From 350Lbs to 225Lbs: a Journey of Self Discovery and Persistence

The Journey Begins

Like many people, the Reddit user The_Motivated_Man struggled with his weight and overall health. In November 2010, he saw a picture of himself that prompted him to take control of his life. He was working at a bar, binge eating, and drinking excessively. Over the next four years, he tried several different approaches to losing weight and getting healthy.

Strength Training and Beyond

The_Motivated_Man's first strategy was strength training. From January to June 2011, he dropped down to 280lbs simply by working out. However, he realized that he didn't like looking strong if he didn't feel strong. So, he moved on to P90X and an Insanity Hybrid from July 2011 to May 2012, focusing on basic nutritional information. This helped him drop all the way to 245lbs, but he was still dissatisfied.

Struggles and Setbacks

From June 2012 to August 2012, The_Motivated_Man had graduated college and started his career in IT. This is where he experimented with different diets like the ketogenic diet and other low-carb diets, but unfortunately, they ultimately became unsustainable and promoted binge eating. He slowly gained back 40lbs due to stress from work. From August 2012 to November 2013, he fell back into unhealthy habits and didn't do anything about his weight.

Starting Fresh

In November 2013, The_Motivated_Man bought a house and moved in December 1st. He went back to what he knew worked, P90X, for his fourth round. From March 2014 to the present, he has built a home gym and started bodybuilding training five times a week, with three to four sessions of Fasted-HIIT per week. The_Motivated_Man consumes roughly 2,100 kcals per day on a 40/40/20 split of macronutrients.

Final Results and Inspiration to Others

Four years later, The_Motivated_Man's hard work and persistence have paid off. He has gone from 350lbs to 225lbs, with a waist that has gone from 50in to 34in, and his body fat percentage now at around 18%. He acknowledges that his journey has had many twists and turns, but he hopes his story can inspire others to persist in their weight loss journeys, experiment with different approaches, and ultimately find a path that works for them.