Bring on XL

I include the Christmas tree picture 1 year later. I feel great and am about 7 lbs away from 250 lbs. That puts me down 85 lbs. When I started, 250 lbs was my pie in the sky goal. I am no where near ready to quit now that I am almost there though. For Christmas I have asked for clothes as mine are all too big. For the first time in about 13 years I can wear a size XL shirt. I am walking 10 miles per week and jogging for 1/2 mile stretches here and there. At this time I don't ever see myself running for any distance though, it just isn't that fun. A note on my wife Shawn's progress -- she reached her goal last month, losing a total of 70 lbs. She looks incredible and continues to give me inspiration as well as support.

People Noticing

Here I am with my oldest daughter Sandis in August of 2005. I am down 66 lbs at this point. People have finally started noticing my weight loss, or more likely are now sure enough about to bring it up to me. I already feel like a new man by this time. I am out walking 6-10 miles a week. I've bought some new clothes, but not many. I'm going through sizes fast enough new clothes wouldn't last long. Mostly I'm digging into old clothes I never threw away, but never really thought I'd wear again either.

Big Brian

That's the old me. Big Brian. In the neighborhood of 340 lbs! The top picture was taken at a Colorado Rockies game in September 2004. The first picture below was taken in December 2004 while we were cutting our Christmas tree. The third picture isn't really a before picture, can you believe I had already lost about 25 lbs at that point! Wow. At the end of 2004 I was wearing size 48 pants and XXXL shirts. In March 2005 I joined Weight Watchers. I went in looking for help in losing weight because I had no idea how to -- it was the first time in my life that I had tried to lose weight. What I found was not a "diet" though, it was a change in lifestyle. A diet is something that you are someday finished with. I plan on eating and acting healthy for the rest of my life. I'm done being Big Brian. In addition to the support of Weight Watchers, I could not have accomplished any of this without the support of my wife Shawn who started this journey with me.