Weight Loss Inspiration

Nathan at his highest weight.

When I first started this journey I had few inspirations, The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover Weightloss Edition come to mind. They only took me so far. They never really elevated me. They gave me some very unrealistic aspirations. It wasn't until this year that I got my first burst of external inspiration, and it came from YouTube. When I first started this blog in January I often mentioned how I searched the weigh loss journey tag in YouTube to find others embarking on their journey. I found quite a few, but the biggest inspiration came  from a guy named Nathan Gleason. He had uploaded a video of a day's worth of his eating, and  logged them into Myfitnesspal. His videos weren't big budget, action packed, or full of suspense, but they were very honest, humble, and insightful.

He uploaded videos daily for almost two months consecutively, and
I loved them. He made meals that looked delicious (not to mention having impressive food plating skills), he ate a lot of raw vegetables, and pretty much lived on boneless skinless chicken breast. I was quite fascinated with his journey. He had already lost a significant amount of weight, and was continuing to lose. He started his weight loss journey at roughly 420 pounds, and has come a very long, and impressive way in an incredibly short amount of time.

Nathan's on-scale victories 2015

He was just a normal guy that was losing a ton of weight, with little to no exercise initially, just by cutting back. He introduced me to intermittent fasting, that admittedly, I got a little reckless with. He eventually got burnt out of making videos every day, and hasn't done one in some time now, but we have connected through various other social media platforms (Instagram, myfitnesspal, Facebook). He continues to lose, and inspire, he seems very level headed about things. I'm not sure why I've  taken to him so much, I guess I see not only a bit of myself in him, but also my friends too, he could easily fit in with us, 15 years ago, and now.

I think one of the most motivating things about him, is how self aware he is. He openly admits to drinking diet sodas throughout his journey in spite of its reputation. Proving that in moderation certain things don't  need to be cut. He also plans for his cheat days quite realistically. Ive seen him be quite hard on him self in quite a few videos where he thought he had over done it, and I was scratching my head. He seems like his head is always in the right place, and that his end goal is always on his mind. In April he told me he indulged a bit one day and had a single slice of cheese pizza. What!? That is madness. That is some incredible self control. He has given me some pretty great advice, about eating more protein rich food, and lowering carbs, and like many of you, suggested the dreaded smaller goals concept. 

Over 120 pounds down, and counting.

I definitely consider him a friend, and aside from being a genuinely good person, he is an inspiration to the weight loss community. He is a guy that decided to lose weight, he took control, he is like me or anyone else out there. He is proof you can do it. He has tackled a lot of issues throughout his video series like how he allowed his weight to hold him back from going to college, to the loose skin he is already dealing with. This is a brave guy, very real, and relatable. He is a continuing weight loss success story. That's why he has been my biggest weight loss inspiration. Here's to you Nate!