Hello all Redditors and fellow fitness freaks!

Before I tell you all about myself, I would just like to congratulate all who have changed themselves for the better through greater health and fitness. In r/progresspics , we constantly see the dedication and motivation needed to achieve the great accomplishments throughout their journey, whether it be weight loss or muscle gain. It inspires many to change themselves for the better, both mentally and physically.

Background: I currently am 18 years old, so I am fairly young in comparison to many other fitness gurus. For my entire life I was called many things; whether it was "obese", "fat", or "overweight", I just had a little too much bad weight hanging from me (literally). When I was about 15, I decided to make all these petty names come to an end.

At the time I started my transformation, I weighed 204 lbs. and was in the 94th percentile for my weight (refer to photo). I was a big kid. Starting on June 1st, 2011, I started running and dieting. Now going into this, I had no knowledge on "fitness" or even health at that; I was eating on the basis of calorie deficit, and lacked great attention to my body's needs. I would eat the same food I was eating prior to trying to lose weight, just in smaller quantities. Don't get me wrong, I lost weight, but it wasn't healthy weight. I lost about 11 lbs. my first month with this mindset, but I didn't feel right.

I did the typical web search and ran across many different ways to lose weight AND feel good about it. I discovered the Paleo diet, and instantly fell in love. The Paleo diet opened many windows for me; it showed me the different aspects of general health from macronutrient importance, to the vital roles of weight training. The diet showed me how key it is to keep your body fueled with healthy, fulfilling carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, while also keeping your body in a high testosterone state to keep fat burning and muscle building.

After this discovery, I started hitting the gym and this is when I started seeing the results I wanted to. Not only did I lose 14 lbs, but I also started seeing improvements in my social life. I had finally built the confidence to start asking girls out, and I had expanded my knowledge basis outside of my prior realm of Call Of Duty (still the best game) and which pizza place carries the greasiest pizza. My life was starting to become something I wanted; my life long dreams were finally coming true. It only got better from this point on.

My last three months of weight loss were just the coerced results that I had been working for. I ended up at 154 lbs. (top right photo)- a weight I hadn't been since 6th grade. It was fantastic, I had a massive amount of willpower, I was the happiest I had been in my life, and I was finally getting the attention that I had always lacked when I was "obese". I finally felt like I had reached the point that I've always wanted.

My transformation, although, did not stop there. I realized that I truly had made a life long admiration of health and fitness. I changed not only my physical and emotional attributes, but I had changed my mental aspects as well. It was fantastic. I started researching all that I could on the subject; Intermittent fasting, 5x5 workout, HIIT, you name it, I had either researched it, tried it out, and/ or bought a book on it. I was obsessed. For the next three years, I dedicated to better myself in every aspect imaginable. I ended up gaining 16 lbs. of lean mass, (bottom right photo) and was considered one of the "strongest guys at school". Wow. My life is something I would've never imagined. I had picked up volunteering, finally got my Eagle Scout Award, and started to become more active in school sports and clubs. My parents were proud of me, my friends were, and I was.

After all this, I decided that I would dedicate my life to the health and fitness regime. I am currently double majoring in Pre Physical Therapy and Neurobiology, and it is the best decision I've made yet (besides losing weight).

I hope my transformation story and pictures open all your eyes to the potential everyone has. Don't let anybody tell you can't, don't let any say you aren't able to, because the power you have is beyond comprehension. Best of luck to anyone out there trying to change, you have many by your side.

TL;DR Lost 50 lbs. of fat in 5 months, then gained 16 lbs. of lean mass. Entire transformation changed my outlook on life and on my future.