EDIT: Holy dog shit 942 upvotes!

I wasn't expecting that much! Thank you thank you! I was online for hours answering but had to sleep but Read all the posts and a few questions keep coming up.

I'm 33 years old and 5'9''. I do have loose skin but it's not that bad and the hair covers it up very well. Wife just never once said "good job" and constantly told me I better not ever weigh less than her (which happened at 210 *snicker). Anytime I wanted to talk about a plateau I broke or some weight loss subject it would be huge fight. I have a feeling its was more of a preemptive strike. "I better leave him before he leaves me" type of deal? Which makes me sad in a way but the crap she put me through this last year makes me less sad shes gone.

By request no facial hair

Me in a suit

TLDR: Fat guy lost 130lbs without gimmicky diets or food restrictions.

Pictures I took photos every 10lbs from 330 to 200. BTW this helps A TON. When you feel as if you haven’t made any progress you should just check your photos and instantly KNOW you are.

At my worst

Few days ago - this link works on my phone but not my PC grr.. added another one This might work too

http://imgur.com/LMLM0

ABOUT MY STORY: (thanks for reading!) Last year (June 12th) I had this weird urge to step on a scale. I had always known I was HUGE and getting bigger but I was always under the impression that I would always be 300lbs. Maybe + or – 10lbs but generally I usually stayed within that boundary. So I stepped on the scale and saw a horrid sight! 330 POUNDS!! I was just in shock at that point and just felt it was time to make a change. I knew nothing of weight loss or dieting. Besides trying weight watchers a few times unsuccessfully.

So I went out and purchased an elliptical. Found a really nice Sole elliptical for 300 bucks on Craigslist that retails for 1500. You would be surprised how many people sell these things cheap with minimal use. I also started weight watchers again and started counting points. When I first started I could do about 10-15 min on the elliptical before I was running for the couch I had downstairs, sweat dripping from my whole body barley able to breathe. I would not go outside because I really hate being “that fat guy people watch walking but never loses any weight”. So instead I just started doing yard work. I cut the grass every 2 weeks (usually I would do it once a month if that). I discovered that I really enjoyed tasks that doubled as exercise and something else productive. I never liked just exercising to exercise so mowing the law was a great bridge.

I was still on weight watchers counting points and just cutting out all the shitty fast food and soda(btw soda is my downfall love it soooo much). Before I knew it I had lost 30lbs in the first month! I was like No shit? Got me really excited and motivated. So with a growing confidence I added walking outside to my workout regiment. I could really only walk for a good 20 min before I was tired but I was soon jogging intervals on hour long walks. I continued to lose about 10lbs every 3-4 weeks (as you can see in my progress pics) I could not believe how fast it was just rolling off.

I soon got off Weight watchers after about 2 months. I just felt like the points thing was unnecessary and it was the same exact thing as counting calories. It seemed like Weight watchers was just a way to train your mind how much you can eat. Its not a lifetime solution, but it helps you get into the lifetime eating mindset. Once I got the hang of what foods filled me up and how much calories were in those foods I just gave up on weight watchers and started counting calories in my head (and often times on myfitnesspal.com).

I continued on counting calories and walking/elliptical for months. When I started to get bored I got the P90 program (not p90x). I started to do that around October. It was fun for a while but it got boring FAST. But I did do it for a good 60-70 days. But to be honest I did not lose weight any faster on that than I did walking/elliptical. But it was a nice distraction. I was getting real bored around November and did have some slip ups throughout the holidays. I made an agreement with myself that I would NOT join a gym until I lost 100lbs on my own. I thought it was a nice round number and seemed like a good goal. So in almost eerie type fashion I lost my 100th pound December 31st. And joined the gym on new years day. (yeah I am sure everyone labeled me a new years resolution guy but ohh well I got a good deal on my membership!)

So I have been spending the last 5 months going to the gym 3-5 times a week. I quickly found out how boring my old routine was and preferred the gym’s equipment and atmosphere much more. I lost another 30lbs in 5 months. (I have had quite a few slip ups the last 2 months that had me yo-yoing back and forth between 195 and 210. The problem is that when you start to like the way you look you get less concerned with eating right and maintaining a rigid workout schedule. But I am persevering and continue to push myself until I am HAPPY with the way I look not just satisfied.

At the gym I generally do M-W-F lifting. I will do upper body M-F and lower body on Wed. Then on Tues and Thurs are cardio days and I will do an hour on various cardio machines. I did the C25K thing for a few weeks but I quickly lost all motivation for cardio and focus mainly on lifting. I finally hit 200lbs at the end of April and just have not got a chance to post until now. Hopefully you will all approve.

THE DIET: (usually within 1200-1500 calories a day) I did weight watchers at first just eating whatever as long as I marked down the points. I cut out fast food and soda completely. After a while I just started counting calories. I never paid any attention to carbs/protein/fats. I started to for a few weeks but I did not see any amazing difference to my weight loss/muscle gain. Plus I just don’t like to be restricted on what I want to eat. Sure I know I have to restrict HOW MUCH I eat but I do not like food restrictions. The way I was able to maintain for so long was discovering which foods made me full for the longest and strategizing what time of the day I should eat so I never am starving and feel the urge to cheat.

So generally this is how I ate for most of it

Breakfast Items: (WATER WATER WATER) Egg white cheese omelets (those ones in the cartons are AWESOME)

Glass of skim milk or OJ.

Morning Glory Sausage patties (80 cal and soo good)

Fruit of your choice

Almond Milk (this is awful solo but add the light Hershey syrup and its awesome)

Yogurt

Lunch/Dinner Items: (WATER WATER WATER) Oatmeal <awesome way to keep full for long periods>

Serving of Almonds

Full bag of Smart Pop popcorn (kettle corn is the best)

Turkey Sandwich on wheat bread (get deli cut turkey so much less sodium)

String Cheese

Chocolate Rice Cakes

Wheat Spaghetti

Tuna fish sandwich

Wheat crust pizza (homemade)

Sugar free snack packs

Flavor Ice

Yogurt