I was fat. Really fat. I don’t say overweight; that would be making light of the situation I found myself in after years of neglecting my nutrition and health. I was facing failing health and issues that, if not attacked head-on, would kill me.

After a lot of consideration and reading, I undertook a lifestyle that I would be able to stick with for the rest of my life that I could actually enjoy without suffering and being hungry. I also wanted a lifestyle where I could use exercise for strength and stamina and not to regulate my weight. I didn’t want to become a gym rat. What I came upon was Whole30 and Paleo.

The hardest part was addressing my relationship with food. I had to break up with sweets, foods with high-carbs, and those that had added sugars. Breaking up was hard to do, but like being in a bad or abusive relationship, I had to get out and not look in the rear view mirror. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t hard, either. It had to be done, I did it, and I moved on.

Once we began our journey, we took strength from each other. We would bolster each others’ resolve to stick with it, to eat right, to eat serving sizes that were correct, and to avoid temptation. Some days were harder than others, and there were times when one of us had to pick the other back up, but we did it as a team, and we overcame the darkest days.

After a few months, we found that we had settled comfortably into our new lifestyle. Our foods were no longer different; they were our meals. They no longer had strange textures; they were our meals. The foods that we thought we didn’t like or weren’t our favorites were quickly becoming foods we enjoyed and looked forward to. What surprised me the most was that many of the foods I swore would be so difficult to give up no longer looked appealing to me anymore. Bread, pasta, donuts, cake, sweets: none of these elicit cravings anymore. Temptation has all but evaporated for these items for me.

Nearly a year after beginning, I’ve lost over 105 lbs (125 lbs total weight from my heaviest), and I feel great. I have more energy, more flexibility, and I feel better in every aspect of my life. Although it’s been eleven months, the transformation feels like it took place overnight. I still marvel at the changes that have taken place. I am still surprised by the man looking back at me in the mirror every morning.

I am often asked what the secret or the key to my success has been. I think the best answer is that I had a ring of keys that led to my success:

• Information: I was armed with a lot of information that allowed me to make an informed decision about what lifestyle to adopt.
• Teamwork: I had my wife to help me get through this. She planned and made our meals, and motivated me when I needed it.
• Mindset: I broke up with bad foods and decided to stick with this no matter what. I ignored cravings in the beginning of my journey and stuck with it with steely dedication.

I didn’t see results overnight. I didn’t even really see the results after my first month when I lost 20 lbs. I have to say that I lost over 50 lbs before I could really see the changes, and a full 80 lbs before I felt like I had really made changes that others would see. Now at over 105 lbs lost, the changes are too large to ignore, and even people who I’ve known for decades sometimes don’t recognize me.

The best part of my story is that it can be your story, too. You can do this. I have no super power that makes me special or allowed me to lose all this weight. My story is not atypical or unattainable. You can do this; you just have to be as strict and motivated about it as I am. I promise you that if you put in the effort, you will see results.