics of my transformation. I take pictures every week, but I selected only a few. The first one is from my first day, before I stepped foot in the gym. The second is on November 30th, and the third is on December 22.

I will continue to post pictures as I go on!

Thanks,

Jeremy
 
Last edited:
Wow, great job so far!

If you wouldn't mind posting some more information, I know I'd appreciate it as well as many others. Your age, height, and what your diet and exercise has been for the most part.

Keep it up!
 
Hey,

Well I'm 22, 6' and right now I'm just trying to watch what I eat. Whereas before I wouldn't eat a lot during the day, and find myself eating a LOT at night...I now try and eat more through out of the day, and do less snacking at night. I also eat breakfast now, whereas before I couldn't be bothered. Like I said before, I have cut out the chips and pop entirely. If I do feel like snacking, I have popcorn. I also chew fruity gum through out the day, because I find it helps cut my cravings (this is especially helpful when I KNOW I'm not hungry, but my cravings are telling me otherwise).

As far as exercise goes, like I said before I go 5-6 days a week, at 1 hour per day. At first I would just do cardio by myself on those days, because I did have a trainer for about 12 sessions to help show me the correct way of exercising so I don't hurt myself or something. I try and change up what I do from day to day so I don't get bored, but my favourites are definitely the elliptical and treadmill. I also enjoy going on the bikes, but I find the other 2 give me a better workout. So anyways, now I'm just trying to get the gist of incorporatin and doing everything on my own. My trainer has given me a couple routines to do, so that will be very helpful.

Right now my biggest goal is to shed most of this weight, but also gain muscle. Ultimately I just want to be happy.

Um, I can try and think of more tomorrow, I'm just getting ready to go bed.

Thanks!

Jeremy
 
Hi Jeremy,

Looks like we started out very similarly, I started in about mid-November and was 334lbs. when I started and now I am 316.2lbs. You can really see a difference in your pictures, it's fantastic! I can't wait to get my own little before & during pictures up. These have been very inspirational for me, thank you so much for sharing :D

Keep up the great work!
 
Good for you Addiecakes! I know it feels good to get this weight off. Although I don't notice a difference in the mirror (besides seeing these pictures of course), I at least KNOW I'm losing weight.

Good luck to you!
 
Jeremy, let me first applaud you for your great progress so far. Your dedication shows and is paying off.

However, I want to say a couple of things that I myself had to learn the hard way a while ago, let's just call them 'mistakes' upfront. I wish to help you prevent make those same mistakes.


First of all, your food/meal/diet plan. You say you've cut out the sodas and whatnot. That is a great start, but if you really want to start reaping the results, I would definitely start monitoring your food intake more carefully and start choosing foods and ingredients more carefully. More on this a bit later..

Secondly and most importantly. You are going to the gym 5-6 days a week and had 12 sessions with a trainer. But I take from your posts that you focus solely on cardio exercise. Am I correct in this assumption?

If I am indeed correct, I would STRONGLY encourage you to drop to just 1 or 2 cardio sessions a week(personally, I wouldn't even do any cardio at all, unless it was incorporated in something I liked doing, like dancing or cycling, mountainbiking...)

Drop the cardio to just once or twice a week and use your other days at the gym to start on a regimen of resistance training, 3 to 4 times a week (a bit less in the beginning). Lifting weights and building more lean body mass (muscle) is A LOT more beneficial to reaching the goals you have set for yourself and it will make sure your body composition and overall appearance will be great when u finally reach your goal, instead of having a droopy or saggy look.

I say this partially, because of the amount of Fat Free Mass you have lost, which is about or over 10lbs. Fat Free Mass would likely be mostly LEAN body mass and some water weight (especially during the initial stages of weight loss). If there is one thing you want to lose the bare minimum of it is lean mass. You essentially want to lose as much fat as possible, but lose as little muscle as you can.

That's why I say you should do research on the internet for resistance training routines and a food/mealplan that is good for accompanying both a weightlifting regimen and a fat loss regimen coupled together. Typically that would consist of a lot of (clean) protein, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats in a 40/40/20 fashion. None of this is set in stone though (apart from your food needing to be healthy).

