It's corny, but that's what I call my journey to a healthier and thinner me. At the beginning of 2004 I figure I weighed right around 400 lbs. I didn't have a high-capacity scale, so I couldn't be sure. By the time I bought one, it'd been 6 months and I was down to 365 lbs.

I started at the gym swimming and moved from there to the treadmill and finally to a resistance/cardio program of my own design. So far I've lost 97 lbs and 7.4% body fat.

On to the pictures. The forums enforce a resizing of images so these look a little grainy no matter what dimensions I choose. Click on them for the larger/clearer version.



My old office on January 25th, 2004. The B&W thing is a little dramatic, but I think at the time I figured it made me look less heavy than I really was.



This was taken this morning. My wife loves this shirt for some reason.

Great work so far. Keep it up.

Steven,

You have made an excellent transformation thus far and I hope you meet and exceed the goals you have made for yourself. I would imagine that in addition to your exercise regimen you have also implemented some modifications of your diet, can you share with us some of the significant steps you've taken in that arena? There are always new strategies for the rest of us to learn.

Thanks and good luck!
Suzanne

wow man that is an awesome job you did. keep it up.

Excellent progress so far steven, you must be so proud of yourself.

Long road ahead, but you're speeding on the highway now and it'll pass in no time :)

How does it feel to know that in a 'non-too-long' period of time, you would have achieved your goals?

:P

Nick

Thanks for your comment, Suzanne. Yeah, I definitely had to work on the diet and I think that's made the biggest impact. When I started I was eating 2-3 meals a day (usually 2) and breakfast was almost always the casualty. I ate whatever sounded good at the time and convenience was on the menu more often than not (i.e., fast food, restaurants, etc.).

The first thing I did was sign up for a free account over at Backpack so I could track my intake from wherever I was. The template started out with headings like: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert. The meter was every 2.5 - 3 hours.

Before long it evolved into: pre-workout, post-workout, early morning, morning, midday, afternoon, evening. I wanted to track my pre & post workout intake and the term "snack" didn't work for me anymore. I was spacing my food out over 3 hour increments and eating less between meals 1 and 2 than between meals 2 and 3 didn't make much sense.

Lately I've been falling off with the food and as a result I've been maintaining at 300 - 305 lbs for the last couple months. After reading Nick's post and hititng a few articles here at traineo, I'm inspired to re-double my efforts and get back to it.

I just got back from Wild Oats with some dried fruits, fresh fruit, a few snacks (still healthy, but snacky), and a kick ass turkey, brown rice, and veggie thing from their deli. Very tasty.

Thanks a lot. Your post has inspired me to get back into the game again. I'd been rocking the cardio, but the intake was falling off. I'm back.



F'realz, man. I'm excited as hell and relatively it's not that much more weight to lose. It's going to be a lot easier than the first dozen pounds were, that's for sure.

damn!

i can't imagine how good it must've felt to watch your weight come off. you've made a lot of progress.

Great work Steven!

Steven - Awesome job, man! Pounds pile on before you realize it, and losing them is always a struggle. You've made amazing progress. I'd never thought of using Backpack as a weight loss tool. Very clever.

I've been meaning to make a list of things that will keep me from ever going back to that weight. There are things I couldn't do and things that I had to do because of my weight that are built-in deterrents at this point.

A big THANK YOU to batsam, jreno, got3n, and everyone else who posted. The kind words really mean a lot and fuel the fire for the rest of The Lightening.

Dude - you rock! Keep it going, that's awesome!

that's awesome, steven! you've accomplished so much already!

You guys so rock my socks. Every time I log into this site I get another push to keep going. Today I biked to Subway for a sandwich and then tonight I walked for an hour with the wife.

No easy achievement by any measurement. Keep it up! Go, go, go!

Steven, did you know that your picture was published in the august edtion of the dutch Muscle&fitness magazine?

That's news to me, bro. Is it online?

Awesome job!!! If your efforts don't inspire someone seeking to follow a similar path I don't know what will!

Thanks!

Great work Steven. Very inspirational!

Thanks Mason; much appreciated.

Nice one I myself have lost 84-odd lbs and I know how tough it can be at times -- even bloody-mindedness sometimes isn't enough!

You da man

I hear ya. Thanks for the comment - this **** keeps me going, f'realz.

Fantastic work, SK.

And thanks too for being so open and brave in revealing yourself to us. I think one of the reasons it's easier for some of us today than it used to be is we have so many examples of people who are bravely putting themselves out there and showing it can be done. I don't think I am alone in thinking all the fitness experts don't really understand our lives or how we got in these positions. I think it's great that no matter what our situation, we can now find someone who has stuggled with a similar thing who will courageously open themselves up. Thanks, and hope I can keep up with you as you get to where you want to be.

Great Start Steven. Keep on Keepin on!

listening to your podcast right now.

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. That's some great stuff. =)

Amazing progress. And what I really appreciate is your non-gimmicky approach. No fad diet, no voodoo, no BS, just hard work and discipline. Congrats and keep it up man!

Wow, you look great..and I too ..love that shirt!

Awesome!!! I'm new to the site and just started monitoring my weight loss. Positive stories like this are great for inspiration and motivation. Good job!