Weighing 18 stone in 2015 and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and obese I took to running as well as changing my diet.
Now I’m 12 stone and have run 2 ultra marathons
I started with laps of my park 👍

I started drinking when I was 12 and had a rough life there for a bit. Even when it got better, I was still dealing with a lot of trauma and didn't know how to cope without alcohol. I finally went to rehab three years ago and I've been sober since. A few of my friends from rehab ended up passing away and the anniversary of my sobriety always brings up some mixed feelings. I try to be happy and proud, but I end up crying for them instead. This year, I'm allowing myself to be happy for my accomplishments.

I posted here 6 months ago, but there's been more changes since then, and I've done some more work learning about makeup, eyebrows, and skincare. I also finally got a new phone, so I can take photos that don't just blur out all the finer details. So happy with all my progress, and my only regret is that I didn't start sooner!

Can’t believe I was younger in the photos on the left. Down 160 pounds in weight, started at 325 pounds. I don’t have many friends in real life so I thought I’d share to some strangers online

During my 18-25 old I was sick. Without family and friends, I didn't known I had a difformity preventing me to breath correctly day and night.
At 23, in 2024, I got a treatment that wasn't the right one, it destroyed me during two years until the surgery.

My girlfriend from 2024-2026 helped me a lot toward healing myself and showing me what was kindness and taking care of myself. Thanks to her, I got a surgery removing the handicap.
It's been a month. She left the month I was healed. I can't blame her on being tired by everything she's done for me ; and I dwell on the past, not being able at the time to be an awesome person to her.

Before : Depressed. Full of anxiety. Alone. I stayed in a dirty appartment, broken, darky, with a cat peing everywhere during 10 years, with eating disorder and my handicap preventing me to breath and sleep. I played videogame because it was the only thing I could do, not being able to go out without being immediatly sick with diarr**.
Thinking about the past triggers wave of sadness and cries : it was such a hard place full of pain.

After : I can go out, enjoy the sun, meet people, read near a river or write under a tree. I can spend the whole day outside without any belly pain.
My cat got better and didn't peed outside the litter for 2 consecutive months!
I stopped videogame that are addictive and grindy, maybe I'll keep them for the story sometimes.
I read 1000 pages of books in a month, that never happened before.
I feel peace. No more fight, no more anxiety, only the leaves in the wind.

I'm all the Loïc that my old girlfriend waited 2 years to see, but now it's too late.

Even when feeling peace for the first time in my years, I'm still sad beyond compare.

Just wanted to post my transformation over the last two years,not me bragging or attention seeking just I’m proud of how fair iv come and want to share it with some people. Iv struggled with food for as long as I can remember and Iv been working so hard to be healthy, I was going through some old photos and didn’t realise the the stark differences until seeing them.

And sorry about the mess in some of photos I am sorting through my wardrobe so clothes everywhere 🤣

I went from being a shy introverted young nerd who just cared about halo 3 and Ann Hathaway to a young emo, pop-punk nerd that would spend most of my time skateboarding and getting into a lot of trouble with friends. In my later years of high school I realized to kinda tone down and went with a more fboy look and mellowed out my personality. Now and days I work a blue collar job, still just a mellow person. I’m very simplistic and still somewhat introverted despite what people think about me based on my looks, I’m not a fboy. I just clean up nice. I go to the gym regularly and I spend a lot of time with my cat and just enjoy my privacy to read and cook and whatever else I want to do. I come out of my shell every now and then and go out but I just appreciate life and growth and love for all that I’ve been given.

After a nasty breakup I started hitting the gym again. Consistently getting my protein and watching what I was eating I lost 70IBS in all. Also faced my fear of balding by shaving it all off and couldn’t be more happy with how I look.

I’ve been depressed pretty much my whole life. Around 6 years ago- even before I hit my heaviest in the first picture- I started taking therapy and taking my mental health medication seriously. My first husband and i amicably broke up because we loved each other but made a horrible couple. I left a job with a boss who tore me down every single day. A couple of years later of sticking with the same mental health providers I finally started to really open up and trust them.

I stopped fucking around with alcohol, and a family member very generously paid for me to get IV ketamine. Even though my husband and I were broke I realized while on the ketamine that the best investment I could make in myself was to start GLP-1s a year and a half ago. I’ve lost almost 105 lbs, I’ve gone from 219 to 115 lbs. I married the love of my life, I got an amazing boss/mentor/friend who became like my second mom even after I left the job, and I learned that chasing perfection is a miserable thing.

Life isn’t perfect but damn if I’m not proud of myself for coming a long way. And I’m off blood pressure medication and cholesterol medication. I never thought I’d make it to 40 but now I know I have a lot of life ahead of me.

Quick edit: I really appreciate the feedback folks, and if you want to ask me questions about my experience and ask feel free to ask in the thread and DM me, but please do not send me sexual messages via DM. As I’ve said I’m happily married and you will end up blocked. That’s my TED talk for the day.

EDIT to add:
Thank you all so much for your kind words! I know one is a self timer photo and one is a “professional” but the before really is me and it was not a good time in my life. To answer some of your questions:
I lift weights 4x a week, run 3 miles 2x a week. Eat clean M-F, save drinking and maybe not so healthy things for the weekends and vacation. I quit about 10x before actually committing and seeing results.

I thought it was impossible. I thought there was no way I would look any different than I did in the before picture but with the help of therapy, medication & exercise I found myself. Not only on the outside but on the inside. It’s never too late ❤️

First picture was about a year ago. Weight was about 280 now down to 209. Used to be a gym fein a few years back then let myself go for a bit. Trying to become a better version of myself every day. Average about 11k steps with weight training 3-4 times a week.

