Great story! - man goes from 501 to 232 lbs in under 3 yrs
 

There's a great story in this online newspaper link: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle.../16782826.html

Scott Cutshall went from 501 lbs. on Thanksgiving of 2005 to 232 lbs. today. He did this mostly by biking and changing his eating. As a 38 year old father and husband, he was told by a doctor that he would be dead in 6 months without stomach reduction surgery. And in the condition he was in there was a 50% chance he wouldn't survive the surgery.

Instead of the surgery route he made a dramatic change in lifestyle and has lost 269 lbs. so far. Read the story to get the details. Very inspiring!

Not bad....I started in March 2005 and am at 211 from a high of 581. ;) Kudos to him, I know the road he took well. :D
March 2005- September 2006
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...e/Project1.jpg
March this year
http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o...ak_2008026.jpg

Wow, these guys are great! I have a friend that did about the same. 480 to 230. He did it without the surgery though.:eek:

And follow his blog as well:

http://istanbultea.typepad.com/

Tom,

Do you remember what your blood pressure was then, and now?

475 down to a low of 175 here. Currently back up to 190 or so, but working on it:

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...BeforeHead.jpg

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/i...04_at_184a.jpg
Say what you will about "the surgery" but I couldn't have done it without it... plus a lot of running and bike riding :)

What amazing stories! I am excited about getting back on the bike here in Wisconsin after a looooooong winter. :( My arthritis is all-time bad right now, but will be more tolerable after logging some miles (it always is). I have put back on almost all of the 40 or so pounds I lost last year. I have a long way to go, but am inspired by stories like this. Thanks for sharing!

Then, 210/156, while medicated, and now it's 125/61, with no medications. Resting HR then was 109 and now it's between 50-54.

I've got a problem with losing weight...according to set "standards" I'm pretty overweight at about 235lbs right now for my height. But what that doesn't take into account is my bone structure and my relatively healthy body fat percentage. I don't carry that much extra fat, I carry more then i should, but its not even enough to be considered obese at all. After discussing it with a trainer at my gym, we've determined that i'm a perma-clyde and would be best suited at about 215lbs, which would make me about 10% body fat, if i gain no more muscle. The final 20 or so lbs is going to be a gigantic struggle to drop. :(

Great stories! I didn't have as much to lose, but I know for a fact that it can be done naturaly.

Success story.
 

Somebody beat you to it Elkhound:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=399025

Moderator, could we merge the threads, please?

+100

Criticism of WLS isn't about WLS itself as much as the fact its over-hyped and over-prescribed.

As a physician, there are some times where bariatric surgery is a option, but some of the sickest post-op patients that I have taken care of were some of the bariatric surgery patients.

And my doctor gave me a hard time when mine hit 139/89 with a resting HR of 84 about a year ago. On a side note I'm down to 124/81 with a resting HR of 68 not bad considering I'm still well into the 300# range.

wow and you didnt spring a leak with that pressure.

Five years later and I'm alive and kicking. Without the surgery, not likely... I lost hundreds of pounds before the surgery -- repeatedly. I couldn't keep it off permanently.

For anybody who loses a great deal of weight just through dieting I wish them all the best. I wouldn't want to wish failure on anybody. I just know that there is a very high rate of regain for anybody who loses weight with whatever method.

Man I am so amazed everytime I read one of these stories. I need to lose 50-60 lbs and act as if i'll never be able to do it. I feel so rediculous after reading these stories.

I dropped 55 lbs with Weight Watchers and have kept it off for going on five years. It took a major change in what I eat to do it, but it is second nature to me now. If I hadn't I would probably be facing knee surgery by now.

These are all such great stories. This is why I come to this forum as I work with WW and biking and weight loss. Kudos and thanks to all of you!

I was thinking the same thing, I always feel like it's never going to happen, or I loose weight then put it right back on then I read stuff like this, or think about Tom Stormcrowe and feel like a whiny little idiot.

I'm 5'11" 260lbs, I got down to about 220lbs a while back but put on a lot of weight over winter, my goal is to get to about 200-210 and stay there.

Thanks for the motivation guys!

I have talked to Scott before. I think he is one of the coolest guys. It gives me strength to see him today.

Not to take away from his achievement, but how and why did he let himself get that way in the first place?