Random Act of Kindness Part II
 

I'm blown away right now. A lot of you know that I used to be morbidly obese. I pronounced myself the fattest guy on this board at the end of 2007 when I weighed 450lbs. I was unable to walk around the grocery store, I was unable to do pretty much anything that required physical exultation because of my sheer size. The strain it put on my back and my legs and my knees were unbearable.

pr_capone started a weight loss thread at the start of 2008 and I jumped on board. I had never tried to lose weight in my life but I knew I was going to die very soon if I didn't do something about it. Rather than just jumping straight into some surgery I decided to make an honest attempt through diet and exercise first.

I called it the running and rabbit food diet. Lost about 130lbs in six months and got back down to the size I was at when I graduated high school. From there, I had always been that size so I got complacent. Didn't gain any weight, but didn't lose any.

The wife and I went to Reno last year and I stopped going to the gym. Stopped watching what I was eating and gained 35lbs back in the last 4 months of last year. I decided then that it was time to finish the job.

This year I've lost over 50lbs and am well on my way to getting to a normal size, which is something I've never been able to say. I started running about 3 months ago, and I had never ran a mile straight in my whole life before about a month and a half ago. I ran 5 miles this morning without stopping. I feel good.

Anyways, a couple months ago I started a thread about someone on this board who I had little contact with that contacted me and wanted to do something nice for me. It was my random acts of kindness thread, some of you may remember it.

Well, it happened again today. I'm very active online. I try to reach out to obese people and let them know that they can make changes. They are worth it. They are good enough. If they want it badly enough, no one can stop them. Not even themselves.

24 Hour Fitness is my gym. That's where I've worked out from the very beginning. I was on their facebook page a couple of weeks ago and they asked what motivated you. I spilled the beans on my journey and what I had accomplished. Yeah, I do like to brag a little bit, I feel like I've earned it. But really I just want people out there in a similar situation to mine see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That there's a way out. That nothing is stronger than the human spirit.

Today I received a package. The corporate offices at 24 hour fitness sent me a thank you card as well as some bracelets, pins, water bottle, and a bodybugg. The bodybugg is a device that you strap to your arm that takes the guesswork out of weight loss. It tells you how many calories you're burning throughout the day. Whether you're working out, or sitting on your ass. With the bodybugg you know what you're burning. It's a magnificent tool that costs over $200. They sent it to me for free.

Needless to say, they have a customer for life. I mean, they already did. I have a great relationship with all of their employees and they've done other things at no charge to help me along the way. This blew me away though. Enough that I wanted to start a thread and pimp them. Because this type of thing just doesn't happen anymore.

No one can ever convince me that 24 hour fitness doesn't care. I know otherwise. Thanks for reading this.

Flopnuts, I can't run 5 miles without stopping to walk part of the way.

Congratulations.

http://i.imgur.com/4wdnH.gif

I've never been overweight, and I have never been able to run 5 miles non stop in my life.

I'm only slightly overweight (around 6'3" and 240 pounds) and I can't WALK five miles.

I can't think of anything more worth a little bragging than losing weight and getting in shape. Its one of the hardest things to do in america (especially in the suburbs), certainly in the top 2 toughest things I've ever done in my life (and I only lost 60; 240 to 180)

Thats awesome :thumb: I need to work off my winter weight(10-15 lbs)

Maybe one of these days we could have a Chiefsplanet marathon. I bet Floppy would embarrass a lot of us.

Congrats to you, Mr. Flopnuts! Your story is a testament to human will power and it's also very inspiring. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

I don't see how people run those. I ran for 90 minutes once on a treadmill and my knee was f**ked up for a couple of weeks.

You know, I agree. Particularly when you're looking at 225lbs that you need to lose. I mean, that's more than the average man weighs. It's like trying to lose 2 adult women, heh.

That's why I try to be so active online with fatties. I know first hand how daunting it can feel at times. I didn't say much in the beginning, but now that I've lost 150lbs in total I feel like I can be a motivator for people who have none.

I appreciate the kind words, but this was really just a forum for me to announce what a thoroughly awesome company 24 Hour Fitness is. I can't believe they took the time, or spent the money. Who does that in 2010? Seriously.

Way to go Flopnuts!!

You probably need better shoes and insoles.

Marathons seem hard but when you're hydrating and eating the entire time it's a little easier.

Nothing wrong with patting yourself on the back for what you are doing.

Congrats man.

Absolutely.