How Roy Finally Took the Leap and Lost 17 Lbs in a Month

Meet Roy…

I really don’t know what to say. To be featured on your website would be an honor. I’m not sure where to start though so I guess if you need any more information, just get back to me.

Well, to start, my name is Roy. I’m 25 years old and I live in a small town just south of San Antonio, Texas. Being from a Hispanic family, “fitness” wasn’t really taught to me or brought up as being important.

In fact, both of my grandmothers have type one diabetes. So I kind of fell into this state of learned helplessness where I thought it was just part of who I was to be obese.

Well years of bad dieting and no exercising lead me to weigh 431 lbs at the age of 25 and it was only climbing. It scared me honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever told that to anyone but it definitely gave me anxiety.

I knew if I wanted to live to see passed 30, i’d have to make a change. It started in December of last year just taking small jogs around my neighborhood.

I actually started a few days before new years because in my mind, I didn’t want this to be just a new years resolution fad that I would give up on. Well by the beginning of February I was discouraged and had all but given up.

Where does your motivation come from?

It wasn’t until one of my grandmothers bought me a scale that would read over 400lbs and told me she believed in me, that I pushed myself to join a gym. February 24th is the day that I joined and I haven’t looked back.

The gym I’m going to has great trainers and they help with every aspect of my weight loss. Even the people at my local GNC have reccomended me some great stuff to help me in my journey.

I think my biggest fear of trying to lose weight was that no one would believe in me. Or that they would discourage me from trying because I’m so far gone. I mean, you see those videos on Facebook all the time of overweight people working out with mean comments on them.

Well in just the 3 and half weeks that I’ve changed my lifestyle, I’ve gotten so many words of encouragement from friends and family, and even from people I never expected like some random guy at the gym.

This whole learned helplessness and fear of failing thing has been in my head for way too long and I don’t want to live this way any more.

So far I’ve only lost about 17 lbs but I feel so much better both mentally and physically. I’ve got a long road a head of me but I’m prepared to take on whatever comes my way.

What workout routine has worked best for you?

Yeah definitely. My workout routine is pretty basic right now. As soon as I get to the gym I hop on the treadmill and run a mile. I’m still getting used to it so it takes me about 20 minutes.

But my time is improving for sure! You’ll have to excuse my poor vocabulary for this but I have no idea what some of the machines in the gym are called.

So I hit the weights and do two arm machines and two leg machines. I’ll do 4 sets of 15 reps on each. That usually has me beat by the end. If I’m not completely tired I’ll do 4 sets of 15 arm curls.

What does your daily diet look like?

As far as my diet goes, I completely cut out soda and sugary treats. I think those were my biggest problems. For breakfast I’ll have this meal replacement called G6 Sports, I think.

I’ll mix that powder in with 1 cup of 1% low fat milk, 1 cup of non-fat Strawberry yogurt, and 1 cup of pomegranate blueberry juice. That totals up to about 636 calories. For lunch I’ll usually have some kind of cold cut sandwich on whole wheat bread and a side of carrots or Apple.

That usually totals to about 460 calories. Then I’ll finish off the day with either another meal replacement or some kind of lean meat like chicken or I’ll cook some kind of talapia meal.

That usually adds up to another 600 calories. All in all, I try to keep my calorie count just around 2000. Keep in mind, this is all new to me so I’m just going off of what some of the health tracker apps are recommending.

How has your life changed since the transformation?

Life has changed greatly for me. Mentally, I feel like I’ve got a new take on life. Before, I felt like the world was out to get me and I just really hated the person I was.

Now I’m stoked to be me. I’m not as angry all time like I used to be and I’m starting to feel comfortable in my own skin. I feel great physically too.

I used to have trouble sleeping at night and would wake up feeling so sluggish. Now I’m fast asleep when I hit the bed and early to rise in the morning. It’s been a great deal different at work as well.

What difference has it made in the quality of your life?

I used to slack off a lot and make excuses for why my tasks weren’t done. Now I’m completing all my tasks for the day ahead of schedule. My management has really taken notice as well.

Favorite Quote:

I don’t really follow quotes too much but music is everything to me. There’s a certain lyric from a metal band called Kublai Khan that has really stuck with me.

The lyricist name is Matthew Honeycut, the song is “Hunger” and the lyric is: “I’ll put it off, I say. I’ll wait until another day. But just remember, there are dogs out there who are always hungry, looking to get their fill. When you slow down they won’t. That success, hard earned sweat, becomes someone else’s meal.” To me, that just means no one else is gonna put in the work for me. I’ve got to work hard and stay hungry for my goals.