Just wanted to update everyone. I'm still doing great. I stopped working out for a few months because life got crazy or I got lazy one of the two

But, im back in the gym now. My weight has stayed the same nearly throughout this entire time but, my muscle mass has gone down some. I'll start lifting again and running on the treadmil(god I hate those) and get everything in check.

I leaned out considerably at 187 lbs and for my frame with my muscle thats really light. I hope to remain a consistant 10-12%BF at 190-194.


Just go's to show you, you can do anything you set your mind too. Most people were argueing with me a year ago I wasn't going to be able to keep it off and that i'd gain back some. I love proving people wrong.


Happy new years to you guys. I wish you all the best in your life journies. Don't let anyone tell you, you can't do something ESPECIALLY yourself.


love, John.

Its truely a niftly little invention. I got one a couple weeks ago and just now hooked it up. Im on their site and entered a few challenges. Its alot of fun.

Lunges,squats, scissor squats. All holding free weight dumbells in various weights.



I can tell you the biggest thing i've been doing though is kicked back up my running. I run a 10k or more everyday now. In the past 45ish days i've been able to add a inch to my legs.



So if you are able see about jogging on a regular basis. It has many many benefits the least of which will be developing new muscle in your legs/calves/ect.

Only time and surgery. I could have done a full body lift and it would have handled the pecks. Instead i was talked outta it saying it will come back over time. How much time or will it ever? I dont rightly now to be honest with you.



Im pretty pissed when I think about all the work ive done and my body still wont be perfect. I guess thats the price I pay for once being a lazy fat guy. If my body never fully recovers I have no one to blame but, myself. I can say however now not quite 6 months out from surgery things are better than they were in the summer. so that in itself gives me new hope for the future. Maybe slowly overtime with working out it may get better.



I guess we will just have to see. This past month and a half i've been busy working on my legs. Here is a updated pic. I need to take all new pics I just haven't had the chance. I'll get around to it soon.

Yeah skin is still slowly but, surely coming back. Its going to take some time.



I'll snap a pic when I get a chance to show the scar and the areas where it is starting to tighten up and the area's its still loose.

I workout everyday in some form or fashion. Lifting 5x times a week and cardio 7x a week.



There's no such thing as a day off completely. I do give my muscles time to recoupe from lifting but, thats about it.

Its already been mentioned but, i've had great success with polar. They make units for all types of training not just basic heart monitors. Check them out and look through their various lines. You may find something to your liking.



I enjoy their running line.

Thanks alot. Well its been a hellva journey so far. I lost the bulk of my weight(pre plastics) in 10months(240lbs) I lost a additional 10lbs or so during plastics(12months). I got cleared to workout and weight train 4 weeks post op and since then its been a additional 3 months. So im knocking on the door of 1 year 4ish months right now.'



Ideally i'd like to be 210-215range march/april. Well see I may get to a point where im completely happy and quit. I thought i'd reach that point by now but, its fun to watch your body change overtime. Well see I suppose if I stopped right now no one would blame me but, it'd be nice to pack on another 10ish lbs.





Sure, I'd love to be a mentor to someone. How does one do that?

Hahaha. Nah I just happened to be upstairs when I took the pics and needed something to put the camera on. So the hamper looked like as decent thing as any. lol.

Well as alot of you know I started body building just over 3 months ago after plastic surgery. I'm so sick of peanut butter at this point I could puke but, I finally hit a milestone yesterday. A true 200lbs at less than 10%. I know that may not sound like a big deal to some of you damn monsters out there who are 220+ at 10% or better but, for me it is.







I've been working so hard on this and to be honest it gets flustrating. It took forever to get from 193 to 200. I shudder to think what it will take to get to 210. I think that is my end goal 210-215lbs at 10% or better. Damn well could take another 6-8 months then I gotta maintain that for atleast another 6 months so my body will fully accept it.







As a side joke that we can all laugh at. I think im the only gbs patient body builder in the US. lol. I took a pic of me holding one of my dumbells for fun.







Measurments



chest-47inches(up from 42ish)



arms-16.5inches(up from 13ish)



legs-23.5inches(up from 20ish)

I don't know why I haven't responded to this amazing tranformation. Im sorry im late to the party.



Awesome job bro. HUGE change. way to go!

Thats something I think about alot. Sure hindesight 20/20 I realize I didn't need the surgery but, whos to say that without the surgery I wouldn't have been as determined. I can't really say for sure either way but, I know I wouldn't change anything. All the surgery did was help me in a good way. I have no complaints. I can eat anything I could pre op and my life is just like a normal persons who haden't had GBS.



