A bit of history is in order. It would be wrong to say, that I grew up a heavy kid, but my weight has always played a big role, and I've been pretty fat at times, but usually lost it again.
In my late teens, I was pretty active, did a lot of skateboarding, running, stuff like that, and through my 20s, I was active at work, because I worked in stores, you know, standing most of the day, and such.
Then I started working at an office, and stopped smoking around the same time. I never worked out, and was hanging out with people, who had pretty unhealthy lifestyles, junk food, lots of cola, and a of us were gamers (and still are), and it kinda became the way we lived.
Cut to 2007, I was really fat at the time, maybe around 135-140 kilos, but finally got my act together, and started working out at work, because we have a small gym in the basement. I was doing well, and the weight dropped to about 120 kilos, but my body hurt like hell, and I just thought, that I was getting old (I'm turning 39 in 3 weeks). Because it hurt, I cut down on the work out, and in the beginning of 2008, I busted my knee at a concert. Because I'm a man, and not that smart, I didn't go to the doctor, until like six months later, it wasn't that bad, I just limped, and couldn't work out. I finally got the knee fixed, and it took forever to get better.
From 2008 and on, I got fatter and fatter. Looking at pictures from 2010 and 2011, I probably went to 160+ kilos. I was really unhappy at the time, which meant more beer, more pizza, more candy, making things worse, and my body started acting up. I got an autoimmune disease, something in my right eye, and I have no idea what it's called in English. My body hurt like hell, if I tried to work out, my muscles would tense up, and my back was killing me. I also started pushing friends and family away, I couldn't handle being with many people at a time, and got lonely.
I decided to go to a gym, had one session, and my back hurt a month, this is January 2012. My sister then called me up, and told me that she had some of the same issues, that I had, and her doctor found out, that she had a massive vitamin D deficiency, and I was maybe suffering from the same thing, and there it was, the answer to most of my troubles.
I started taking vitamin D, and a month later, I went from always being in pain, to lifting heavy sh*t, without any back problems at all. A few more months passed, and since the beginning of StarCraft 2, I'd followed the scene, and I suddenly realized, that the gamer lifestyle is compatible with healthy food, and working out, most of the players actually stated, that they play better, if they are in good shape.
At this point, I was already cutting down on junk food, and that is hard, don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Fat and sugar, that sh*t is like drugs, but I probably lost maybe 10+ kilos, and my weight was 150 kilos, maybe a bit more.
I knew from experience, that if you're a heavy guy, you just don't go out and run 10 km., if you do, you only do it once, so I started slowly. My sister and brother-in-law got me a bike, and that really helped me.
In some podcast, I heard that if you do anything for a month straight, it becomes a habit, so I set out to work out/be active at least 3 times a week, in late june 2012. It worked like a charm, and I was up and running (not litteraly, because of my bad knee). Trial and error, and a lot of reading, help me to figure out what to eat, how much, and how I should work out - to put it simple: I started eating healthy, and got my ass off the chair.
My philosophy was to not be too strict, I'm only human, and I get cravings too, you know, cake, candy ect. I knew that if I deny myself these little sidesteps, I would fail, and just overeat at some point. It worked, I've had a few setbacks on the way, but since june 2012, I've never gained weight, only lost weight.
I've tweaked my new way of life multiple times, and food and drinks, I wasn't ready to give up maybe six months ago, are almost gone now, I hardly drink alcohol anymore. I work out/am active at least five times every week, and I feel amazing. The vitamin D deficiency probably also caused a depression, and I've rediscovered feelings, long forgotten.
So, how did eSports help me? Incontrol, Machine, and MaddeLisk to name a few. These people have been a great inspiration to turn my life around. Gamers who are in shape, and stay in shape. Thanks for being awesome, guys.
Oh, and you probably wanna know how much I've lost. My starting point was 150 kilos, I was probably a bit heavier in june 2012, but I don't know how much. Now I weight 102 kilos, I've lost 48 kilos in 11 months, and I'm not done yet. Getting below 100 kilos is the first big goal, then I'm aiming for 90 kilos, and after that, whatever makes sense, taking in to account my muscle mass and so on.
November 2011 (at my fattest):
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May 2013:
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June 2012 vs. May 2013:
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