Once upon a time...

Before I lost 80+lbs and began strength training and running I was a sedentary and obese smoker. I was going through some old video and came across some footage of me after the point I wouldn't let people take picture of me anymore. I'm sharing here because I hope it will inspire someone else to stop smoking and get healthy. I was at least 260lbs here (I also stopped weighing myself at 257 and didn't get on the scale for a long time!) and smoking about a pack and a half of cigarettes a day.

I had really begun to feel sick and miserable all the time. Breathing was painful and difficult because of all of the pressure of my own weight on my chest. When I got a cold it was a terrible ordeal. I also have asthma and have had it since childhood but that never stopped me from smoking! If you're trapped in a sick shell of a body that you don't even recognize anymore just understand you don't have to be that way. You can make the changes no matter your age and live the rest of your life healthy and free from obesity and cigarette addiction.

The weird thing is even though I have changed my body so significantly sometimes I still look in the mirror and see that guy and feel like I'm that big. I hope someday that feeling will go away.