There are many people who think GBS will automatically do the work for you and they wont' have to change their lifestyles. Its unfortunate cause not only do those people never reach goal weight they never keep the weight they lost off. I could write a book on dedication and heart but, whats the point. As my friend woudl say "either you are ready to do work or you aren't".



Thanks alot. Im glad you recognize the hard work and daily grind that went into it. I've taking it apon myself to learn everything I could and do it the right way. Infact hell I prolly eat alot more than the average poster here(training days are 7,000cals). You are dead on with your remarks there is only one way to get fit and thats work.



Do you think beardless is better? I cut it at a 1 once a day so it looks like a 5 o'clock shadow(as shown in the pics). I think I like it better that way then clean shaven.

Your welcome. Best of luck to you on your own journey.

Yes I have them all over. You can see from the above posts with my shirt off. Even though those are old they can give you a idea. Im not doing much about them. They are slowly going down and getting better and better as time go's on.



I think with the weight lifting and me giving it time they will get okay. But, i'll prolly still always have some. I mean I used to be as fat as a house. There really is no total coming back from that.

No not really. I did have a leg injury once and a small lower back injury once. I just took it easy until I felt like I could push it again. Both times was about 2 weeks.





other than a b12 complex pill and a multivitamin no. I dont really need supplements cause I would just figure out what was in what food and eat. I didn't want to depend on something I felt like i couldn't do forever(permantely). and jugging down protein shakes while may be effective is prolly not something you are gonna be doing for the rest of your life.



So i learned to get what I needed from foods.

I still do plenty of cardio but, 2 months ago I started lifting weights. But, alot of the muscle i've been able to have is partly because of all the heavy heavy amount of cardio I did while I was still very fat and carrying out all that weight builds muscle too.







umm I just wanted to change my body into something it had never been before and when I set a goal for myself im really not ever satisfied partly and thats prolly the reason I kept pushing so much.



I'm pretty happy with everything now though. I will prolly tone up some more but, the 3 or so inches i've gained in the past 2 months im real happy with. I dont see myself ever wanting to get any bigger I like the size I am now and feel strong. So thats really all that matters.



Besides if I wear something tight up top that shows my shoulders or back I finally feel satisfied with how I look. I have a 45"chest now and my waist is 32". If you include my arms/shoulders im like 57" across and over a small 32" waist I look like a truck.



Now i'll just maintain what I have and live life. Its about damn time. lol

Here is me now. I've been able to gain nearly 3inch's. woot woot

Thanks so much that means alot. My scars are getting better the redness is going down a little every week. Im still only 7 weeks post op so they say like 6 months out the swelling will completely go down(yay more ab defenition) and the redness is greatly reduced becoming the color of your normal skin(white).



I have been lifting weights for the past 4 weeks and the gains im already seeing are hard to believe. Im gaining inches everywhere and have put on a solid 6lbs. Here are some current pics sorry for the poor quality on some of them.

Okay took some new pics. Im just over 6 weeks out now. I have been completely cleared for heavy heavy workouts which I have been doing all week and my entire body feels like its going to kill over. I can't really explain the muscle growth. It just doesn't make sense to see these kinds of results so fast. The only explanation I can possible give is its muscle memory from years back when I used to weight lift. Im getting new veins poping out in my shoulders and arms everyday now and I officially wearing abs these days.



I've been doing alot of research on ab workouts. I used to always think a 4 wasn't as good as a 6 pack and a 8 pack was even better and ment you had the least amount of body fat. I now know after research that the upper and lower abdomen muscle tissue is formed at birth and has more to do with genetics than anything. Some men will have 4 packs some 6 some 8. It doesn't mean they are in varying degree's of fitness it just means their upper abs break into 2 instead of 4 or vise versa. Also I was under the impression every bump is a different muscle and thats not true either. So it looks like with my genetics a 4 pack and strong lower region mixed with good obliques(sp?) is what I can expect. I won't get any more than that I can however greatly improve the tone and defenition of these muscles and get them to pop out more.



I have also been informed tanning and sun is great for your scars. Helps with the redness. So I won't have to wait on that. I'll start tanning real soon and hopefully my surgery scars won't be so red and ugly looking in a few months. Im very self concious about that so please be nice. I realize it looks like fucking ass but, in 6 months it will be the color of the rest of my skin and the rest of the swelling will go down. It will look much much better than it does now. I don't really know what else to say at this point. I'm alot further along than I could have ever hoped to be. A year ago I never would have thought i'd be here. This is truely a blessing. While I still have such a looong way to go...easily another 6 hard months of training everyday I have to remember where I came from. Just over a year ago I was 450lbs and I can't get discouraged by the fact that I still don't look like I want yet. I realize some of you may look at the pics and think what the hell im 10x better than that but, you gotta remember im fresh outta surgery and I just got cleared for real workouts. I'll update in like 6 months when I have some real results to show and the remaining swelling and fluids have left my midsection and sides.



