Wednesday, October 6, 2010

4,536 Hours Later,

In the beginning of April 2010, I would had never thought I would be embarking on a journey that would eventually lead me to start changing so much about my life.  It was on the eve of my 27th birthday that my car died. I blogged about the experience with my car earlier and you can find that blog here.  Facing a gloomy future without a car, the only option available to me at the time was to find an alternative means of transportation to travel back and forth to work.  My choice was utilizing my bike.

After a few weeks of riding 6 miles round trip almost every day, I started noticing that my clothes started fitting better. My situation with the car was still looking bleak, so I decided to start using the situation to my own benefit and began to run and lift weights.  At first, I couldn't do a lot. It took me over 30 minutes to run 2 miles! I stuck with the program and set small goals that I could reach.  I can now run 2 miles in around 21 minutes.

It's been 6 months and I have waited to post a full picture of myself online. I wanted to wait until I felt like I had something to show. I still have a little ways to go, but I'm so glad with what I've accomplished already. Before I started exercising, my weight would fluctuate from 280 to 290lbs. Below, is my before picture. I look at this every morning when I wake up and get ready for my day to remind myself where I started and where I don't want to go back to.


And now, here is a picture of myself today. I've lost over 60lbs and weigh 227lbs!


I know I have a little longer to go, but I'm so happy for what I've achieved so far! I've reached all my initial goals. I'm fitting into sizes of clothing I didn't think was possible for me, I've hit the 220's when I thought a healthy weight may be 230, and my fitness level is far greater than I would have ever thought imaginable. . In the next 6 months, my main goals are to just increase my fitness level and maintain a stable healthy weight. We'll see where I stand in April! 

3 comments:

  1. Woot woot! Freaking awesome! Seriously, pretty damn great.

    Chuck is always looking for someone to bike with, you guys should get out there sometime! :D

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  2. I'm so proud of you Mark! I really didn't realize just how much you have dropped! Wow!

    Jill

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  3. Awesome!! Love the story! Congrats!

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