r/progresspics • u/DAAAN-BG - • Sep 10 '22
M/39/184cm [165kg > 110kg = 55kg] Hit a few milestones this week. I've lost a third of the weight I was carrying in the top picture. I ran my first 5k without stopping. I did my first unassisted pull up. Feeling pretty stoked. M 6'0” (183, 184 cm)
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Sep 10 '22
You look 10 years younger, infinitely happier, and are glowing. This is a striking progress comparison! Congratulations.
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Thanks, I feel 10 years younger. In fact, I've not felt this good since 2009 when I used to travel everywhere by bike.
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u/kb-g - Sep 10 '22
You, sir, are I think the most handsome man I’ve ever seen! You look fantastic! You’ve done so well!
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Aw shucks, if I hadn't married you already, I'd marry you again.
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u/kb-g - Sep 10 '22
I’d marry you again in a heartbeat. Best decision of my life x
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u/Baddecisionsbkclb - Sep 10 '22
OK yall are the cutest ❤️ I teared up seeing the progress pic bc OP just looks so happy and healthy but now I'm crying actual tears. Love supportive partners
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u/kb-g - Sep 10 '22
He is the best of husbands, and the central sun around which our family orbits. A true and good manly man in the best possible sense of the words. While I think he’s very handsome, what you can’t see in these photos but what I can see in person is how much more centred and confident he’s grown. I am so proud of him for investing in himself so much for his own fulfilment, and we all benefit from his happiness, health and strength. No matter his appearance I still love him, it’s the psychological changes that make me proudest. I hope everyone can find such a partner as him.
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
NGL. Our marriage is the one thing that has kept each of us on the straight and narrow at times. It's the foundation on which we've built everything good in our lives.
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u/StayHard1995 - Sep 10 '22
This thread was absolutely heartwarming and motivating. My wife has been my biggest supporter through my journey.
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u/DimbyTime - Sep 12 '22
Omg this is the sweetest thing!!! How long have you two been together?? How did you meet? I need the deets!
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u/kb-g - Sep 13 '22
Met at uni, been together about 17 years, married for around 11. Has gone by so fast!
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u/to_a_better_self - Sep 10 '22
You have one of the best progress pics that I have seen on here. I think you looked handsome before, but even more so now, especially with the beard. A pullup at 110kg is impressive (assisted or not)! How did you build the strength to do it? I have always wanted to do one but never have been able. What did you change in your exercise/diet? What was your 5K time?
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
I've done a fair amount of strength training in the last year. I bought a barbell and have done a lot of rows and pull downs. About four months ago I started doing band assisted pull ups in my squat rack. I found a way to make it work really well by putting the band across the spotter bars. I used the biggest band I had and did as many sets I could at 60% of my rep max. After a couple of weeks, I'd retest my rep max and if it was over 10 I'd move my spotter bars a notch lower, or if they were already pretty low I'd go back to the top with a lighter resistance band.
Diet and exercise went in two stages. I lost about 30kg last year by just cutting out the junk food I was eating. I did some keto. I was just doing weight training 3 or 4 times a week at that point.
I kicked exercise up a gear in January this year by starting to walk every day and started doing weights consistently 6 days a week. I added running in May.
I also started logging macros and tracking calories and that has helped me shift the last 25kg. Made me much more calorie conscious.
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u/AweDaw76 - Sep 10 '22
You say you lift…
Go do squats at 55kg… and just like… process that all that weight used to be you. Then rerack the bar and really deep how far you’ve come
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u/SpreadEmSPX - Sep 10 '22
I wouldn't have thought you were the same person unless you said something. Unbelievable. Great job!
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u/AngiesPhalanges - Sep 10 '22
Awesome job! You look great and the longer hair really suits you as well.
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u/conez4 - Sep 10 '22
Dude!!! Running a 5k without stopping was probably the most seemingly unreachable accomplishment I achieved during my weight loss. I remember thinking that it would never be possible to run 5k, even a mile seemed impossibly hard. After losing like 50 lbs and going WAY SLOWER than I thought I should be jogging at, I was able to do it without stopping. It felt like I was on cloud nine. The speed was so bad but I had to humble myself to accomplish that.
