I been wearing clothes that are kind baggy on me, its an old habit, I'm sure you can all relate to. Anyways I have been working my way through my closet from 5X shirts to 4X to 3X to 2X, and giving away (donating) the stuff that is WAY to BIG on me. The past few days I tried on some of my tighter fitting 2x shirts, ones that had shrank to more of a XL and they fit, they fit well!! Today I went to JC penny's because they were having a huge sale, Saint Johns bay polo shirts for 9.99, Nike dry polo shirts, and so on. well to my surprise I fit in every single XL shirt I tried on even the Nike and Adidas ones that are known to run small. I was trying on pants and shorts, I'm down to the point where any cut or style of pants or shorts in a 38 fits, some of them are loose! As I walking out of the store it hit me, I just went to a store and bought clothes off the clearance rack, got great deals, and never once had to walk in to the fat kid section of the store! As I walked past the big and tall section I laughed to myself and thought, no more fat kid section for me! No more over paying for extended sizes!! No more limited selection on clothing, I can wear the same clothes as anyone else now!

Everyone kept telling me I was getting smaller, I knew I was, I just didn't see it as much until my niece took my pic yesterday. I am so happy right now I could just, well I dont know what I could do, but I'm really frigging happy!

To show the difference the clothes make in how I look, the one in the red shirt was on fathers day, and the one in the grey sleeveless Adidas shirt was yesterday, july 3rd, I only lost about 8 lbs maybe ten between the two. The ones in the grey sweatshirt are at my all tie high or 326, the black shirt was a couple months ago. I am down to 213 lbs and well within reach of my next mini goal which is to be under 200lbs at my next visit with the surgeon in mid August.

Congrats!!! You look great.

This is incredible. Please tell me what kind of food and exercise plan you have been on!

This is incredible. Please tell me what kind of food and exercise plan you have been on!

My food plan is simple, I follow the rules, Protein first, then veggies if I feel like it, Breakfast is a Protein shake 53 grams of protein, that hold me till lunch or snack which can be just a chobani yogurt, or a cheese stick, sometimes both, for a snack I will have 5 or 6 cherries, or a small handful of almonds, dinner is chicken, fish, or beef, and I have a mint chocolate skiny cow ice cream sandwich every night.

I have made some mistakes along the way, the occasional candy bar, or slice of pizza with the guys, but for the most part I try to be very good about what I eat.

My work outs are pretty harsh, but here is a typical week for me.

Every day without fail I walk 3 to 8 miles with the dog, I do not miss a day, EVER!

Three or four days a week I do CrossFit, its insane, and it hurts, it hurts a lot!

the other three or four days I go to the gym and walk, jog, run on the tread mill. I get on the airdyne bike I do 90 second sprints on the bike followed by 60 seconds of slower rest type pedaling, I do this as long as I possibly can, I mean until it hurts. I try to row at least two if not three 500 meter runs on the rowing machine, then I attempt that damn Jacobs ladder three or four times until failure. I also do a couple nautilus circuits every week. When I have the time and weather is nice I ride my bike to the gym rather than driving to get in more exercise. Thats pretty much my evening workout, I also do some sit ups, push ups, and assisted chin ups in the mornings.

To work out like this takes a lot of time, and effort, I have cut back on my internet surfing, cancelled all my movie channels, and missed out on some social events. Its is so worth it to me, I have caught women checking me out, I have had two girls in a car at stop light chat me up, and on top of all that my health is great now, and i feel great!

You look great!!!! Congrats!

Wow, Warrior! The pictures really say it all. You've accomplished something amazing- CONGRATULATIONS!

What amazing results in just 5 months!! Congrats, you are doing great and look fabulous!!

:cheer2:

You are my hero! Your commitment to working out is outstanding!! Your results speak for themselves. Congrats on the weight loss so far and I know you will keep it up.

That is sooooo cool. You should be very proud of yourself. You look so different. Keep up the good work.

WOW! What an amazing difference!!! Congrats on your losses and getting out of the big and tall section (lol, aka fat clothing) is awesome!

You are right about the difference the clothing makes, I have some basic shorts/capris that actually fit but the tops are all a bit too big, and people keep saying, when are you going to wear some shirts that FIT?! I will probably wait until fall to do much more shopping, but it does make a difference when we ditch the baggy, loose stuff.

Absolutely AMAZING ! ! !