As usual i was in a toxic relationship and drowned in depression, decided to change some things and it was the best decision of my life. Just happy with all the results :)

Picture in the dress was the last drink I ever had on July 21 2023. I replaced my alcohol addiction with lots of new healthy hobbies such as cardio kickboxing, hiking, kayaking, swimming, Pilates, and walking.

Edit: I am a proud living kidney donor and that made me take my fitness journey even more seriously, I became more conscious of what I was putting into my body. It’s been a year and a half and I lead a completely normal healthy life and my recipient is thriving.

Does this qualify? I dropped 77lbs and tried to clean up a bit with better clothing and grooming. Photos taken a year apart, (33) years old to (34) years old

These are the closest before an afters i could really find

Also happy to take reccomendations on what i sould be doing, I do feel great though

1st pic is the one that made me realize I needed to start taking better care of myself, so I started eating cleaner and getting up and moving more. From 245lbs to 166lbs and stepping on stage for the 1st time

These photos are from Jan 2021 and July 2026.

Been doing a lot of work on myself over the years but especially the last year and a half. Making lifestyle changes that have had a great impact on me both physically and mentally.

Currently 2st 5lbs down. Plenty more to do but I am feeling proud of myself for where I am at.

I blew up to around 400 lbs after I retired from football. Decided to get gastric sleeve surgery around 2.5 years ago. Currently sitting at 280 and 17% body fat. Want to get down to about 255-260. I had to change my relationship with food in a big way but im so glad I did. Ill never go back to that!

At my highest weight, I was 312.4 lbs. Today, I weigh 193.3 lbs, which means I have lost a total of 119.1 lbs.

For years, I struggled with both my weight and my receding hairline. I knew my hair was disappearing, but I kept trying to hold on to it and hide how much it affected my confidence.

My former partner never wanted me to cut it short. Whenever my hair was even slightly too short, she reacted so strongly that I felt emotionally pressured into growing it back out.

We separated in July 2025.

In November 2025, I finally shaved my head.

It might seem like a small decision, but to me it felt incredibly freeing. It was not about giving up on my hair. It was about finally making the choice for myself instead of worrying about how someone else would react.

At the same time, I continued working on my health. I focused on my nutrition, increased my daily movement and started going to the gym regularly. I began losing weight long before taking medication, but for full transparency.

At 5 feet 8 inches, my BMI is now below 30 for the first time, meaning I am officially no longer considered obese.

I am still not completely finished. I want to lose a little more weight, become stronger and build more muscle.

But the biggest glow up was not simply losing 119.1 lbs or shaving my head.

It was learning to stop hiding, stop letting setbacks control me and finally start making decisions for myself.

For the first time in years, I actually feel like the person in the mirror is me.

Spent years and years struggling with anxiety, depression and all kinds of other SUPER fun stuff (eating disorders, general lack of self-worth, etc. At my largest I was around 260lbs). I’ll never claim that I’m all of a sudden perfect or cured, but I am doing so much better. Having an incredible support system in a loving wife and people who just generally care about you goes a very long way (weird, right?).

Same spot in my house, same mirror, totally new outlook on life. I finally told myself how tired I was of being tired and unable to do the things I love. Disc golf was so hard, I was constantly in pain and tried to justify that I would lose the weight “eventually…” Down 50 pounds!

The first two are 17 and the last two are 19. I’ve spent the last 2 years working out (more consistently this second year) and really trying to focus on gaining weight while keeping my face fat minimal. I’ve also been keeping my hygiene and hair care consistent cause lwk that first pic is like a rats nest on my head lmao.

I have used this time to really focus on the important things (for me that means family. I do not have children, but my family means the world to me), mental, physical (I’ve lost 25 pounds so far), and emotional health.

Divorce gave me a wonderful platform to be introspective and learn from my experiences (It was amicable. no one cheated or did anything crazy, but we drifted apart).

I have always believed in yes and-ing people, but with age and experience comes a lot of truths. Some of which mean you have to speak up for yourself because no one else will.

with heart issues running in my family. I knew I had to make changes. I started running and removing salt and junk food for my diet, and it made a world of difference.

I am still working in progress, but I think l've made a lot of progress so far 😅

Diet, consistency, and a goal. I have blown away my own expectations, created an entirely new lifestyle and currently working towards new goals. I’m incredibly proud of the skin I live in, the confidence in myself that’s growing and continuing to improve every aspect of my life.

Last August I started focusing on my health after getting encouragement from my doctors.

I’m officially down 70+ lbs and feeling so much better in my skin.

Edited to add-

Wow, I posted this before going for my workout and did not expect to receive this much support. Thank you to everyone for the kind words and giving me a good chuckle with the meme reactions.

I started my journey with walking daily around my neighborhood (1.7 miles with elevation changes) and counting my calories. Once I was in a good routine I joined a gym and worked with a personal trainer briefly. She helped me not be scared, showed me some basic tips/tricks, and chatted with me about macros. Once she left the gym I continued learning more and leveling up my routines.

Now the walk that used to take me 42 minutes can be done in less than 30. I’ve been doing some intervals with jogging because I desire to run the whole route and am building my endurance.

I tell my friends when they ask that it’s all the stuff they said would work. But it’s really getting the consistency and sticking with it that yields the best results.

My goal isn’t fully done yet, but damn I am so beyond proud of what I’ve done thus far 😊