<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>For as long as I can remember</b></span>
I'd <i>always</i> been a
"fat kid". I <i>always</i> got made fun of, I <i>always</i> made an effort to wear
loose clothes, and I was <i>never</i> really all that athletic, nor did I
REALLY desire to be. Occasional efforts were made to work on it, but nothing stuck.</div>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and a friend at a grad party summer before college</td>
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In my last year of high school I made real progress. I did Weight Watchers with my mom while playing sports (football/weight lifting/shotput). With this combo, I managed to lose 70 lbs dropping to 210 (though I told people I was 205 lbs). Still overweight... but it was enough. I was...average...but not truly happy.

<span style="font-size: large;"><b>So I went off to college</b></span>
and with the help of party school drinking plus all the garbage food I could eat... I gained it all back. <b>And then some.</b> All the healthy habits and active lifestyle behaviors I had picked up at the end of high school were gone. It didn't happen all at once, but it did happen pretty quick.
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2plmGLIcc6A/UedcRsXckdI/AAAAAAAAA0g/GCPcordnf78/s1600/274_584599565712_7157_n.jpg"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2plmGLIcc6A/UedcRsXckdI/AAAAAAAAA0g/GCPcordnf78/s320/274_584599565712_7157_n.jpg" width="320" height="240" border="0" /></a></td>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just bulging out of everywhere</td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><a style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_4LkS-8mBGs/UedcciBqjRI/AAAAAAAAA0o/_pZZAJa895E/s1600/308_589489645952_8413_n.jpg"><img src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_4LkS-8mBGs/UedcciBqjRI/AAAAAAAAA0o/_pZZAJa895E/s320/308_589489645952_8413_n.jpg" width="320" height="183" border="0" /></a></td>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heavier, with loose clothes to match</td>
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These photos are from summer after sophomore year working as an audio intern at Berkshire Theatre Festival. I had gained quite a bit of weight, but I definitely hadn't reached the mountaintop yet.

I tried my best to hide it with baggy casual clothes, but too-tight work clothes from skinnier days made it tough.
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The summer before my 5th year at UMass I went to Delta Chi Convention in New Orleans, and I was pretty close to getting my own zip code. I tried to pretend I was a 42 waist, but that was super-loose fit jeans. I would estimate I was really a 44.

<a style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z9N4OGQsklM/Uedhk6vl-wI/AAAAAAAAA1A/l1pquUgxO4M/s1600/705673_10101066393515732_1982462519_o.jpg"><img src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z9N4OGQsklM/Uedhk6vl-wI/AAAAAAAAA1A/l1pquUgxO4M/s320/705673_10101066393515732_1982462519_o.jpg" width="180" height="320" border="0" /></a><b><span style="font-size: large;">And so it went.</span></b>

Graduation meant leaving the over-abundance of cheap food...but it didn't end the weight gain. Back home meant work at a restaurant where a send-back meant snack time on fried food. By the time I got to August 2012 it was pretty bad. I had reached the heaviest I had ever been. <b>300 lbs.</b>

<b><span style="font-size: large;">Then I hit my breaking point</span></b>
<b>
</b>
Constantly moving at the restaurant meant my legs rubbed together. <b>And wore through my work pants. </b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Every three months.</i> I was embarrassed at how frequently I had to buy more 48 waist pants. I knew this lifestyle wasn't sustainable. <b>I'd had enough.</b> I talked to my wife (girlfriend at the time) and we resolved to do it together.

So we took our before pictures, got our gear together, and embarked on our fitness journey by pushing play on the first video of P90X. We got great results and kept going.

We completed P90X, Insanity, Insanity: The Asylum, Les Mills COMBAT, Focus T25 and P90X3 together. Through July, August and September 2013 my mom and wife (then-fiancee) did ChaLean Extreme together while I did Body Beast to build muscle and fill out some loose skin!

<b><span style="font-size: large;">Oh...results?</span></b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLp0biNyeU/UedjLCXYcpI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/OlpkVgRXwLk/s1600/1064785_10101402791037402_1587750951_o.jpg"><img src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wtLp0biNyeU/UedjLCXYcpI/AAAAAAAAA1Q/OlpkVgRXwLk/s320/1064785_10101402791037402_1587750951_o.jpg" width="162" height="320" border="0" /></a></div>
For the full breakdown (with pictures) check out the <a href="http://www.sothisisfitness.com/p/my-transformation.html">My Transformation page</a>, but the reader's digest version?

In the first 10 months I broke 100 lbs, and within a year I had dropped 125 lbs, become a runner, and become happier with my body and health than ever before.

I went from an XXL shirt to a Medium/Small
From a 48" waist to a 31"
XL and XXL gym shorts to Medium/Small
Overweight and in danger of diabetes to fit, athletic and energetic!
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">If
you're interested, you can join our accountability / support /
motivation group on facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sothisisfitness/ - See more at:
http://www.sothisisfitness.com/p/my-story.html?showComment=1377039495478#sthash.0BVZ7hQN.dpuf</div>
One of the most important things I figured out is - <b>You don't have to do it alone.</b> I had my wife - be sure to find <b>your</b> support system. <i>It makes a difference.</i>

<b><span style="font-size: large;">The journey isn't over</span></b> (it never will be), and I'm glad I took the plunge. Every once in a while I look back on the journey and say "hmph...So THIS is fitness...wish I figured THAT out sooner!"

<hr />

<span style="font-size: large;"><b>So What IS This?<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </b></span>
This blog is health, fitness and nutrition as I see it and as I work my way through it. <b>I am not a professional, I am not a doctor, I am not a nutritionist. My degree is not in health/fitness/nutrition. </b>This
is just me trying to share my experiences, thoughts, opinions, and the
wisdom I have gained along the path of my fitness journey (learned both
through research and the hard way). If I make an assertion, its simply
what I believe. If I reference studies or research, that's another
story. If I'm writing a paid/compensated blog post, I'll disclose that as well.

I try to take everything in, from people that
are better at this than me, from people who are struggling like I used
to, from people with ideas similar to mine and from people who are so
far on another planet that I don't even really understand what they're actually doing. I am open to opinions and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but
there's no place for hate here.
<span style="font-size: large;"><b> </b></span>