A Personal Project

[VT-Vincent]

As of late I haven't been very active here at 1Emu, or any other forum for that matter. I also haven't been maintaining my online projects for a while now. So what have I been up to? Well, it has been a project of self-improvement and one of the biggest parts of that has been getting my weight under control. At my worst when I started this about 2 years ago, I used to weigh 285 Lbs. and I'm only 5'11". I'm glad to say that I've made a lot of progress, as of a few weeks ago I'm down to 165 Lbs. Here's the closest thing I have to a before-and-after, the photo to the left is from late 2009 and I weighed about 260 Lbs there:

So what did I do? To be honest there wasn't any silver-bullet to it. I just started eating better with very small changes, like cutting out soda or just ordering a little less fast food. Doing that alone made me drop about 30 Lbs in only a few months. That motivated me to start doing more like walking a mile or two per day and cutting out fast food completely. Today, I walk 5-6 miles per day and I track my calories carefully and try not to go over 1,200 per day.

It it took a lot of time and hard work, but I have to say it's been worth it. Today my target weight of 150 Lbs. seems well within reach. If I could tell anyone struggling with this problem one thing, it would be to believe that you can do it. It's really tough not to see those immediate results but it's important to realize that even small changes do make a difference.

Edited April 10, 2013 by VT-Vincent

[Hard Core Rikki]

Looking smooth. Congrats man.

[emsley]

Good work man.

 

I've been getting more active lately now spring is here.

Mountain bike for me.

Did a mile up a killer hill today, dont sound like much but it fecking sucked.

Two days ago did a 4 miles round trip.

 

Aiming for 30 miles per week, then when my knee strengthens I want to try running again.

Smoke ten a day though and its not helping.

Edited April 9, 2013 by emsley

[Robert]

It's really tough not to see those immediate resluts but it's important to realize that even small changes do make a difference.

 

I do wonder about the re-sluts..

[Superman]

Well done on your achievement.

[Alpha]

 

As of late I haven't been very active here at 1Emu, or any other forum for that matter. I also haven't been maintaining my online projects for a while now. So what have I been up to? Well, it has been a project of self-improvement and one of the biggest parts of that has been getting my weight under control. At my worst when I started this about 2 years ago, I used to weigh 285 Lbs. and I'm only 5'11". I'm glad to say that I've made a lot of progress, as of a few weeks ago I'm down to 165 Lbs. Here's the closest thing I have to a before-and-after, the photo to the left is from late 2009 and I weighed about 260 Lbs there:

before-and-after.jpg

So what did I do? To be honest there wasn't any silver-bullet to it. I just started eating better with very small changes, like cutting out soda or just ordering a little less fast food. Doing that alone made me drop about 30 Lbs in only a few months. That motivated me to start doing more like walking a mile or two per day and cutting out fast food completely. Today, I walk 5-6 miles per day and I track my calories carefully and try not to go over 1,200 per day.

It it took a lot of time and hard work, but I have to say it's been worth it. Today my target weight of 150 Lbs. seems well within reach. If I could tell anyone struggling with this problem one thing, it would be to beleive that you can do it. It's really tough not to see those immediate resluts but it's important to realize that even small changes do make a difference.

 

Well done Vincent! Looking great, buddy! Just got a chance to finally read this. What you have done so far is nothing short of amazing.

 

May I ask -- once you lost over a 100 pounds, did your skin adapt with the weight loss? I know some people who lose extreme amounts of weight have to get surgery to remove the excess skin. I hope this question is not too personal.

 

It really is about believing in yourself. It's too easy to doubt oneself or fall into a pool of negativity and/or depression. How has the response been with your family and friends? They must be ecstatic. I'm sure you've already had some old acquaintances who came across you and didn't even recognize you at first!

 

Finally, how did you and continue to keep yourself motivated? Statistically, people who lose weight tend to gain it back again, and sometimes even more than their original weight. It's very common for humans to start on a project and then suddenly (sometimes without even consciously noticing) to seep back into the old ways of things. Have you caught yourself ever?

 

Keep up the great work and keep us updated.

[VT-Vincent]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the support!

 

Well done Vincent! Looking great, buddy! Just got a chance to finally read this. What you have done so far is nothing short of amazing.

 

May I ask -- once you lost over a 100 pounds, did your skin adapt with the weight loss? I know some people who lose extreme amounts of weight have to get surgery to remove the excess skin. I hope this question is not too personal.

 

It really is about believing in yourself. It's too easy to doubt oneself or fall into a pool of negativity and/or depression. How has the response been with your family and friends? They must be ecstatic. I'm sure you've already had some old acquaintances who came across you and didn't even recognize you at first!

 

Finally, how did you and continue to keep yourself motivated? Statistically, people who lose weight tend to gain it back again, and sometimes even more than their original weight. It's very common for humans to start on a project and then suddenly (sometimes without even consciously noticing) to seep back into the old ways of things. Have you caught yourself ever?

 

Keep up the great work and keep us updated.

 

That's something that kind of surprised me to be honest, when I first started this I knew of similar stories as well. For the most part, it did actually adapt very well. The only area that has been a little bit of a problem is around my stomach but that seems to be getting better over time. I think because I lost it gradually it adapted as I went along much better. A lot of people who lose this much weight usually do it quickly as a result of medical procedures so it's more of an issue.

 

I'm glad to say the response has been mostly positive but there have been a few people that were concerned I lost too much or thought I may have been doing unhealthy things to lose it. I suppose that's only natural. I've certainly gotten a few double-takes when I've encountered some colleagues I haven't met in a long time, lol.

 

I'd say the biggest motivation is actually all of the old photos I have, I'm not proud that I let myself go that badly and those serve as a reminder that I need to maintain it. There's also the financial motivation too, I've had to replace my wardrobe 4 times since I've started this and if I gained it back it would be quite expensive to do it again! I certainly have my moments of weakness, but I do actually allow myself one "cheating day" a week. That way I can enjoy the foods I like without derailing my diet.

 

I do wonder about the re-sluts..

 

Whoops!

[Jitway]

Glad to see you have done this. I wish I could do this but just let me tell you it is a good thing you got this under control early because the older you get the harder it is to lose weight. I swear I can't seem to lose shit. I don't gain any but just can't get it off. I would exercise but with my health problems even that is hard to do. All I got to say is good for you.

[Gryph]

That's fantastic! Keep it up!

[Agozer]

Congratulations. I've never been even slightly overweight (quite the opposite actually), so I can't begin to fathom the difficulty of losing weight.

[Robert]

Since I don't understand LBS at all, first thing I had to do was convert to metric. So you went from 130kg to 75kg, which is somewhat obese, to slim. It's a good effort actually. Now it's just a matter of keeping it off and doing exercise.