HIIT and Intermittent Fasting Helped Me Lose More Than 100 Pounds

Photo credit: Sean Collins
Photo credit: Sean Collins

From Men's Health

Marching for the Southwind Drum and Bugle Corps out of Mobile, Alabama, in the summer of 2017, I lost about 30 pounds. After finishing the tour, I never thought I’d gain it back. But my diet was awful, I played too many video games, and I was just generally unhealthy. Even when I tried to lose weight, nothing seemed to work. I started feeling hopeless. Soon I’d gained 60 pounds—at my heaviest I was 321 pounds.

I felt like a bowling ball. It hurt to walk, to stand, and even to just exist. My clothes never fit right and it was tough being who I was. I was 22, and it felt like there was nothing that I could do to change my life. As a teacher, I wanted to be a role model to my students, and as a 321-pound man, I didn't think that I was role model material.

I realized that some of my friends were still marching in drum corps, and if they could do it, so could I. It was hard—that first month I wanted to quit almost every single day.

I also started running. The first day, I went a little less than half a mile and I thought I was going to die. I was shaking; I was basically seizing, and I told myself I couldn't do it. The next day, I got up and went and did it again. A thermogenic fat burner supplement helped keep me motivated, too.

I scaled back my diet, but with my large appetite, I had to be very careful of what I put in my body. Eventually, I got to the point where I was eating one solid, nutritious meal per day. Getting to the next day’s meal motivated me to keep it going.

Photo credit: Sean Collins
Photo credit: Sean Collins

The fat started to melt off and my clothes started to fit a ton better than they ever had. I kept researching on the internet about what was best for me. After I got down to about 260 pounds, I started going to the gym. I began doing HIIT because I found that it was very enjoyable and it always made me feel accomplished. I got addicted to exercise—in a good way—and how it made me feel.

I started to drink protein shakes and soon after that, my weight just started to essentially fall off. There's no other way to put it. I found intermittent fasting and it worked for me. Eventually I started heavy lifting and decreasing my cardio because I wanted to build stamina through intensity, not steady-state cardio.

I lost at least 114 pounds of fat, probably more given the muscle I gained; it took about a year to hit my lowest weight, 207 pounds. I feel incredible right now, as I am working in tandem with a new program to drop the rest of my weight off and get to my weight goal of 190.

Photo credit: Men's Health
Photo credit: Men's Health

Along the way, I met the most beautiful woman on this planet. Her name is Shelby and she is my entire world. I keep pushing myself to be physically better because she’s so incredibly supportive, and I want to live a long and healthy life for her. I asked her to marry me recently—- and thankfully she said yes!

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