Greg's Running Blog

I took another set of pictures today. This photo is the 3 month mark in my transformation. I just find my progress pretty incredible especially when considering the short time frame that it has occurred in. They say there is no such thing as localized fat loss and everything comes off in the same order as it has packed on. But since I have started running I can see that my thighs and hips are the areas where I’m losing the most from. Maybe it was time for those areas to shrink regardless of the type of exercise. Either way I’m glad to see the legs melting away.

As you can see I have changed underwear. Well I change underwear every day, sometimes more than once a day, what I meant is that I changed underwear for the daily pictures. I used to wear briefs from sweatitiout.com that were made out of CoolMax, a Dupont material that wicks away sweat. But as my weight has gotten smaller the briefs have gotten bigger and they are becoming too big and too baggy. So I had to try some new ones. I never really thought too much of the brand Under Armour and I thought they were only for the hip, young generation and they were a bunch of BS. Well last night I bought a couple of pairs of their HeatGear 3″ Short Boxerjocks. They are awesome! They’re ridiculously expensive, $20 for a pair of underwear, but they’re fantastic. I don’t think I’ll be wearing anything else from now on that is how comfortable I think they are. Sadly I will need to invest in a couple more pairs to make a full set that will last me between laundry days.

I also think I’m getting better at the 45 degree poses. This one is almost good enough. I still suck at it but I think I suck a bit less than before.

One more thing I have noticed now is that I can actually see a small bump on my bicep what appears to be an underlying vein. I’m getting ripped enough in my arm now that I can actually see a vein. I have never seen one before in my entire life! It is certainly way too exciting to see changes like these. Mind you they’re not clearly defined but when I look closely I can see it and I can certainly feel it. A result of dropping my bicep size from 16″+ to 13.5″ which seems pretty pathetic but at least it’s (mostly) muscle now. Losing size from my bicep has certainly been a mixed feeling. It’s great to lose all the fat but it just shows how pathetic my arms truly are.

01/26/2010 Transformation Picture

Another photo update. The next one will be my 3 month mark, I’m only 4 days away from it. Since I have started running I have noticed my legs getting more definition in my quads especially. I’m by no means ripped but it’s looking better and better. The measuring tape has been mean to me this time, no mentionable change from last time. My weight is looking good though so I’ll keep hacking at it. I feel really good in my skin now, it is truly amazing just how much more energy I have than before.

01/22/2010 Transformation Picture

Getting my bi-weekly photos taken is turning into a real chore. It’s not really the taking of the pictures, it’s the setup, the breakdown the post processing that takes a lot of time. And on some days I just don’t have the time to do it or I’d rather spend it something else. Regardless, I have made a commitment and I will definitely not flake out at the mid point. I will keep on doing it as long as it takes to get to my target weight and target body. After that I’m done! I might post a monthly update photo but no more of this four day update.

My weight is actually identical to the weight it was 4 days ago on the last photo day. The photos kind of concur with that fact meaning they really don’t show much improvement if any. Had I taken two sets on 01/14 and sold one of the to you as a new set of the 18th you would have bought it. But these were really taken today. If nothing the hair gives away the change in time. It’s growing like crazy. Numbers wise my calf is back to 14.5″, a quarter inch drop, and my hips and waist are down a quarter of an inch.

01/18/2010 Transformation Picture

Here is another photo update. My tape measurement numbers have started shrinking again in all areas. My weight has also dropped drastically by 4.2 lbs (1.9 kg) over the past 4 days. I’m sure it will bounce up as it probably has been mostly water, there is no way I ws on a 3,500 calorie daily deficit even with all the running I have been putting in. My bicep has shrink again by 0.25″ now it’s down to 13.75″ I think the fat is shedding off of the back side now as I can see some of my triceps now. Chest and thighs are down 0.25″ and hips are down 0.5″. When I lie on my back now my stomach is actually sunken in below my ribcage. It’s a great feeling and I’m getting more and more exciting about where I’m heading. My hamstrings are getting also more visible in the back of my leg I’m sure the running helps the legs a lot.

