NF gave me some good vibes, so...I'm in.

[Cloroxxorzz]

Hey everyone, I've been a long-time NF lurker, figured I'd join in. I'm a French-Canadian from Moncton, New Brunswick (someone's gotta represent eastern Canada), 25 years old, a sci-fi/horror film buff, an Assassin's Creed/Tekken addict, a curler (for real, curling is a wicked sport), and a fan of sad songs (What? ).

I realize the first rule of the Rebellion is "We don’t care where you came from, only where you’re going". In order to explain where I'm going though, I feel I gotta tell you I came from first. (bit of a long post ahead)

Before pic: almost as unflattering as my avatar:

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Where I came from: About three years ago, I weighed about 270 pounds at 5'10". Eesh. Spent most of my free time back then in front of the couch gaming, watching TV, drinking beer, and eating copious amounts of junk food. Physically, I felt terrible, and it took its toll everywhere else. I was always a quiet, introverted guy, but I ended up becoming a shut-in. Dating was...well...I stopped dating :S, work wasn't going well, but I was still content with the lifestyle I had made.

I didn't have any particular "eureka" moment that made me want to lose weight, but my dad had lost about 60 pounds around that time, and I had gotten an exercise bike from someone, so I figured "the hell, might as well try it". Lost about 25 pounds without really changing my diet, then thought to myself "if I could lose 25 pounds while eating like crap, imagine what I could do if I actually ate well". Changed my diet, started counting calories, and lost another 70 pounds in about six months, all with just ridiculous amounts of exercise bike, and push-ups .

Started going to the gym, and went all the way down to about 166 pounds. At this point, I was obsessed about seeing my abs, even though my friends/family were urging me to eat something. Learned my lesson (seeing abs isn't worth feeling starved and tired all day), learned proper weight training (fight the machines XD)...and, well...here I am.

Obligatory bathroom self-shot for an after pic:

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Where I am, and where I'm going. I weigh about 185 nowadays, while still maintaining approximately the same body fat percentage as before (12-13%) I stick to weight training mostly, but love doing/trying pretty much anything (running, yoga, Crossfit-esque f**kery, not sitting down), so I probably fall under Ranger as a profession. This whole kerfuffle has kind of led to a personal paradigm shift; I make an effort to do better at everything, and I have a determination I've never had before. I've started travelling (Japan next month!), I'm (a bit) more sociable than before, Things at work are going so much better, and dating...couldn't be going worse, but I'm hoping to fix that too . Simply put, My goal is to look back at everything ten years from now and be proud of myself.

Signed up to NF because Steve's articles really helped inspire me to make all this happen, and I saw that there's a cool community that I feel I can relate to. Glad to be part of the Rebellion! Looking forward to cheering everyone on!

[erawka]

Welcome! Your transformation is totally impressive. It sounds like you'll fit right in here, and your experience will be very helpful to those who are just starting to make major changes.

[Caution]

Awesome dude, good to have you aboard. Your results are amazing so far, keep it up!

[emptyknight]

You from 3 years ago sounds an awful lot like me right now! Good job, very inspiring.