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garyp
College Park, MD
United States
Growing up overweight, I tried so many different types of diets that would fail because I would initially lose a lot of the weight and then eventually gain that weight back if not more. 2006 was a life changing year for me because I finally decided to stop settling being overweight and unhealthy and finally decided that I needed a change. This all happened after a routine doctor's visit in March. I decided then and there that I can't keep going on like I'm going and if I don't I will eventually wind up dead, which was a big scare for me. At my heaviest, I was 267 lbs, which is not something I’m proud of .
So I slowly started eating healthier and working out. I started out slow, trying to eliminate fast food and soda and exercising more. I also started incorporating more lean proteins, whole grains and lots of vegetables into diet. I went from avoiding eating vegetables to making sure everything I ate had tons of vegetables in them. In the first year I lost about 85 lbs with 51 of those lbs through the help of peertrainer. I would never have thought I would have made this much progress in a year. After hitting my lowest weight of 178 lbs in April of 2007, I started becoming complacent with my weight loss and started reverting back to my old unhealthy old habits and as a result of this, my weight started to creep back up.
At Christmas of 2008, when seeing my parents for the first time in months, they commented on how shocked they were with how much of the weight I had gained and I took this to heart. I already knew that I really wanted to lose the weight again and finally get back down to my goal weight, but those comments were the exact catalyst that I needed to get started again. So I decided that after New Years, I will start my healthy lifestyle again. So starting in 2009, I started working again by lifting weights and doing cardio 6 days a week. I also completely changed my eating habits reverting back to what brought me success in 2006. After 6 months of hard work, I’ve lost almost 40 lbs and I’m only 20 lbs away from my goal weight, which I have no doubt I will get to and maintain.
One of the best things that has happened to me during my journey was finding my passion/love for running. Growing up being overweight, I always disliked running. I first start running as another form of cardio but after my first outdoor run, I started running more and more and now think I’m hooked for life. When I first started I could barely run at a mile, but I was determined to keep going and I’ve stuck with it since. I just recently completed my first half marathon which was a blast and now I’m training for my first full marathon.
Using Peertrainer has really helped because of the added accountability and support I received from other members. I finally realized that I needed to make more lifestyle changes to be more successful at managing my weight. Daily logging really helped me see what/when I was eating and it helped focus on healthier eating choices.
Thank you Peertrainer and all of its members for helping in my weight loss journey.
Click Here To Read The PEERtrainer Weight Loss Guide!
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