How I Lost 100 Pounds and Kept it Off

Yep, I lost 100 pounds. I'm male, 6'1", and at my highest weight, I was 285. I didn't consider myself out of shape back then, but realistically, my mile time was horrid. I had a 44-inch waist. Now, I have a 31 inch waist, and my mile time is in the 5's. It's been an interesting journey though. Here are some of the steps that led to it.

1 - Sports. My sport of choice was baseball - yours could be football, basketball, soccer, martial arts, you name it. By no means am I any good at the sport, but just the practices and games combined led me to lose 15-20 pounds within some months. This was only the beginning though - by no means was this the most important step.

2 - Dance Dance Revolution. Yeah, you heard me right. That game with the 4 arrows. I got it for my birthday, and began playing half an hour a day. Then an hour. Then I moved up from medium difficulties to extremely hard ones, eventually getting to the point where I was beating them without a hitch. Any cardio can be subbed for DDR - just be sure to do it so hard that you're covered in sweat and panting like a dog.

3 - Weightlifting. Resistance training puts muscle on you, but it also helps to keep the muscle while you're losing the fat, thus improving your tone. In addition, you will notice your heart racing after intense sets of lifting. That's because when you tax your anaerobic system, your aerobic system is what re-energizes it. Thus, it's like you're getting a cardio workout in just from lifting.

4 - Sprinting. Running as fast as you can for 15-60 seconds at a time, depending on your fitness level. This works on the same principle as 3, but way more. Beware, though - when you first start hitting the sprints hard, you will be sore for 3-5 days at a time afterwards. Your body will get used to them though, and you will be able to sprint more often. If you really wanna make it tough, do the Tabata protocol - sprint 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, sprint 20 seconds, rest 10, etc. There is no quicker, more effective workout in the WORLD when the rest breaks are that short.