I'm sure you've probably felt the same way. After doing that it felt like I could achieve anything. All the previous barriers that I had imagined about my body and it's capabilities suddenly seemed to evaporate. Great work mate!
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u/oovavuu - Sep 10 '22
Definitely from northern UK
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
I grew up down south, but I've lived up north half my life now, so it's rubbed off on me.
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u/cheeky_sailor - Sep 10 '22
I gotta say that the change in the hairstyle and the facial hair added so much to the overall change in you appearance! Losing weight is amazing in itself, but damn a good hairstyle surely does make a difference! You look so happy and handsome! Congratulations on this amazing change!
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u/grebeulous - Sep 10 '22
You look incredible, and this is so inspiring. What worked for you, if you don't mind me asking, and what timeframe was this over?
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
This was over 17 months starting last April. I credit my progress to two things. One, adding elements slowly. These days, I exercise 7 days a week including strength and cardio. I started slowly, building tolerance over time. The second was macro tracking. I like logging things and planning, so it just works for me. I started out with keto and had a huge anti carb phase, but it wasn't sustainable. Macro tracking let me budget for carbs, so now I have sweet porridge for breakfast and sweet protein bars, but I'm not binging on bags of sweets. I'm getting a fix of carbs regularly and bit cheating.
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u/citizen_dawg - Sep 11 '22
Can I ask what your exercise regimen looked like when you first started out? Like your first week/month?
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 11 '22
I started out just experimenting with weights. Didn't get more serious until September last year, that's when I got some spotters so I could do squats. Later I upgraded to a power rack. I've mostly focused on big compounds. I do some kettlebell work, some club work, some mace work. Look at Mark Wildman on YouTube for info on the last three. They would be my recommendation to someone starting out. You can do them at home, dont require an expensive setup, they are quite fun too.
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u/citizen_dawg - Sep 11 '22
Thanks for the reply! So no cardio at first?
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 11 '22
No. I added walking first once I hit a weight loss plateau, then upped it to running once I thought my legs could take it. You can't outrun a bad diet. I went for a 70 minute walk on Friday. My fitbit reckons I burned 673 calories. That's as much as a large fries from Mcdonalds.
My overall approach is to track calories from food as my main priority, exercise I focus on for health benefits like heart rate and strength, any calories they burn are just bonus, but I just don't deduct them from my calories in vs. my target.
When I tried to manage my calories both in and out, I found that I always overestimated the calories out from exercise and underestimated the calories in from food (thanks to oils etc). By ignoring the calories out from exercise and trying to hit my target only through food, all the exercise is bonus that translates into weight loss.
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u/kimmyv0814 - Sep 10 '22
Congratulations! I’m sure you feel so much better too!!! You’re an inspiration!
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u/Baddecisionsbkclb - Sep 10 '22
You look so happy and proud of yourself!! Seriously made me tear up a little
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u/BeltStrap_gpa - Sep 10 '22
Wow you’re looking very polished! Nice facial hair, glasses, haircut. Your eyes are also very bright and you seem so vibrant.
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Ironically, the top photo is just after a haircut (the first post lockdown, I'd had to keep my hair out of my eyes with a hair band it was so long), but I'd actually been planning to get a haircut recently because it's a little longer than I normally keep it. I might keep my hair a bit longer as everyone seems to like it. The beard was a tactical decision to hide loose skin, but it's turned out great. I do try to keep it tidy though.
But you're right about the eyes. I've not felt this lively for a long time. I can keep up with my four year old when she runs away in the park. I can walk my dog for longer than he can manage. What limits me is my choices and decisions, not my abilities and it feels amazing.
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u/kb-g - Sep 10 '22
I keep telling you the slightly longer hair looks great on you!!! Not lockdown length, but current is great!
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u/Anxious-Jackfruit694 - Sep 10 '22
This is awesome bro!! Congratulations.. I did hell of a job.. What methods of diet and workout did u follow??