01/14/2010 Transformation Picture

Here is my current state. I’m still not pretty but I’m getting there . From the last time I didn’t change too much but I think my triceps are coming in better with less fat around them, my flexed bicep measurement is about to drop a quarter of an inch, just not quite there yet. My calf got bigger by 0.25″ and my chest got smaller by the same amount. My hips went back to 41″, a 0.5″ drop from last time and same as it was 8 days ago. Other than that not much has changed. I can also see a bit more definition in my back. Now if I could just lose those love handles soon that’d be awesome. I guess those will take some more time.

01/10/2010 Transformation Picture

I took another set of pictures tonight. My chest and thigh went down a bit and my hip went up. I must have measured it wrong the last time. My hair is getting longer and I can’t take a decent 45 degree shot for the life of me, especially now that my father-in-law wasn’t around to keep me entertained. I can definitely see more definition in my back and my love handles seem smaller too. I’ll have to get a haircut before the next set I’m sure.

Another thing that I had to do today was I had to remove a link from my watch’s bracelet. It seems like that even my wrist has shrunk. I’ll have to adjust my other watches too but for now I’ll just wear this one. My wedding ring and my school ring are practically falling off my fingers now, I don’t know what I’m going to do about them.

Today I have also received two unsolicited compliments from co-workers who didn’t know that I have been working out and reducing my calories for the past two and a half months. It felt pretty good that people who see me every day also starting to recognize my weight loss. I can actually see a visible difference even from my December pictures to today’s. I also asked a co-worker to help me punch some extra holes on my belt as I’m all out of holes. We joked around saying that he buys longer belts on purpose just to have to take them to work and ask co-workers to punch holes in them so it looks impressive. Needless to say that is not the case with mine, I really needed a new hole and I punched a second one for the future.

01/06/2010 Transformation Picture

New year, same pictures. This is the first set of pictures of 2010 and they show strong progress from the beginning but they also show just how much further I have to go. Since the last picture I have skipped two cardio sessions and did no strength training. I didn’t expect my numbers to be great and they didn’t really change. The only thing that has changed is a whole inch drop on my hip. Everything else is the same. As for looks, the pictures really don’t look too much different than the last set either. Except for my 45 degree shot which turned out great thanks to my father-in-law. He’s been staying with us for the past three weeks and he made plenty of fun of me for taking these pictures. As I was taking them tonight he cracked some more jokes at my expense and I couldn’t help but laugh hard. Thanks to the laughing I’m grinning ear to ear on this one. Here it is.

01/02/2010 Transformation Picture

Looks like the size gain on my bicep and calf was just temporarily. They are back to where they were a week ago. Chest and thigh has shrunk another 0.25 inch. I had an equipment malfunction during the last set of photos so their lighting was not perfect but this time I had it all sorted out. The side shot shows my gut to be a bit bigger this time than last time but the tape says that it’s smaller. My back is looking better for sure. Other than this, not much else has changed. Considering just how little I have been exercising lately I think I did OK.

12/29/2009 Transformation Picture

Today’s photo session was OK. I have actually gained 0.7 lbs since the last photos but I think there is now more definition in my back. My bicep, calf and thighs have grown a quarter of an inch but my hips and chest has gone down half an inch. Either the fat is migrating around or I have gained muscle in my extremities or I just measured them wrong before. Something is definitely going on. I guess time will tell what really is happening.

12/25/2009 Transformation Picture

Tonight’s photo update was pretty uneventful. I think it shows a bit of an improvement from the last one but probably not enough to make it worth talking about. What is different though is my face. Last time I was under the weather and did not want to take the pictures while today I was feeling pretty good and I was looking forward to see the results. My problem with these pictures is still that every time I look at them I see a really fat guy who needs to lose a lot of weight, which is definitely the truth. But to me I look just as fat as I looked 8 weeks ago. Until I actually look at the pictures from 8 weeks ago. at that point I’m in total shock and I can’t imagine how I managed to let myself go so badly.

In terms of numbers My calf has shrunk another quarter of an inch and so did my hips. My thigh and neck dropped half an inch so I’m definitely seeing more weight falling off of me in terms of measurements. Weight wise I’m down 6.4 lbs from my last photo but I’m sure most of that was water that I have gained back during my sickness last week.

12/21/2009 Transformation Picture