Before & After

Welcome to "Same Old Sh*t" Saturday. This one, I like to think, speaks for itself...

To tell you the truth, I didn’t want to do it.

Put my photograph on this site.

I enjoyed being a mysterious, enigmatic fellow, a guy that could get away with saying any damn thing because he spoke from the shadows. But one day I realized that even though I kid around, even though I sometimes play loosey-goosey with language, even though I often seem to make light of this hellacious journey we’re all on… it’s really serious business for me.

It dawned on me one day that not having my progress photo on my blog was undercutting my message. I mean, I can talk all day long about the benefits of dropping 50, 75, 100 pounds, and some of you may even listen. But if I show you…


We’re visual people, you and I, and the impact of a massive transformation can lift us up, motivate us, remind us that what we’re attempting to achieve isn’t some impossible, pie-in-the-sky quest; the simple fact is that folks are doing it every day.

People just like you and me.

Rachel from Body By Pizza

I stumbled into this weight-loss blogging business the same way you probably did, looking for new ideas to help pull me out of my comfy Lazy-Boy lifestyle. Looking for new weapons in the war I knew I needed to wage against my uncooperative body. Looking for new answers to an age-old question: “How do I lose this weight?”

JAG from JAG's Diet & Fitness Blog

But in the end, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t seeking a how-to manual.

I was looking for hope.

Diane from Fit to the Finish

Seeing photographic proof of a successful weight-loss journey just stirs something deep within you, awakens some sleeping giant that resides in the solemn places of the soul.

Karen from Not Just Celery

It inspires.

It’s a flare to guide our way in the dark, a wind at our back that helps propel us through choppy waters.

Tricia from Endurance Isn't Only Physical

These aren’t people who plunked down two bucks at a convenience store counter and lucked their way into a Powerball jackpot. They planned and they persevered, they plotted and they plugged away at it. They dropped their excuses and picked up healthy new habits.

TJ from TJ's Test Kitchen

They had good days and bad, successes and setbacks. They may have even questioned if it was all worth it a time or two along the way. But they stuck with it, kept on keeping on, and…

Greta from Big Bottom Blogger

Well, what’s it they say about a picture being worth a thousand words?

Sean from The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser

These photos are validations that, while these kinds of life-changing occurrences don’t happen overnight, they do happen. They don’t happen without a great deal of sacrifice and a huge amount of effort, but there’s not a one of us who have achieved it that would say it wasn’t worth all the effort and all the sacrifice in the end.

Jen from Prior Fat Girl

Wherever you are on this journey, whether it’s contemplating taking that first hesitant step or rounding third and heading for home, I hope you’ll meet the challenge you face with courage and commitment.

Tony from The Anti-Jared

I hope you’ll stick with it on the hard days and make it back to your feet when you stumble.

Bitch Cakes at *Bitch Cakes*

But most of all… I hope to see those photos when you’re done.