Friday, November 11, 2011

Obese at Age 29, Super Fit Now

Thanks much to Luis for sending in this story and for sending in these before and after pics;


Here is my weight loss story.

I was born and raised in México until the age of 12. I have always been a tall person, but I was a skinny and tall kid while growing up in México. Food did not come around as easy back then.

When we moved to the United States it became a whole different world. The first meal I had in the new country was a Big Mac at McDonalds. The meals kept coming in the form of pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, burritos. Everything you can possibly imagine. I started getting bigger and bigger. My weight did not register at that time because by the time I was an 8th grader I was 6'5'' and weighted 285 pounds. I never got picked on because of my size, instead I got idolized. They looked at me as the big football player. I kept eating and lifting weights. By the time I was 21 I was 6'8'' and weighed 370 pounds. I struggled to get in shape for football and my weight was holding me back from excelling in the sport I thought I was made for. Well, I played division two college football and got a career. After all was said and done I still had the weight. I did not need the weight anymore. I tried a bunch of different diets and exercise regimes and none of them worked. I thought I was an athlete and should have been able to shed the weight easily. Nothing was working and I just kept eating. Before I knew it I was 400 pounds and was on a second medication to control hypertension at age 29.

I felt like I was changing for the worst. I was losing my friends, my family, my loved ones. I was losing myself. That's when I decided to fix me. I started working out with a video game on the XBOX Kinect. I lost my first 50 pounds within 3 months. I was hooked. I played that game so much that I broke it. I must have scratched it or something. It forced me to look for something else.

I started doing research on Google and looking at fitness and diet videos on YouTube. I also started purchasing equipment. Before I knew it I had my own gym in my garage and friends joined in to workout with me. I have lost 140 pounds in 10 months and got my health back. I am not taking any pills anymore. My blood pressure is normal. I tell people that my physical change is about 10% of the change I have made. I tell them that the real change happened inside. I now love myself. That is where it all began.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Taking that First Step

This is not a success story. This is the story of a first step to weight loss. Here I only point you to one woman who has decided she really wants to lose weight and she is starting on her goal of losing 130 pounds now.

She weighs 260 pounds now, wants to lose 100 pounds over one year, and then 30 more pounds after that. See her initial thoughts about why she wants to lose weight and how she thinks sugar (including fake sugar) is the culprit. Check out her new start at The Journey of a 100lbs.