I lost 50 pounds in a little less than 3 months!

[Kurtuleas]

Sorry, but I am SO stoked that I have to brag. But maybe my post will help motivate others...

Over my winter break (I am a HS Teacher), I went to the doctor for a check up.....and weighed in at 280. (I am a 44 year old male BTW and 5'11")  I knew I was over weight, but not THAT over weight.

So I did the classic "New Years Resolution" and made a goal of trying to lose 60 pounds by the end of the school year in June. I knew it was a lofty goal, but years ago in the early 90's after I stopped playing college football, I lost a lot of weight, so I knew I could do it again if I stayed focused. (life, beers, career, family, a blown knee and a motorcycle wreck were all factors for me putting all this weight on again)

I went full force on January 1st. (Did not get my fitbit until January 21st however.). In January, I averaged a loss of about a pound a DAY! I hit 230 pounds on March 20th....but now I am stuck on a little bit of a plateu. Still, the Fitbit has been INVALUABLE.

Here is the basic gist of what I did:

1. Only ate carbs in the morning. (A bowl of grape nuts)

2. Ate all protein during the day. If it walks, flies or swims....I eat it. About 1,800 calories a day.

3. Stopped drinking diet coke and now I drink a TON of water everyday.

4. I stopped drinking beer...but I do drink on weekends. I just switched to an occasional glass of whiskey. (Jack straight)

5. Started doing my eliptical every morning, and then made sure to also go walking everyday. (I think I average 20,000 steps a day.)

6. Walking evolved into jogging. (mid Feb.)

7. To ramp it up even more, I signed up for a local triathlon on April 19th. This motivates the hell out of me and I added biking to my jogging.

8. I WISH I could lift heavy like I used to, but I have a serious torn bicept right now, so I am just doing light weights 3 days a week. I think my results could have been WAY better if I could lift seriously.

Things I would have/could have changed:

I am invovled in off-road racing, so for one week in Febuary when we had a major race, I kind of cheated on my diet. I think that slowed me down a little. (I still jogged that week however)

Again, I wish that I could lift heavier.

I could have cut alcohol out completley

I have SO much more energy. I used to get winding just walking up stairs, yet now I look forward to waking up at 5 AM and going jogging.

Here is a before and after of my face at 26 pounds down:

and while the before pic here is BEYOND embarassing.....here is before and after at 50 pounds down. I WISH I was looking at the mirror in the before becuase the change in my face is unreal.

I HATE to say this, but losing the weight was......quite frankly....easy. Especially after the first couple of weeks when i really noticed a change.

If I can do it, you can too.

[BurdsNest]

Hey aarheault, welcome to the forum and congratulations on your progress.  I am a lifer @ WW and  it's a great plan. I recently started running, and I started out with just 1/2 mile, and now I'm up to two....this of course is on a gym treadmill.  The combination of workouts, WW, and FitBit is exciting.  You can link your Fit with your WW e-tools to monitor your activity as well.  So you have a choice of dipping into your 49 or using your activity points.  

Make friends on Fit and get involved in the many challenges.  Competing with friends on number of steps is challenging and fun.  Feel free to befriend me.  And again....welcome to the community!

Sincerely,

Eating Healthy is the way to go

[Kurtuleas]

Did my first Triathlon yesterday!

It was a "sprint"  700 yard swim, 16 mile bike ride, then a 3 mile run. I came in 10th in my age group. (missed 9th by a mere 5 seconds)

In NO WAY would this have been possible for me three months ago.

The start

 The finish:

[tinie]

congratulations. you look amazing now. iv just started my weight lose journey. Iv been active for years but instead of losing weight i have been gaining it. 

I now just cut out fizzy drinks, chocolates and try to eat more protien. my major problem is eating enough. 

on a good day when iv been exercising im burning upwards of 3200 cals, but only eating 1000-1200cals. but on a rest day i can see myself eating 1500cals. I will get this right eventually. 

good hearing all the success stories

[debb21]

did you just quit drinking diet coke or wean yourself off?  I need some help with that.

