About a year and a month ago, I made the immense decision to finally take a stand against my weight problem. For years I had struggled with the physical and psychological repercussions that come with being overweight and I had finally had enough of it. So June 21, 2015, I began my journey, and boy has it been a long one. I started out at 298 pounds last summer and that was hard for me to deal with. I had never been this hefty before and it started to affect me in regards to my physical and mental health. I had back pain and just in general didn't feel very healthy, but that wasn't anything compared to the psychological torment that I dealt with. I really didn't think much of myself, I am extremely self-conscious and my weight is my biggest concern because I deeply care how I look and I could hardly stand to look at myself in the mirror anymore. It was this aspect that made me recognize that I needed to make a change and I feared what would happen to me if I didn't.

So I decided to set a few ground rules in order to help with my weight loss journey. First, I would no longer eat food from any fast food location and no longer drink any form of soda. This rule was particularly tough because I did enjoy a good quesadilla from Taco Bell every now and then but I knew I had to give that up. Secondly, I will work out six days a week, mainly doing cardio exercises. This consisted of riding a stationary bike, going for a jog, but mainly of shooting or playing basketball whenever I could. Thirdly, I would track my caloric intake and eat the minimum amount of calories in order to function and would make sure to burn more than I ate or drank. This may seem extreme, but before this journey I had tried many other diets and none of them worked so I had to make an extreme change if I wanted results. I ate roughly around 1,000 calories a day give or take. Yes, I do understand that is was not the healthiest way to do it but it's what worked for me after so many other diets didn't so I stuck with it. And alas, the rules were saved. All that was left now was to actually start my diet and began the process.

Admittedly the first couple weeks were rough but because of the extremity I was taking my plan to, I was starting to see results on a day-to-day basis. It felt so good to step on that scale every morning and see that I was a half pound or pound lighter almost every day. My diet was consisting of subs from the Pod at Spalding three days out of the week with a Powerade, and the other four days I ate a chicken Caesar salad from Panera with a baguette as a side and a low-fat strawberry smoothie. (For anyone who may be curious, it used to cost $12.59 in the state of Kentucky.) Those were my meals for the days. I maybe ate a granola bar every now and then but that would be it. If I got hungry I would either just drink something or if it was late enough, I'd just go to sleep and forget about it. Again, I want to acknowledge I know this was not necessarily the safest diet but it got results and that's all I cared about.

Fast forward to a mid-December morning and I get up to get on the scale, and lo and behold it reads 227. Words cannot describe how ecstatic I was. To have lost 70 pounds in the span of June-December was an incredible feat. After hitting that weight I decided it was time to see if I could maintain around that weight because I knew a ramification of my diet could potentially be that I would simply gain all the weight back again right away. I adjusted my diet to include more calories and focused more on working out with weights to potentially add some muscle. To my surprise, I actually have done just that. My current weight is floating around 235 and I feel better than ever. I still haven't indulged in soda or fast food however, and I'd like to keep that going for as long as I possibly can.

But I guess the purpose of this article was not to gloat about what I've achieved, it's to provide an example to someone that anything is possible. I didn't think I'd ever be able to accomplish what I have. All through high school and freshman year of college I had little no help of my weight ever changing but here I am today, healthier and lighter than I've ever been before. It's remarkable what a little dedication and perseverance can accomplish and if I can do it, you can to. I'm not directly talking about losing weight, but really referring to anything you set your mind to. If even one person is inspired or moved to make a change by this article then that's good enough for me and sharing my story was worth it. I'd also like to thank my friends for helping me along the way because I know for a fact I couldn't have done it without them. Lastly, shoutout to Panera, because you may not know it, but your Caesar salads and strawberry smoothies helped change my life and I'm very grateful for your healthy (and somewhat expensive) food.

Peace out y'all.