Btw I currently weigh a scant 196lbs and got tested at 6.7%BF while at my surgeon's office. Im hoping to end around 200-205lbs after weights











Me today

Now that im 3 weeks out from plastics I currently weigh 200lbs. I'll prolly end up being in the mid 190's when im fully cut like I need to be. Last time my BF% was measured it was 8% but, its prolly a little less now since she did take some remaining fat with the skin. So all in all i'll end up being down 250lbs. If I can do this ANYONE can. Im not special or blessed with great genetics. I just work very very hard. Maybe 3-4 months and I should have a great midsection. Its just going to take a couple hours a day of training. :doh:



Here's a couple pics as promised. It may not look like it but, iv'e got a ton of swelling. I can't even fit in my 32" pants right now and barely fit into my 34's. 3 weeks ago I was wearing my one and only pair of 36" pants cause the swelling was so bad. Its slowly going down and im told will continue too over the next two months. It wont be until then that defenition that i've built will really start to show.



Right now all I can do is walk. So I walk 3 miles a day everyday, I know its not 65 miles a week like I used to do but, small steps. In another month i'll be able to run again.

A couple of the pics are me today after I got done walking I apolgize for the sweety stuff.

great work. The after pic is crazy compared to the before. Very nice job

You have done a fantastic job on you're journey. You look great and the difference is night and day literally in you're pics. I couldn't be happier for you. Great job and keep up the great work.

I didn't have much draw back other than I had to face just how fat I had become and I was deeply despressed and upset that I had let my body get so outta shape. I have always been a confident and driven person and I suppose growing up thin and inshape w/ having a normal childhood I didn't develop a relationhip to emotional abuse and food like most MO people do.



Infact most GBS patients rely on the surgery for them to loose weight. 3 weeks post op and still 422lbs I was doing 12 miles a week with various other cardio workouts. So I think its different for everyone. For me I knew i could do it and I wanted to do it in record time. No GBS patient has lost at the rate I have. They may and have lost 240lbs just like me but, it took them 1/5yrs where as I did it in 10 months. I think working out to the extreme and pushing you're body you really find out what you are capable of. I found out I was capable of alot.





Well like I said everyone is different. for me the surgery didn't change much. I mean I was just a few short weeks post op and I could eat almost anything as long as I ate slowly. I remember eating green beans and corn 3 weeks out and mixing it into my chicken for a nice bowl. I hired a nutrionalist along with various other professionals to help estabilsh a rythm with me. I needed pro imput on what you're body needs to fuel itself and how to wrap you're metabolism which is the secret to continued weightloss week after week.



I ate 5 meals a day for lets say the first 4 months then switched to 6 meals a day. Now I just eat all the dang time. My metabolism has greatly shifted and I burn around 5-6k calories a day depending on activity level. If I have a heavy workout like last night(ran 11 miles) those days are over 7k calories burnt.



To say im a little different than you're average GBS patient is fair. I used to be thin and active and I didn't have a addiction to food. For me it was easy to be disicplined cause I knew what I had to do.





As far as the marathon question who knows. My schedule is crazy these days but, im getting into cycling alot now too so im thinknig about entering a triathalon this summer. Being competitive with my running really isint a problem anymore. Im down to a 7 minute mile and I can hold that pace for quite awhile.



With enough training I see myself getting to a 5.30 mile pace. Thats my goal anyways

Today im 206lbs and around 9-10% BF. I have a 34" waist and im pretty much right ontop of my goal. I wanna get to a 32" waist and dip just below 200lbs.

Very very impressive you must be so proud and have every right to be. Awesome job way to go!

Thanks alot for all the kind words. As of this morning I am 214lbs. I will hit goal in june for sure now.

I'm currently 217lbs and around 14%BF. Weightloss to date is -228lbs one day shy of the 10 month mark into my program.

You can do it if you want it bad enough. I was 445lbs and wearing 4x shirts. Now I wear mediums at 228lbs. Anything is possible

exactly. You guys aren't remembering if you are working out you are carrying muscle mass on you're frame. Go and get tested properly in the dunk tank on the results will show what you should weight at a given BF %. For me im currently 228lbs and have a BF% of 17%. So its all realitve to how much muscle mass index you have.



for refference I have a little over 60lbs of pure muscle on my frame and a LBM of 197lbs.

wow a real noticable difference. In the face and the waist area. Great job keep up the progress.