[debb21]

congratulations!  I read some other comments and you lost all that weight on WW?  I have lost 22 lbs and I started WW on January 18th.  I could only walk because I was in a sling for 8 weeks, so I bought a fitbit and kept track of steps.  I am hooked on fitbit and WW!  I want to lose another 18 lbs.  Your story is an inspiration!

[Kurtuleas]

I quit diet coke cold turkey. I had headaches for couple of days....but two days of headaches was well worth it.

[TPrice]

Wow! Brag away! What an amazing accomplishment!! You look incredible, keep up the awesome work!!

[ReadingTeacher]

Wow, that's just fantastic.  I think the before and after pictures are powerful.  I'm a 43 year-old middle school teacher and I work far too much.  All I can say is that I just took my eye off the ball and put on 40lbs in 4 years.  I am 5'2 and was 124lbs and running 5 miles/day, biking and felt on top of the world not that long ago.  But, upon my husband's unexpected 4 year unemployment and my taking on a second job, I no longer had the time to run and was losing sleep, not planning my meals, and so on. 

I appreciate your message.  It is encouraging.  Put my fitbit back on this week, reworked my nutrition with a nutritionist and plan to take better care of myself.  Perhaps by the time school starts again, I will be back to healthy, energetic self. : )

[Krysta]

Congratulations! This is awesome!

I too am a teacher... and have put on about 40 lbs in my 7 years of teaching... almost all of which was in the year before this. (No sleep, terrible eating habits, tons of stress...). Now I am getting it straightened out, but the damage done was awful.

Your story is very inspirational. You SHOULD brag! That is awesome!

[flying-pig]

I'm kinda in the same boat as you , I'm a bit older (53) and a bit heavyer 291  (6ft 1 ) I have also suffered some injuries over the last few years. I'm starting to drink a lot more water 3 to 5 liters a day and also only drink on the weekend , I hope I too can get great results like yourself your post is defenetly a motivator.

[LitLover]

Woah! Amazing changes. You look fantastic but the reward is truly how you feel I'm sure! Nice work:)

[HappyDays]

Wow..... you look amazing and an inspiration to us all.  I am new to Fitbit and just starting in my fitness journey.  Looking for friends to help motivate me.  Hopefully I will have as much success as you. 🙂

[DaniellaH]

So inspirational!  You look fantastic.  Great motivation to keep going. 

[Kurtuleas]

Thanks everyone.

I am *almost* 60 pounds down now. My weight loss has really slowed up the past month...

I am hoping to hit 219 by the 1st of next month. (less than a week away!)

I have started intermittant fasting and went from jogging to doing wind sprints (10 100 yard dashes in the AM) in the hopes that these changes will shock my body into losing more goo. At first, i thought intermittant fasting would be a huge PITA, but it's actually way easier than i thought it would be....I kinda like it.

[HelenaFitbit]

Wow! Those are some epic goals you are reaching, congratulations on the weight loss and strength you have gained from your workouts 

[KClo55]

Wow! Congratulations on your weight loss, you look fantastic!

I'm just starting on my 55 lbs weight loss journey, got my fitbit yesterday! Your story is very inspirational, especially since you achieved this on your own without any gimicks.

Thank you for sharing with us! 

[RaeRunner]

Hi everyone, I am a 26 year old stay at home mom of a very active 4 year old. Looking for friends who are also trying to lose that baby weight that just doesn't seem to want to leave. So far I have lost 9lbs but I still have 36 more to go before I am back to my pre baby weight! Friend me if you want some company!

[PAZlady]

Great job!!

[6FRANKIE5]

Amazing job!!!!!  I am new to the forum, and, just got my Fitbit yesterday.  I am 6' 1" and, when I stepped on the scale last week, weighed in at just under 260 lbs. 

I quit smoking about 8 years ago, weighed just under 200 lbs then, and my goal is to get back to that weight.  Currently my work is holding a wellness/weight loss challenge, that I enterred, which lasts until the week before Christmas.  Hoping to lose 25 lbs, or more, during this time period.

My focus, right now, is weight loss.  Once I get down near that 220 mark, I'll be looking to build some muscle mass.

Thanks for the inspiration!!

[Elijahway1995]

Inspiring stuff brother.