MY LIFE & 121LBS WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY
Introduction
Hi! My name is Giovanni.
I am a 23 year old music producer, film maker and artist from Australia.
I am here today writing this post to share with you my ongoing weight loss journey that officially began early August of 2013. Growing up I was always a larger than average kid, my diet was poor from a very young age and all though I suffered a lot mentally and felt very "different" from other people, I was so grateful to be able to participate in most activities and still feel like I was considered "normal" to most of my close friends and family.
In 2013 I had reached my heaviest point (130kgs) and that’s when my life had been turned around in so many different ways...
My relationship had gotten so toxic that my girlfriend (of three years at the time) and I had split, and after a nasty exchange of words I finally at 19 years of age decided it was time to begin my weight loss journey!
My starting point
19 years old - 289lbs/130kgs
After endless days and nights of research trying to find that quick fix to help me lose weight I had just decided that it was time to stop researching and just DO!
With all of the different articles and research I went through I just made the decision to go with what felt right from what I could remember.
So I decided to bring my meals down to the size of my closed fist and start using what I thought was the most conventional ways to eat healthy.
I remember watching sylvester stallone in one of the rocky movies swallowing raw eggs as a protein source…
As eager as I was (having the rocky theme song playing in my head) I cracked open two eggs into a cup and well... that’s how I started my journey on my first day.
You will probably be relieved to learn that my raw egg-swallowing days ended on that very day and I have not consumed a raw egg since.
I started weighing myself daily and logging my weight through a free app on my phone. I was also using another app (also free) to track my daily meals which conveniently gave me the option to scan barcodes and input very specific details about my meals. This process made remembering things a lot easier as everything was visual and in my pocket everywhere I went for my own personal reference and reflection.
After about a week of logging my weight and tracking my food consumption, I started walking, jogging and sprinting for 40 minutes around my block every night.
I believe drum & bass, filthy dubstep and heavy metal was another factor that helped drive my need to run around my block late hours of the night like a mad man
but you know what… It was late and even if someone did see me it would be too dark to see my fat jiggle.
Keep in mind I was very big at the time so I ran at a speed that was not painful for me and got my heart rate beating to a point that made me feel slightly uncomfortable but still bearable. I just made sure the forty minutes I dedicated to it each night that every minute I was out there making sure to keep moving confidently even if I had to stop sprinting.
I continued this for about 2 months and lost around 15kgs in that time.
So to recap on how I lost my first 15kgs:
- Decided to stop searching & start doing
- Brought my meals down to the size of my fist
- Started tracking my weight & meals through my phone
- Did 40 mins of cardio (running/walking) around my block each night
So after I lost the first 15kgs I found a new girlfriend, I started to become more confident in my efforts and decided to bring my cardio to my local parks (but in broad daylight).
I continued this for around six months and managed to lose another 15kgs over time controlling my meal sizes and maintaining exercise. It wasn't an everyday thing, I would just keep it fresh in the back of my mind, kept conscious of what I ate and every now and then do heavy cardio in a park. (skip rope, running laps, jumping around like an idiot...)
My eating habits slowly started to become more and more slack after I lost that next 15kgs but I did stick to the healthy side of things where I didn’t cave for the deliciously easy food. (where the burgers are “better” or amongst the golden arches of heart disease)
After I lost that 30kg I naturally started to become more social. I started making new friends and seeing a lot more of my old friends, as people started to notice my physical changes they would bring it up often and it would make me feel accomplished about my progress, so I started to slow down with my cardio and weight loss efforts and started embracing this new life that was unfolding before me.
For the next year and a half I didn’t really do much in terms of weight loss but I did move out of my parents and into my own place with my girlfriend at the time and although I did fall into some old habits, consuming more junk food and energy drinks I did manage to keep the 30kgs off majority of the entire time.
Sudden disaster & hardship
Sitting at roughly 105kgs and probably due to my poor lifestyle choices and diet, strangely without warning I got really sick and decided to move back into my parents house with my girlfriend.
I was all of a sudden hit with a number of health issues including: anxiety, extreme panic attacks, vertigo, mind fog, derealisation, constipation, nausea, cold flushes and pallor of my skin.
I was suffering BIG TIME and I couldn’t shake it off.
I went to three different doctors conducting all sorts of tests and health checks but the only conclusion they could come to was either putting me on anti-depressants or visiting specialists that would cost me more than I could afford.
More endless nights of research having no luck in finding the underlying issue to the symptoms I was getting it felt like nobody could help me. I felt like I was going to feel like that for the rest of my life.
On top of all this, things between my parents were getting very bad and out of nowhere the day before my girlfriends birthday whilst out shopping for her party we planned, I receive a phone call from my neighbour telling me that my parents house was on fire and I needed to get there as quick as I could.
We immediately dropped what we were doing, jumped in the car and started driving (mostly on the opposite side of the road) in panic, a few blocks away to see black smoke covering the air. My heart dropped so I started speeding even faster at this point.
