jpconrad

I have had quite a few people, both cyclists and non-cyclists, tell me I should discuss this with others, but my embarrassment over what I was has kept me from doing this.

At the beginning of 2006 I weighed approximately 305 pounds. I'm not sure exactly how much as I didn't weigh myself that often. Here's a picture of me at Christmas 2005.



Here's a more recent picture from February.



I lost the weight through a change in lifestyle prompted by health concerns. A friend of mine had a lot of success with gastric bypass, and I probably was a good candidate for it, but my fear of surgery and from the complications kept me from pursuing it. I now weight in the 185 range, plus or minus a few pounds which I seem to fluctuate due to the cycling.

I have started writing about this and am thinking that maybe I should post some of this here as I know there are some people that would like to lose a few pounds. I'm thinking that maybe I should post this in the Clydesdale forum, too.

What do you think?

awiner

John, I definitely think you should share your experience with others. It is a great motivation for people that want to do the same thing.

Lifestyle change is something that is very difficult and the only way most people will start a change is from the inspiration of others that have done it and show what types of changes can occur.

I too was up there in weight when I got back into cycling after a hiatus in 2004. I dropped 80 pounds in 8-9 months (From 250 to 170).

The cycling was only part of the positive results, the lifestyle change was the paramount part.

You can ride until the cows come home, but if you don't eat (which includes recovery) and exercise right in tandem, the results won't be seen.

Happytime

HOLY ASSOS BATMAN!
Great job... you look hot. Yes definitely post it, you're an inspiration.

Tom Stormcrowe

Come on over to Clydes! Another success story always helps. I'm speaking as someone who has lost 352 pounds and literally come back from deaths door!

Kar3368

Hey John!!
As I was telling you yesterday, your story is amazing! You should definately share it.
It is very inspiring!! In fact Laura said she was going to share it with her class.
Great job John, I bet one year ago you would never have imagined that you would be getting ready to
ride you first DOUBLE century!!
You look GREAT John!!

Karen

roadfix

Dang JP!......I had no idea. That's great!
As far as cycling, I think you're only going to get better. You were already flying up that mountain yesterday......good job!

VanceMac

It is an incredible story, and incredibly inspirational. Cycling has created so many stories like this, but (tragically/ridiculously) you'll never see them make the news like gastric bypass.

One random question: rapid and large weight loss like yours and Tom's clearly outpace the skin's ability to shrink-to-fit. How much of a lag is there -- that is, how long was it before the skin was able to catch up?

Tom Stormcrowe

My skin won't, I need to have a lot removed. I will be looking at it as a rather large donation to the tissue bank for someones graft they need.

By the way, for the record, I did have bypass surgery. I was to the point I would have died without it.

JP: Kudos for doing it w/out surgery!

big john

It was good to meet you yesterday, John, and congratulations on the weight loss. Keith, who was there yesterday, has also lost about 130 pounds, and is now finishing first in double centuries

VanceMac

Tom -- for the record -- I did not mean to belittle or disparage gastric bypass. There are clearly cases where it is the best option (and a miraculous savior). But you knew that.

Luwin1026

Awesome story - what a great accomplishment!!! Kudos to you and the inspiration it provides to many others that come your way

GP

Wow. I met you at Applebees before Stagecoach and had no idea. Congratulations.

Oleanshoebox

You look like a totally different person John; and Tom...wow. My hat is off to you sirs. Very inspiring.

ronjon10

John you stud you! That's awesome!

I used to ride "a lot" (a lot for most people, but not much compared to all you studs) and hovered in the 260-280 range. I stopped cycling in 2004 for various reasons. Last July I reached 299. It scared the piss out of me and I refound my bike in the garage, waiting for me with patience. I couldn't ride the damn thing 10 miles and quite frankly, was embarrassed to ride the thing. Too many painful memories of hills I used to own that I couldn't even do without stopping and/or walking.

I spent a couple months in the gym doing spin classes and elliptical machines and dropped about 15 pounds. I managed to get my rides up to 30-40 relatively flat miles (think PCH) with some amount of pain.

Last Saturday, I finished my first century and was down 50 pounds. Today I did 30 miles on PCH & a good bit of Latigo as a recovery ride. Hoping to join you as an ex clyde by this December when I plan on kicking bloat ride butt.

You should post your story in the clyde forum. It's a good community over there that I frequent. Success stories are alway appreciated. Good on ya!

Chucklehead

man, that is AWESOME. i have a friend who weighs in the 400lb. neighborhood, and he only recently started going to the gym. i hope he's able to have the same success as you guys.
just curious..at about what weight did you start getting on the bike?

congratulations, guys. that's amazing stuff.

Entropy906

Congratulations. I did exactly the same thing in 2004. One day I decided to pull myself together and went from 305 in February to 180 in October. It wasn't easy but it was definitely worth it.

ronjon10

I was 285-290 when I started my adult cycling life back in 02. I started with a Trek 520 which lasted me til I could go for longer distances and the fit problems started showing. Send your friend to the Clyde forum if he's got a mind to start cycling. They're great with the getting started advice, though it typically boils down to: "get good solid wheels."

Chucklehead

yeah, that's what i figured. the main problem for him is the cash issue. and when i say he has a cash issue, i mean he has none of it. and when i say none, i mean none.
i've offered several times to chip in some money for a bike, but he always refuses. funny..he never turns down a beer or two

ronjon10

If he can keep going the gym, he'll probably do as well as or better than he would on a bike for quite a while. Elliptical machines worked wonders for me up to a point. All it really takes to lose weight is motivation, goals and some sort of plan. Cutting out the beer helps, in fact, it helps a lot.

Scootcore

dang dude, i had no idea!!!! after riding with you at mardi gras i just kind of assumed youd been riding for years and were at yer (for lack of a better phrase...) normal size...amazing and inspirational! cant wait to whip solvangs a$$ with you later this month!!!!

Chucklehead

he's easily discouraged if he doesn't feel like he's making any progress. i guess that could be part of the problem, too. and when he does give up(which seems pretty frequent), he always pulls the "i was just born to be fat, dude. my whole family is that way" card. i wish there was something i could do to help motivate him to stick with it.

1265 Lombardi

Wow! Great job!

ovoleg

I applaud you sir, you should share your story with others. Its awesome seeing stuff like this.

Keep up the great lifestyle and enjoy life. Goodspeed

jpconrad

The weight loss for me started with changing my diet, it wasn't until I was down to 250 or so that I dusted off my old bike and started riding. I was swimming more, initially, than riding as I was worried that I was too big for my bike and the swimming was the easiest thing for me to do at the time. I figured that if I got too tired, I didn't have to worry about sinking!

Good job on the weight loss yourself, I never would've suspected it.

jpconrad

When I look in the mirror I still see the heavy person looking back, I guess it's still part of a remnant poor self-image. But comments like yours help!