Also consult with your trainer at your gym. BUT if the trainer you had 12 sessions with has not advised you to start picking up the weights and do resistance training I have strong doubts as to their competence in being a fitness trainer. You might want to look out for another gym and/or trainer.

All the best! Keep it up man!
 
Hi noremorse,

Thank you for response. I definitely agree with you that I should be monitoring my food a lot better. In fact, I barely do it now. For some reason I find it extremely hard. I know it would be a lot easier on 'me', if I kept better attention at what I was eating, especially pertaining to my workout patterns.

I understand what you're saying about all the cardio I am doing. Don't get me wrong, I do not only do cardio. I am just beginning a routine of my own, because I have had those sessions with my trainer. So, whereas before I would do cardio on my own, and a little bit of weight training - then do my sessions with my trainer where he would literally take me to hell and back. Now I am left doing this all on my own, so I am trying to figure things out on my own I guess.

In my opinion, my trainer was great. He definitely has not told me to stay away from doing any resistance training - in fact he has giving me lists of things to do. Basically what he was doing with me, however more suited for doing it myself.

I REALLY appreciate everything you are telling me, and I definitely agree with you on everything. I've only been doing this for 2 months, and I'll be the first to tell you I don't think, or act, like I know 100% what I am doing. I am just slowly getting myself into a routine that I find works for me.

This may have a little to do with the fear I have of doing this on my own. When I had a trainer, it felt good because someone was doing this with me. However, now I am left doing this on my own...and I am definitely afraid of failing.

I will let you know how everything is going, and I will start recording what I am eating. I know this will help me out a lot.

Thank you!

Jeremy
 
smokey said:
I REALLY appreciate everything you are telling me, and I definitely agree with you on everything. I've only been doing this for 2 months, and I'll be the first to tell you I don't think, or act, like I know 100% what I am doing. I am just slowly getting myself into a routine that I find works for me.

I will let you know how everything is going, and I will start recording what I am eating. I know this will help me out a lot.
Click to expand...


You seem to have it figured out pretty well already, my friend!

Let's tackle this thing once and for all! :coolgleamA:
 
Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post an update. I've been lurking around the forum again all month, but I just haven't felt the need to post anything new. However, here goes! Well this month has been very tough. I've hit a plateau, and I haven't been losing any weight. This hasn't discouraged me though. I still go to the gym 6 days a week, at 1 hour per day. Although, I have stepped up the weight lifting, so perhaps it's just me gaining muscle *prays*. I stepped on the scale on Saturday and I was at 311...so hopefully this plateau is over and I can move on! I really want to be under 300 pounds! (doesn't that sound rediculous! LOL!)

January 19th marked my 60th day at the gym, so that was exciting. Not bad considering I joined at the end of October!

I've managed to stay off of pop, however I had a get together with some friends, and chips were involved. Luckily I was able to contain myself, and have just a few. I've been recording what I eat, however just in a personal journal. Perhaps eventually I'll start posting them on here, but for some reason I find it a lot easier to just keep note of it on paper. I tried doing it online, but would sometimes forget to log my entries and it just made me feel bad.

During my cardio, I mostly do the treadmill now. I find it relaxing to just listen to my music and go at it. This week I've managed to run for 10 minutes at 5.5 mph. I'm really proud of that, because in the beginning I couldn't JOG for 1 minute without feeling like I was going to pass out!

Although I am still heavy, I feel a lot healthier then I did in October! So when I don't see the pounds coming off, I know this is all having some effect on my body! I must also say I do enjoy the compliments! It feels nice hearing good things from people for once, y'know? When I go into my gym they even know my name! So at least I know I show my face enough that they know I'm serious about this!

Anyways, I'm off to bed! I'll continue to post once I get some more results! Hopefully by my birthday (March 3rd) I'll be under 300! That'd be a nice birthday gift!

Take care everyone,

Jeremy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top