Obese to Super Fit in One Year

Brian at 345 pounds

Brian at 175 pounds

Thanks much to Brian for submitting his story. Brian weighed 345 pounds in April of last year. Today he weighs 175 pounds! It's an amazing achievement. 

To start off, i can't ever remember where weight wasn't an issue for me. I've always been bigger, overweight, doctors and parents telling me that i should look towards losing weight. For whatever reason, i didn't think it was that serious. 

Even as a bigger kid, i was able to be active in sports, fit myself (and stomach) into desks and chairs, practically living life as a "normal" person. My parents often reminded me that i am still gaining weight and look bigger. Just as every other overweight person who is in denial, i never stepped on a scale unless it was required through something like a physical at the doctor's office. 

The day came that i realized that as much as i tried to fool myself, i could no longer consider my weight as normal. I stepped onto the balance board for Wii Fit, a game designed for people to lose weight, only to come to the conclusion that i was not allowed to play the game because i surpassed the 330lb limit that is designed by the software. Not being able to play a video game, now that is definitely NOT normal. 

This event triggered my journey towards weight loss. In April of 2011, i took the first steps in losing weight by finally addressing the major cause towards my weight, my diet. I began researching and looking and obsessing about how to lose weight, weight loss success stories, and the keys to losing weight. I began to change my diet and starting to seriously start looking at calories, nutrition, and activity. I started pushing myself towards taking things one step at a time with the simple goal of wanting to become "normal". 

At this point in time, i have lost close to 170lbs. I still have some more work to do but a lot of my focus has now shifted towards keeping my fitness up while trying to build muscle and tone up. I want to continue to challenge myself, continue to push myself in doing things i never dreamed of doing, leading me to make the decision to challenge myself through entering a half marathon. 

I recently submitted a brief story about my weight loss story as well as the struggles of one of my closest family members and friends to attack the challenge of this half marathon together. My essay was selected as a finalist and i need some help for people to vote for my essay to make this dream happen! 

Please vote for my essay as it truly means a lot to me! (Update: Essay contest has closed now..)

Thanks!

 

Getting in Top Shape after Losing 110 Pounds

Adrian lost 110 pounds in one year.

She's 5'4" and weighed 230 pounds three years ago. She lost all the weight in one year and has kept it off since then, for the last two years.

These days she is training for a second marathon. She finished her first marathon just two months ago.

Now she has a chance to win a cover model contest for Women's Running Magazine!

 Please see her inspirational website at ChaseFear.com. She would be so thrilled to win this contest.

You can vote for her here.

with your vote, this could be Adrian..

From Obese to Extremely Fit

Randall weighed 270 pounds when he decided to get in shape. One and a half years later he was extremely fit and participating in an Ironman competition. 
Thanks much for sharing this!


Hi Isadora!

I made this video just for my friends, family, and relatives as a reminder that it's never too late and anything no matter how difficult is possible if you believe. I'd like to share it hoping it would help other people believe in themselves as well and lead towards a healthier and happier lifestyle.

For me, I can still remember like it was yesterday 270 lbs I attempted to run not even 1/4 of a mile I was winded down like I was going to have a heart attack and every car was stopping asking if I needed a ride. A year and a half year later I was treading water in Ironman Cozumel about to embark on a 140.6 mile journey, smiling and thinking to myself how I enjoyed everything along the way.

From Obese to Ultra Fit

Drew used to be big and tall. He is 6'4" and weighed 340 pounds not too long ago. One day he decided to get super fit and choose a healthy lifestyle. He never went on a diet, just started making different eating choices and doing a ton of running, starting with baby steps and stepping it up to the point where he is now doing 'ultramarathons'. See his inspiring story at Running Runners.

Losing Sixty Pounds by Jogging

James has lost over 60 pounds in seven months by training for a half marathon. He says;

Over seven months ago, my wife made a suggestion: that we get in shape by training for a half marathon. I believe I laughed out loud at the suggestion. I've never been a runner, nor any type of athlete for that matter. The last time I ran over a mile at one time was during middle school..."

James used to weigh over 250 pounds. Now he's in great shape. Check out his blog and story here.

Losing Weight by Running

David has lost over 160 pounds in under one year. He used to weight 360 and now weighs just under 200.

He did this by changing his eating habits and by starting a running program. He's training for his first marathon. A year ago he couldn't run 18 yards, last week he ran 18 miles.

See an inspiring video of him before and after his weight loss here.

Huckabee Loses 110 Pounds and Runs for President

Mike Huckabee lost 110 pounds in one year. He is now 51 years old and decided to change his lifestyle a couple of years ago when his doctor told him that his Type II diabetes would cause his entire body to deteriorate.

He turned around a lifetime of eating fried and sugary foods and began abstaining from these. He started an exercise routine by getting on a stationary bike each morning. He had been reading his newspaper each morning anyway, now he read it while riding his bicycle. He then started jogging short distances and has since completed four marathons. (His wife walked the complete marathon route of 26 miles on two of these). He was able to reverse his Type II diabetes diagnosis without the use of any drugs even though his parents and grandparents had also suffered from it.

He has become an advocate of the "culture of health" and is heavily involved with the Healthy America initiative.

We'll be hearing a lot more about Huckabee soon. He just announced he is running for President of the United States. He has been the Governor of Arkansas since 1996 and happened to grow up in the same tiny town as Bill Clinton.

Marathon Training for Extreme Fitness

Steve Bezner is a recent convert to marathon training. He used to make fun of people who ran. Two and a half years ago he weighed 330 pounds. He lost most of his weight by changing his diet and didn't start exercising till he weighed 200 pounds.

At that point he joined a gym for the first time in his life and started walking on their treadmill each morning for about 20 minutes. Once this was too easy he started to increase the intensity and length of his workout.

He started jogging outside (for just 1/2 a mile at the beginning) and began training for a marathon just months later. Today he is a committed runner. The before photo above was taken in August 2004. The after photo was taken a couple of weeks ago at the start of the Houston Marathon.

See his inspirational weight loss story here.