My journey from overweight unmotivated person to confident motivated go getter. My story of finding out what it takes to lose the weight and keep it off - from a regular/average guy bombarded with infomercials with six pack abs, models, magic diets, and self proclaimed “experts”. Here’s what it really takes…the answer may surprise you!
My Before Photo (February 2006 at 254lbs):
My After Photo (February 2008 at 155lbs):
Recently I’ve been putting in a lot of hours at work leaving me exhausted when I get home. The last thing I have on my mind is getting into the gym and putting in a good effort. By the time I get home there is no fuel in the tank. My challenge this summer is to maintain my fitness level I’ve achieved over the past few years. Making time for training is one of my priorities.
For those of you who don’t know my story - here it is. I graduated from high school five years ago and wasn’t in amazing shape. I was “average” in terms of fitness level with the general public. After high school I didn’t have the positive sports influence of playing basketball/football with friends during the school lunch break or on evenings/week ends. Over the next three years I ballooned out and completely let myself go. I went from 180lbs (end of high school weight June 2003) to 254lbs (Feb 2006).
Watching the 2006 Winter Olympics something changed in me. Local athlete Sara Conrad went to Olympics competing in snowboarding. She didn’t win any metals - the fact she went to the Olympics in itself an accomplishment. She was inspirational in this accomplishment. I was amazed with the ability of these athletes. I was sitting in my chair watching Olympians compete while eating entire large pizzas to myself. I’m sure I put a few kids through university at the local pizza shop with how much I ate. I was on a first name basis with the pizza staff and they said “hey Justin, the usual?” when they saw my number come up on their caller ID. In retrospect this is horrible.
Watching Sara in the Olympics made me look inward at myself and the state of my life. I was in the worst shape of my life, never went back to finish my degree, was socially isolated, working in a dead end job with no drive for future career aspiration. In other words - rock bottom. I wanted an education, a good job, friends, health, to live again. At this point I decided to make a change - it was all or nothing regardless of what anyone said. Like many people I had tried “mini diets” with poor success in the end gaining more back than I lost.
Frustrated and confused by the many infomercials, claims, and “self proclaimed” fitness experts I decided it was time to educate myself with the basics. I needed to know to accomplish my mission: to be my best! I read many articles about advanced fitness techniques - starving myself with idiotic diets and rabbit food. This was no good. I came across the website John Stone Fitness. John is a regular 9-5 guy who decided to take health/fitness seriously. He and his Forum Community was the first place I came across that wasn’t a load of marketing hype trying to sell me a “weight loss” product. They are a community of fitness novices, fitness professionals, from all walks of life from all around the world providing a positive experience to people wanting to better themselves. It was this straight forward no hidden agenda community that gave me the information and support I needed to continue walking down the road of reaching my goals. There are a number of common sense guides to explain health/fitness 101 to everyone. These guides offer straight forward information on fat loss, building muscle, and nutrion not with drugs or pills - but with healthy foods, a positive mental attitude, and determination. John has been the biggest positive influence in me achieving my goals.
John Stone’s Progress Photos:
Before:
After:
From February 2006 to September 2007 I went from from 254lbs to 152lbs. I currently sit at 162lbs as I have been “bulking” in recent months. That’s over 100lbs fat lost and muscle built/maintained. It was an uphill battle since the beginning. Many people said I couldn’t do it, there were times I felt like giving up - but I pushed on. I didn’t become a 254lbs monster over night. It was a combination of consuming far to many calories and next to no physical activity. It was going to take the reverse of this time to get myself “back in shape”. Rome wasn’t build in a day, I expected this was going to take a number of months - and it did. Since the loss of my weight my life has changed for the better. I found myself more confident and sociable. People pick up on positive energy - my social life skyrocketed! Through meeting people I wouldn’t otherwise have met by being more social I landed a great job, have gone back to finish my degree, my entire life has changed for the better!
There is too much information to say in one blog posting, but if people want to know more about my “story” I’d be happy to share. Carbs, fats, deadlifts, squats, protein - these words are misunderstood/confusing to most people. I challenge anyone out there who isn’t happy with the way their life is to change it. Life is here now. Take advantage of it and go get what is out there belonging to you! Only by YOU taking ACTION will things HAPPEN.
Conclusion: Diets don’t work! Plain and simple. Diets work when you’re on them, once you go off that specific diet and back to “real world” food the fat is gained back (plus some). Fitness and health doesn’t involve starving yourself or living in the gym. It’s all about eating in moderation and training in the gym a few times a week (45 minutes per session/twice a week) to reach very achievable goals. Fitness/health needs to be something you can live with day to day for your entire life! I still enjoy a big greasy slice of pizza and pint of beer. Living without the joys of life isn’t sustainable! This doesn’t mean I sit down and devour an entire large pizza and flat of beer - again, I can’t stress moderation!
I want to thank a few people in no particular order who have made a positive impact on my life/assisted by towards my goals: Andrew Bailey, Mary Eileen MacLean, Jimmy Smith, Kevin Larrabee, The Fitcast Crew, John Stone, Katie Rose, Sara Conrad, Brian Cho, the great community at John Stone Fitness. If I forgot your name I thank you for everything!
Although I don’t like to share my progress photos because they come across as narcissistic, it is a reminder to myself what has been accomplished and I can be accomplish. If this blog post inspires just one person to make a change - it’s done its job. Introduction/Beginner Guides Found Here courtesy JohnStoneFitness Community. This is the starting place if you chose to take the journey.
“If you want to be a champion you can’t have any outside negative force come in and affect you” -Arnold
Digg! this article to let people know about my story. It might help change a few people’s lives.
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