Read this inspirting weight loss success story of Chris Spann and how cycling changed his life.
About a year ago, my life reached its lowest point.
I’d been overweight and insomniac for a while, that much was true – but I’d learned to deal with that by just daydreaming the days away in work and pretending that not being able to find clothes that fit wasn’t a problem.
That was easy.
What wasn’t easy however, was the relationship I was in falling apart, nor the fact that as a result of that I was now homeless.
This was March last year, and my life was at its nadir. What did I do? Well, I went away and cried about it is what I did, for about a week. I cried, ate grapes and smoked cigarettes, and that was it for a whole seven days … Until one day I had a thought.
“My life can’t get any worse”, I thought to myself, “so why not make it better?” And that’s exactly what I did.
However, a diet isn’t just the food you eat, it’s exercise as well. From the moment I made the choice to fix my life up, I started exercising too. Initially, this was just on an exercise bike in the apartment that I shared with a friend of mine – and a great companion it was in those early days of huffing, puffing and sweat: I was a big chap, and I feel sorry for making that poor thing put up with me sweating away on it for two hours a week.
I’ll tell you something though: The weight was dropping off me. When I started in May, I weighed 299lbs – by the time I moved house in July I had dropped around 40 lbs or so, and showed no signs of slowing down. Some of you might not believe me, but as sure as I’m sat here writing this, I lost that much weight in that period of time through nothing more than exercise and willpower.
Anyway, moving house meant no more exercise bike, so what did I do? I got myself a mountain bike, of course.
That bike now goes everywhere with me. I’m not the quickest cyclist in the world, nor am I the coolest looking (my pale legs in shorts means I try to avoid schools so I don’t terrify any children), but there’s no better feeling than getting out first thing in the morning and getting ten miles beneath your belt before breakfast. Last summer I was averaging 40 miles a week, and I can tell you now that every drop of sweat, every aching calf and every ragged breath was worth it.
As you might be able to tell, I didn’t stop at 40 lbs. I kept going, and in November of last year, I reached my goal weight of 199lbs – exactly 100 lbs lighter than when I started (I’ve actually settled at around 194 lbs, but that’s by the by). I probably don’t need to tell you how incredible that felt, standing there not only knowing that I’d achieved something phenomenal, but also that for the first time in years, I was healthy.
Well, nearly.
At this point I was still a smoker, and that had to go, too.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any great story to share with you about this: I’d love to tell you about how I searched my soul and dredged the willpower up from the depths of my heart … but in reality, I found it very easy. Any time I felt the cravings kick in, I simply told myself that yes, I may want to smoke, but unfortunately I couldn’t because I’d quit. You’d be amazed at how well this worked, in truth – and in a little more than two weeks, I was smoke free … and finally happy.
If you’re trying to make a life change but you’re struggling, don’t give up! Doing something like this can make you happier than you’d ever believe – the depressed, overweight insomniac you met at the start of this article wouldn’t believe that, but the confident, healthy, well-slept man stood in front of you now wants to shout it from the rooftop – which is why I wrote this blog.
To connect with Chris, click here, or follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cs87. To learn more about his weight loss success story, click here.
Want to lose weight through biking but can’t find a bike that can support your weight? Visit Zize Bikes, the maker of bicycles for heavy riders which can support weight up to 550 pounds.