We get to the house to find a large crowd surrounding and watching the hot flames engulf my family home of nine years, slowly burning the house and everything inside it to the ground.
It was disastrous.
When my parents arrived to the still active scene, I had my mother weak in her knees, fall into my arms and I held her helplessly, both crying over this chaotic moment in our lives we just could not comprehend.
That night we were left with nothing. My entire studio that I worked so hard to build up, gone.
Everything my family and I had built up over our lives and the memories gone.
Crumbled to nothing.
My girlfriend and I moved into a friends house, my parents went to live under someone else’s roof, just to get ourselves back on our feet recovering the best we could so we could start paving our new roads.
It was really difficult for me mentally dealing with all of this at once, not only did I get really sick before this all happened but now having to rebuild my life was tough and I am still truly grateful to this day for the loving friends who supported us through these times.
Pushing forward
After the house burned down, I pretty much got rid of my strange illness over 2 months of trials and errors and by changing over to a gluten free diet because I thought my problems were due to a gluten intolerance (thank you internet). But in between that time I signed up to a gym close to my friends house and really started kicking my weight loss efforts into gear…
As my gut and mind started to slowly heal over those two months I finally gave most of my issues the final kick as I began gym. I had a series of free gym routines I found on the internet that I had printed off and started using at the gym everyday.
For every workout on the routine I didn’t understand I would do a quick google search for a video on how to proceed. My diet was still gluten free by choice and I became very strict with my diet which consisted of three equal servings of protein, fibre and complex carbohydrates. Simply put: Chicken, Veggies and brown rice.
I managed to bring myself down to around 90kgs going to gym everyday keeping up this diet. (the two photos below are the best photos I could find that were taken around this time)
So after a little break from gym I came to another crazy part of my life, having my second breakup with my girlfriend at the time and moving back in with my parents. After falling on and off my diet numerous times I finally decided it was time to really get dedicated so I could get down to my overall weight loss goal: 75kg
The final stand
A lot of the time it was quite quite depressing and played on my mind especially after already losing 40 kilos, looking myself in the mirror to find excess skin and fat surrounding my belly or the fact that my skin would stretch out and freak some people out but, I wasn’t discouraged too much by it, in fact it drove me insane to the point that I wouldn't take no for an answer. I wanted my body to look like 90% of other guys walking around with skin that hugged their body tightly.
I started to ramp up my dedication, attending gym 6 days a week. When I would fall off my diet I would quickly find myself jumping right back on it.
I just wanted to see that 75kg on the scales and I would do whatever it took to get there. After all it was my life dream to have a set of abs and like always I kept my vision strong and worked hard so I could see those magic numbers on the scale.
I had gotten over my gluten free diet by now and switched over to a paleo diet, i won't get too much into why but it pretty much consisted of only: meats, veggies and fruit.
So day in, day out I would hit the gym. Making gym my number one priority performing 30 minutes of high intensity interval cardio on the treadmill before my resistance training everyday for (what i can remember to be) over 3-4 months and finally after all those daily grinds and hard work I put in…
That day came.
23 years old - 75kgs
I had finally reached my goal. (Boo ya!)
I was so pleased with my results and I lived out that body in all its glory but, time came where I needed to put on some muscle and start filling out some skin and building some muscle.
Which brings me to where I am now a year later.
Today my diet is very different, for almost a whole year now I have been on a plant based diet.
I’m currently sitting at 85kgs and building. I go to gym 6 days a week, my skin has retracted back to more than what I thought it would, I have just finished building my new studio and finally I am working very hard on creating my business and career working as a music producer film maker and artist.
Me today - 85kgs
Somewhere around the time I reached my 75kg mark I decided to post my progress picture on reddit, that post then reached 10,000 views in 3 hours. A page on Facebook found that photo and used it in one of their videos that today is sitting on a reach of 3 million views.
I am so grateful to have embarked on this journey and there is nothing in my story I would ever change as it has made me the person I am today.
Things I learned:
You can actually do it.
The most effective personal trainer is yourself.
People treat you differently when you are overweight.
Losing weight improves your lifestyle and brain health.
The best diet I have ever been on is the plant based diet (for mind body and soul)
There will always be dark days, it is nobody's obligation but yours to keep sticking at your goals.
If you want to succeed, keep your plans to yourself. People CAN and WILL throw you off.
Final words
There is an abundance of information in the world that can help you achieve your goals but at the end of the day it is only your personal efforts and experiences that comprise your results. Therefore making you both the teacher and the student.
You owe it to yourself to go with your gut instinct. Put your mind on it and prove that you can and WILL do it.
Like a wise person once said…
You don’t have to see the entire staircase, just take the first step.
Now what are you waiting for?
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Disclaimer
Some of the GIFS in this post do not belong to me, I found them on the internet and using them in relation to my post.