Sayre Kulp 

It's been a couple of days now and I feel secure that I am safely below the 300# mark!

As of today, 8/20 I am at 295.6 lbs. and I feel pretty darn good about that. I honestly can't remember the last time in my life that my weight was below 300 something. I am lighter now than when a lot of my friends met me, and I did it all without pills, a fad diet or surgery.

I've been exercising for 10 months and dieting for about 8 months. In that time I have lost 129.4 pounds and about 8 inches around my waist. But more importantly, I've gotten my life back. All my life I've been a big guy, but I played sports and was very active. About two years ago I noticed that I had not only stopped participating in sports (because I couldn't keep up) but that I was having a hard time walking long distances or going up steps. At 425 pounds, I was pre-diabetic and I also developed severe obstructive sleep apnea, asthma and decreased lung capacity.

Today I am no longer medicated for any of these things. I also have no problems getting around. In fact, when I started, my exercise program consisted of walking. That's it. It was really all I could handle at the time. As I started to lose, I transitioned into cycling and water aerobics and eventually running. Last night I completed my 10th 5k race by setting a new personal best time, beating my first finishing time by more than 20 minutes!

Enough gushing about me an my accomplishments. I want to say "thank you" to everyone on here who has encouraged me since my very first day on the forums. I know it takes one's self to actually do the work, but having the support and well wishes of your peers makes motivation that much easier to come by. There have been days where I (just like everyone else at one point or another) did not want to get out and ride. But I think of all the great people on here who have offered their support over the past months and I feel like I'd be letting all of you down in addition to myself.

In closing - "hooray for me" and if you're one of the other countless members of the herd, hang in there. Keep doing what you're doing. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the others here who are going through or have gone through the same things. You'd be surprised how much you can learn. If nothing else, I'll always be able to take that away from this experience. And don't worry kids, I'm not done yet. I was classified as "Super Obese" when I started this journey. Now I'm not even "Morbidly Obese" anymore - which is great because I'll be damned if I'm going to die from being fat.

Lanceoldstrong

Awesome job, that is some hard work and discipline you are showing. I am very impressed. You should be very proud.
I know, I was 240 in December '06 and now I am riding at 180.

Keep up the good work. You deserve this.

chasm54

Impressive. Congratulations. Don't stop. And if you don't mind my asking, what was your time for 5k? I'm interested because I've recently been persuaded to do some running, and am astonished at how slow I am!

Sayre Kulp 

My first time out, I "ran" a 5k in 52 minutes and change. Last night I came in at 32 minutes and change. This is by no means fast. The guys that win could have done it twice in that time. Still, it feels pretty amazing to outrun people who are literally less than 1/2 my size.

Velo Gator

Wow - your progress is insane. HUGE congrats and keep it up. I'm beyond impressed!

CraigB

Congrats, Sayre! Way to go!

I admire all you've accomplished through nothing more than your own determination, hard work and changing lifestyle. And even entering a running event as a Clyde, let alone finishing one with a new personal best time, has me uber-impressed. Even now, at 226, I can't do a leisurely jog for more than 20 seconds without wheezing like a vacuum cleaner and wanting to toss my cookies. I can push myself all I want on a bike and I'm OK, but when it comes to running, I've never been able to do the same thing. Of course I'm not sure I want to try anymore, considering my questionable 56-year old knees and hips.

gotls1

Awesome job Sayre. Seriously inspirational stuff.

jeneralist 

CONGRATS!

You rock. You know that, right?

Seattle Forrest

Holy crap! Congratulations and then some! You went from 4xx to 2xx lbs, and from walking for exercise to actually competing in races. Somebody I work with was telling me that since she got diabetes, she isn't even able to wade in water anymore because an infection could lead to bad things. It's hard to fight that trend, and every time I read about somebody dropping more weight than I have (so far) on this forum, it inspires me enough to keep at it.

mduggan

Congrats on the tremendous success. You are an inspiration to us that hard work and dedication does pay off.

Let me know when you plan on riding the C&O Canal. I ride on it almost every weekend. I would be happy to join you on the trip or at least part of it. I am looking at riding from Cumberland down to Brunswick, MD area on the C&O next May time Frame.

magohn

Good job - no pills, no surgery, no fads - just good old fashioned will and exercise.

Im always amused by celebrities who write books on weightloss and fitness after they've had lapband surgery to lose weight. Kind of like riding the Tour De France on an electric bike.... and then applauding yourself for winning.

Congrats again - old school is the only way !

Pfishingruven

The second thread I read today and the second awesome weight loss story! It is so great to see another person take control of their life and be done with being fat and unhealthy. Everything you said is so true...if only others in our situation would realize what is happening and going on. Keep up the good work! Congrats on your achievements so far.

Peter_C

Congrats to you You do know that you are *just* a plain old 'clyde' now, no more "uber-clyde" for you~!

That was my goal for 2010 as well, but I fear the shoulder surgery is setting me back - we shall see...

Congrats again, and you Should be gushing AND proud~!!

shmily_dana

Great news. Keep on going with that momentum.

Mr. Beanz

Holy shhhhhh........a-bang-bang! Cool Deal !

unabowler

Congrats, keep it up.

Bluetrane2028

You are seriously inspiration for a lot of people, including myself. I know, I was never THAT bad, but it's exactly where I was heading. Ever since you started this, every time I saw you, you were smaller than the last, and it's what I needed to get off of my butt. Thanks for that, thanks for getting started, thanks for getting ME started. We've been friends for a long time now (for those who don't know us, we've been friends since high school), I remember the days when we looked at being big and eating more than anyone else as a good thing... something tells me we both stand for something a bit better nowadays and are much better off for it. Of all the people in the world, I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be putting in 100 mile rides with YOU, let alone myself. Congrats on the weight loss, on to the next milestone!

finelargeaxe

Congratulations.

Care to meet me at 200? Or is that feasible with your body type?

This might be enough of a kick in the @$$ to get my parents riding again.

OiS

Fantastic job, that is awesome mate! You deserve to feel proud of that.

Keep up the fantastic work.

Neil_B

Bravo Sayre!

fourteen

Dude, awesome job!

Mr Danw

Good work Sayre! Keep it up.

dbikingman

Bravo for you. Looking at your one post I can take away some good examples that you set. You not only wrote down your goals, but you posted them here. Same with your weight goals. I'm sure that has to be added motivation.

YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION!

jeffwode

That is a serious achievement. You should be proud of yourself. Well done.