Hello everyone, I'm new to this.....

I did not come accross this site until about a week ago. Needless to say it got me thinking about myself. I read Johns stats when he began and they very nearly mimiced my own.... I am 5'11 1/2 210lbs, aged 25. When I was about 19 or 20 I was 180lbs which I deemed unacceptable, so I bootlegged a friends TAE-BO tape and did it 3-8 times a week (sometimes twice a day) for 2 or 3 months and I lost about 25lbs.... this all while I worked at McDonalds of all places. Once I was down to around 155lbs I stopped and started swimming, which didn't last more than 5 months before I was doing nothing.... Then I discovered BEER (I used to previously hate) and it's been downhill since then. I did not drink an ounce of alcohol until I was 19 (for canada this is over a year after being legal)and once I did it started to wear on me. Basically from 21 - 24 I drank beer every weekend.... which slowly led to a gain from 160lbs - 210lbs (not counting fast food). So here I am at 210. I've cut fast food for the last 2 weeks, eaten healthy, and exercised and I feel so damn good. I havn't stepped on the scale because it's not my exact weight that I care about, it's how I feel! After 9 days (6 days cardio) I feel great. I just bought a protein sup. today to help with meals too! The only major goal I have is to lose 30lbs by June, and I know I can do it. I have done it before, but damnit John Stone, nothing has provided more inspiration than you. I am pointing all my friends to your website in hopes that you will help them in some way as well.

Sorry for the long winded hello, but when I reach my goal I will also have before and after photos for everyone!

Thanks!

wow! Sounds like your on the right track. Good luck with your weight loss goals.

Welcome aboard the health & fitness train Dashiva! Like many others here I myself happened across John's site about 4 weeks ago. I have seen countless magaizine ads and TV commercials that showed "before & after" pictures of people losing weight and gaining muscle but when I saw John's site something in me snapped. I can't put my finger on it but something about John's story and transformation was different from anything like I've ever seen before. It inspired and motivated me to make a major change in my life and become healthy and in shape.

My story is similar to a lot of others here, like your own. In my mid-teens I weighed about 145 lbs with a 28" waist. At that time I probably had about 10 to 15 percent body fat. As I aged my metabolism slowed, I ate progressively worse, and became less active. On Jan. 1st '04 at age 37 I weighed 186 with a 32" waist and probably about 30 percent body fat (I am guessing on the body fat). Then I saw John's site. Since then I have made drastic changes in my eating habbits cutting out all soda, snack foods, candy, etc. Now I eat as clean as possible, drink plenty of water each and every day, and exercise regularly. Two weeks into my transformation I am down 9 pounds (177 as of today), in better shape than I was a month ago, and more important I feel fantastic! I can't remember the last time I felt this good.

My goal by this summer is to have a flat stomach so that I can hopefully show off some abs. I finally want to be the guy that everyone looks at and says, "Wish I could look like that, you look great!". I am also hoping that my total cholesterol will drop from 210 to about 160 or so. Bring up the HDL and lower my LDL too.

I took my "before" photo a few weeks ago and I will take another about a month later which I will post in the picture group.