Weight Loss Success Stories on Reddit

Reddit.com is a great source of genuine weight loss success stories. The photos shown here were submitted by jxmac just seven hours ago and she has already received over 2,000 comments. She has lost 65 pounds. Check out her weight loss story and other people's comments here.

Western Food is Making the World Diabetic

Listen to this interesting 13 minute NPR audio on Diet and Diabetes, where one doctor discusses the differences he noticed between Afghan patients and the bodies of North American patients. He says;

"Typical Afghan civilians and soldiers would have been 140 pounds or so as adults. And when we operated on them, what we were aware of was the absence of any fat or any adipose tissue underneath the skin," Patterson says. "Of course, when we operated on Canadians or Americans or Europeans, what was normal was to have most of the organs encased in fat. It had a visceral potency to it when you could see it directly there."

Male Weight Loss Transformations

Check out this page, which has four inspiring stories of men losing weight. Here's an exerpt from Calle's story, he lost 136 pounds and was asked;

If someone reading this has repeatedly tried and failed to change their life for the better and they are considering giving up do you have any words of encouragement for them ?

I can only speak from my experience, I was a healthy morbidly obese person, but for how long? I used to hate pictures of myself, I was really mad when i looked myself in the mirror.

I�ve been alone for years, no girlfriend and not going out because i was ashamed of myself. If you identify with these things, well, you need to change. The best feeling in the world is when people see you on the street and make this big amazing surprised face because you are looking younger, great and healthier. Another great feeling is to fit in normal size modern clothes.

Are you demotivated? Find the reason! Take a picture of yourself every month so you will see the changes and be motivated every time. Know that you are eating to keep your body healthy and fine. Just think in long term, your body will thank you for that.

When you reach your goal, you will feel powerful, invincible, that you can achieve whatever you want in life. Let me tell you that this feeling leaves you speechless and so happy every second of your life. It will worth the fight and the sacrifices, just keep doing it and results will come.

Divorced Man Gets in Shape

Thanks much to Eli who sent in this inspiring weight loss story:

In March of 2008 I had been married for almost 18 years. For the last 5 or 6 years of my marriage, I had gained weight exponentially each year. Not only was I obese (6'1/2" 280 lbs), but I was also a heavy smoker. When I got separated from my ex-wife close to 3 years ago, I had an epiphany. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't believe what I was looking at. How had I allowed myself to get like that? I wanted to live a longer life for my 3 children and I wanted to be happy with myself again. These things made me take the first step into my journey of weight loss which has now become a passion for fitness.

I had yo-yo dieted for many years and tried many of the fad diets. I was "successful" in losing weight those times, but I never kept it off because I was not making a lifestyle change.. The most important change that has lead to my success is knowing to take things one day at a time. When I started on my quest, I did not join a gym and I did not exert myself enough. What I did was ask myself, "What am I willing to do NOW which will help me continue to do it for the rest of my life?" My answer then was to walk for 15 minutes each night and I made small adjustments to my horrendous eating habits. Today, I can run up to 10 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace. I also weight train 5 days per week and my bad eating moments are most people's best eating habits! I am proud to say that today I have a body fat percentage of 12%!

As soon as I started to see the weight coming off, I was motivated to continue on this path. The most challenging thing for me was changing my bad eating habits. I saw results right away. I started to lose weight after the first week and it never stopped from there.

My life has changed in many ways! I am healthier physically, mentally and emotionally. My self esteem although never low, is at an all time high. I have been the inspiration of many to start their own quest of a healthy lifestyle change and I have finally found a real life passion!

Losing Weight Before the Wedding

Sparkly_81 has lost 80 pounds in 13 months. In a discussion forum she says;

Last Jan I was feeling really down about being overweight. I was also was getting married and being a bridesmaid for my sister. I was really not confident at all about looking good and decided I had to do something about it. So I set about calorie counting and getting into fitness. 13 months later I have lost 80lbs. This takes me into the normal BMI range (I know; don't listen to BMI, but as a fat, relatively unactive woman it was probably quite accurate and psychologically this is a big milestone for me). I am working out regularly. I am pretty close to the point I can do a few pull-ups and I can run without killing myself.

She's had 130 people comment on her progress. See her workout and fitness details here.

A Weight Loss Motivation App for the iPad

Thanks to Adriana for giving us 25 free copies to hand out. Here is the scoop;

This app helps you visualize your weight loss. It's great motivation for losing weight!

You begin personalizing the model by setting your current height and weight as well as your heaviest weight and your goal weight.

Keep a track record of your weight loss and visualize how you'll look when you reach your next lower weight goal.

Your model is based on BMI calculations so she will look different for women who weigh the same but are different heights.

See the Weight Loss Virtual Model on your iPad or iPhone.

Update: Dec 16th 2011. See the male version of the weight loss app here.

Bracelets for Every Pound Lost

Kelley sent me the following email;

Hi there,
I found your website and wanted to share my weight loss story with you.

The photo I'm sending you is a picture of me after I lost 72 lbs. along with the before photo. It�s hard to believe but I did it. I'm also sending photos of the PoundPuncher Bracelets that I created during my weight loss. It's explained in the story. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.

My story begins in 2005 after the birth of my second child. Like all mothers I fell into the everyday routine of taking care of everyone except me. I kept putting on weight, felt depressed, and didn�t know what to do. In 2008, a friend asked me if I wanted to enter a local weight loss competition with her. Even though I didn�t want to I knew I needed to. I began eating wisely, exercising, and losing weight. After the competition was over I still had a lot of weight to lose. I wanted to change, feel alive again, be a happy person, and be there for my kids and husband. You can have all the support in the world but it's all up to you to make good choices in life.

I needed something to remind me all the time to NEVER give up and to be proud of the hard work that I had accomplished. I was determined to get to that dream. I knew I needed to stay focused and MOTIVATED to continue to lose weight, but how? I came up with an idea �..a bracelet. I had my husband create a bracelet that I had visualized. It tracked my weight loss and reminded me to make healthy choices when reaching for food. It was my daily "reminder" to keep going! I had lost 39 � lbs. in the competition and continued until I had lost 72 lbs. I felt the need to create more bracelets to help those on the same path, in order to give them hope and motivation. I had never created anything like this before and had no business experience, but I felt I needed to do this. Since then, I launched a website and have sold bracelets in a few stores and on-line. I�m thrilled to know that I was right about following my instincts.

Very few people know my story or how the bracelet helped me conquer the weight loss battle. I wear my bracelet everyday. It reminds me to be PROUD and to stay on the healthy road of happiness.

Thanks again and God Bless,

Kelley Davis


Check out her website and bracelets at poundpuncher.com.