Andrew’s 40 lb Weight Loss Success Story

Meet Andrew! At 25 years old, Andrew felt he was too young to suffer from knee and back pain. Anxious to move better and exercise without pain, he successfully lost 40 lbs through diet and exercise.

• What is your total amount of weight lost?

On my journey I lost a total of 40 lbs. I knew I wanted to start my journey when my weight reached over 250 lbs. This was too much and my knees and back were beginning to hurt doing things I loved like running, or playing sports. I now weight 210 lbs.

• What made you choose to lose weight this time?

The thing that sparked my desire to lose weight was that I am also very involved in sports. Sports help me destress and movement always helps me feel better. When I began having pains and having more injuries during the things I loved I knew that it was time to change. I also didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I felt self conscious doing things like even going to the beach with friends. I wanted to be proud of who I saw, and at the time, I wasn’t.

• What lifestyle changes did you make on your journey?

It started by committing to the change. When I decided that I was going to lose weight, I knew that I had to be all in. For me healthy eating was the biggest change that I made. I would never have said that I ate “junk food” per se. It was the overeating and the busy lifestyle that caused me to gain weight. I was eating much more than I needed to. The first thing I did was find a couple different meals that were easy to make, and healthy. I then stuck to those and rotated through the healthy meals on different days. Being a student at the time, I found my budget was a bit tight, so I found a couple different meals that were also budget-friendly and stuck to those. I also cut down on things like ordering food. Everything I made was home-made from scratch, using foods that were both nutritious and yummy!

• What did you eat during your weight loss?

The foods I ate included things like different types of wraps! I’m a big fan of wraps due to their simplicity. It also meant not having to clean up a bunch of dishes afterward! My go to wraps were chicken wraps consisting of grilled chicken strips, whole wheat tortillas, cheese, and some light mayo and lettuce/cucumber! I also enjoyed foods like a homemade pad thai which used rice noodles, stir fry veggies and tofu! Super easy to make, and very good for having extra for leftovers the next day!

• Did you track your food?

At the beginning of the first month or two, I used Myfitnesspal to track all of my nutrition. I invested in the premium version. Not because I needed the extra features, but more so because I knew that if I was paying for the service I would be more accountable to use it daily. Once I got the feel of it, and knew how different foods affected my daily goals and progress, I was able to ween off of it a little as long as I stuck to my routine meals.

• Did you take any supplements during weight loss or now?

During my weight loss, I didn’t take any supplements at all. I would have the odd protein shake, but nothing ritual or consistent!

• How often do you exercise?

In terms of exercise, I did about 3 days at the gym per week, as well as playing volleyball most nights of the week! I found that this alongside my new nutrition, really resulted in positive weight loss that I’ve been able to keep off. There are weeks where maybe my motivation may be lacking and I’ll gain a couple of pounds back, but for the most part its been very consistent!

• What was your “why” to keep going when it got hard?

My why was because I’m 25 years old and I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I’m young, I should be in the best shape of my life but yet I’m unhappy with how I looked. This was my motivation and my why. I want to show my kids (in the future when I have them), pictures of their dad and them say “wow that was you when you were 25?!”. I believe that if I can make fitness and health a part of my life at this age, I’ll be able to do it throughout my entire life.

• How can people follow you and your journey?

After my journey, I actually started my own business helping others achieve the same thing I did. I went to school, studied kinesiology for 4 years, and through my experience in additional education, and my experience in sports, I’ve been able to help dozens of other people accomplish the same thing I did. You can follow my journey on Instagram at www.instagram.com/Iamandrewblakey or visit my website www.yourfuturefitness.com