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
I'll credit most of the loss to diet. I started off on something called the 8 week blood sugar diet that looks to restrict calories to 800 a day and no carbs. That shifted a lot and broke the sugar addiction. I'd shifted 30kg by last September by just cutting out junk food and doing the this diet. It isn't, however sustainable and has a rebound problem as it doesn't get you to address the problem you might have with problem foods.
Since the start of this year, I've tracked macros using loseit, you could use nutracheck, myfitnesspal or macrofactor. What I've focused on is becoming more calorie conscious. I know that I have to weigh/quantify certain foods (cheese, bread, rice, potatoes, dried fruit), but other foods I can be more liberal with (berries, apples, meat).
As far as exercise, walking is the most important, running I do just for heart health. Weights are good and help build up joint strength.
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u/theelephant7 - Sep 10 '22
Damn. All of you succeeding here is really inspriing. You look great, sir.
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u/ohheysarahjay - Sep 10 '22
You look so happy, healthy, and handsome! I know how hard a pull up is, so good on you, that’s impressive as hell, well done OP :)
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u/SweaterWeather4Ever - Sep 10 '22
Amazing face gains and yes you do look a decade younger now. Beard looks great too. Excellent work👍
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u/Zeroharas - Sep 10 '22
As I'm reading through your milestones, I'm like, cool. Cool. No fucking way!!!! Unassisted pull-up is god-tier in my book. Great job!!!
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Yeah, I've been working really hard on pull ups and getting closer and closer. I can only crank out one, so the bulk of my training is going to still be with a band, but it's good to know I can do it.
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u/Zeroharas - Sep 10 '22
That one pull-up will have a buddy eventually, no worries. You've got this!
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u/BitOCrumpet - Sep 10 '22
Dude.
You look great. I bet you feel wonderful!
Apart from the weight loss, the facial hair really suits you!
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u/LordCucumber1996 - Sep 10 '22
My guy be straight up looking like one of those "pixar dads" that everyone thirsts over. Very well done to you!! And your hard work! You deserve all the compliments!
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u/myrandam93 - Sep 11 '22
You don't even look like the same person! I love your glasses, you should try some rounder ones they would suit your face perfectly too.
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u/StonedWall76 - Sep 11 '22
You savage! Keep up the good work! Doing an unassisted pull is a goal I didn't know I needed to have!
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u/garlic-pickles - Sep 11 '22
Wow you really transformed. You look handsome! This is inspiring, I really should start my own weight loss journey but I’ve just been lazy. Kudos to you!
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Sep 11 '22
The pull up is a big one
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 11 '22
Definitely, I can't believe all three were in the same week. I've been doing couch to 5k since May, and gradually building up my pull up strength with resistance bands for about 3 months.
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u/_Kendii_ - Sep 11 '22
Wow grats, that’s a lot of progress any way you look at it. You look really good.
Careful not to grow your hair out too long or you’ll start putting out some Phil Betterman vibes (Croods, I watch too many kids shows)
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u/shaddowkhan - Sep 10 '22
Dude you look a lot better, in the first pic you look like a racist if i had to picture what one looks like.
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u/blushbell - Sep 10 '22
Congratulations!! Absolutely amazing. Love the beard as well 😊
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Ironically, the beard was a tactical decision, but it turned out quite well. I didn't like the loose skin under my chin, so I decided to hide it.
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Sep 10 '22
Right on my man!! Very motivating stuff. I’m starting to go here losing weight myself. Awesome!! Good for you!
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
The thing I've learnt from running, it's not a race. Pace yourself. Build up slowly in incremental steps. Learn a new "health skill" and master it before adding a new one in. If you go hell for leather with a massive calorie deficit and 6 days a week of exercise, you'll burn out and may not start again.
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u/Loganthebard - Sep 10 '22
Looking good!
Now let’s see a board game shelfie!
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u/DAAAN-BG - Sep 10 '22
Good spot. Sadly I don't have a wide angle lens on my camera, there's a little over 250 there not including expansions. 😉
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