Great job and a great inspiration! You have attacked this holistically it sounds like to me using it as a tool but still being diligent about your food and also incorporating in a serious workout regimen. Thanks for laying it out there for us. I'm so impressed!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations!!! You look fantastic and have some having nsv's to be proud of. Way to go!!! :bananahuge:

First off I want to say CONGRATS that is just wonderful and you totally deserve to be "friggin" happy lol. I want to have a story like yours how in the world did u lose that much in 5 months????? I am 1 week post op and feel great i drink a ton of liquids all day, I have not felt sick and I go regularly not to be gross heheheh .... Is that how you felt right after ???are there any foods you cant eat???? I would like to know what your fabulous tips are so please write back when u have a chance!!! Congrats again!!!

I been wearing clothes that are kind baggy on me, its an old habit, I'm sure you can all relate to. Anyways I have been working my way through my closet from 5X shirts to 4X to 3X to 2X, and giving away (donating) the stuff that is WAY to BIG on me. The past few days I tried on some of my tighter fitting 2x shirts, ones that had shrank to more of a XL and they fit, they fit well!! Today I went to JC penny's because they were having a huge sale, Saint Johns bay polo shirts for 9.99, Nike dry polo shirts, and so on. well to my surprise I fit in every single XL shirt I tried on even the Nike and Adidas ones that are known to run small. I was trying on pants and shorts, I'm down to the point where any cut or style of pants or shorts in a 38 fits, some of them are loose! As I walking out of the store it hit me, I just went to a store and bought clothes off the clearance rack, got great deals, and never once had to walk in to the fat kid section of the store! As I walked past the big and tall section I laughed to myself and thought, no more fat kid section for me! No more over paying for extended sizes!! No more limited selection on clothing, I can wear the same clothes as anyone else now!

Everyone kept telling me I was getting smaller, I knew I was, I just didn't see it as much until my niece took my pic yesterday. I am so happy right now I could just, well I dont know what I could do, but I'm really frigging happy!

To show the difference the clothes make in how I look, the one in the red shirt was on fathers day, and the one in the grey sleeveless Adidas shirt was yesterday, july 3rd, I only lost about 8 lbs maybe ten between the two. The ones in the grey sweatshirt are at my all tie high or 326, the black shirt was a couple months ago. I am down to 213 lbs and well within reach of my next mini goal which is to be under 200lbs at my next visit with the surgeon in mid August.

Thanks for the kind words, they are truly appreciated! As far as what I eat, and what I do for work outs I posted all that further back in the thread, scroll back up a bit and you can read it there. There is nothing that I can not eat, never felt sick (with the exception of the first two days), I have been "going" regularly, and i definitely drink liquids all day. I think the single biggest thing I did or do is that I told myself I was not getting this surgery to be lazy and let the weight come off slowly, I knew from long before my surgery date that I was going to bust my ass from day one until I get down to my goal weight! I Promised myself I would not piss, moan, complain, or make excuses any more once I had the surgery. I really do work very hard at this, I had a lot of major health problems that stemmed from being obese, which all 100% gone now. Health was a big motivator, but an even bigger motivator, although I know its not supposed to be the big motivator, is I really wanted to get out and start dating again! I knew that losing the weight would make me look better, feel better, and have a ton more confidence with women than being heavy did. Follow your doctors diet to the letter until he tells you to go ahead and eat whatever you want, and even at that point make good, healthy, well thought out choices. If you feel weak about wanting a candy bar, slice of pizza, or chicken wing, weigh out the options, make a choice that you will be able to be happy with, not one you will regret. Sometimes I chose the candy bar, pizza or chicken wing, but I think it through first, sometimes for hours or days before giving in. before making that bad choice think about how long it takes to burn those calories off at the gym, what will it do to your calorie deficit? Sometimes the couple minutes of pure satisfaction we get form a tasty treat may be worth it, but most times it is not. Sorry to have rambled on and on, I tend to get very passionate about the whole weight loss, working out, and sleeve things these days.

First off I want to say CONGRATS that is just wonderful and you totally deserve to be "friggin" happy lol. I want to have a story like yours how in the world did u lose that much in 5 months????? I am 1 week post op and feel great i drink a ton of liquids all day, I have not felt sick and I go regularly not to be gross heheheh .... Is that how you felt right after ???are there any foods you cant eat???? I would like to know what your fabulous tips are so please write back when u have a chance!!! Congrats again!!!