Most of my comparison pictures are from my heaviest to present time. I figured they are pretty dramatic and motivating. They are for me at least. While digging through images for my log today, I happened upon one I used a year ago. I was really curious to do a one year side by side.

The result, I couldn’t be happier with my year’s worth of progress. I lost and kept off 20 pounds. Importantly, judging from the pictures, not much was sacrificed as far as muscle. Other than a few bouts of a little hunger, I never really had to deprive myself either. The progress was slow and steady.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I spent most of the year rehabbing injuries. I had a serious hip and back problem that rated on the pain scale up into an eight or a nine last summer. Just when that got to a good place after seven months of work, I tore my mcl, another setback. Throughout this I controlled the one thing I could, my nutrition. Training took a hit, so all I had left was diet.

The nice thing is that I’m at a place where I KNOW I will never yo-yo up again. There was a point a couple years ago when I dropped 30 pounds in 12 weeks. Yep, I gained every ounce back. Then it was a diet, now it’s that lifestyle thing I used to hear people talk about.

Presently, I follow a flexible diet. As long as I hit my calories and macros, I eat pretty normally. Keep in mind, when eating crappy foods, the calories pile up quickly. So I really do eat mostly on the healthier side. Luckily my fantastic personal chef/wife makes lots of awesome tasting clean eating recipes. We don’t do bland boiled chicken and rice. That doesn’t cut it for me.

I am so excited to see next year’s picture comparison. The goal is to do another 20 pounds, well, make that 21. That will bring me to 100 pounds total weight loss since I started this journey. Anyway, if I take off more because I want to, then that’s a bonus. Otherwise reaching 229 will be good enough for me. That’s striking distance from the 220’s and if progress holds true, I’ll look and feel that much better.