Introduce Yourself: Drew goes from 'fat' to 'fit' in 2016

Hello fellow Steemers! I'm Andrew, a 27 year old software engineer who approximately 6 months ago started on a journey to fitness. In my blog I will discuss the challenges of getting in shape and also celebrate the many victories and triumphs that come with it. 

My fitness journal began January 28th, 2016 when I finally decided enough was enough and that I was ready to get into shape. I wasn't significantly overweight, but I had put on some extra pounds overtime and eventually it became too much. So I set out with a goal to lose ~53 pounds. I contacted a friend who had just gone through a very similar experience, and got started weight lifting for the first time in my life. It was tough to get used to at first, but I came to embrace it over time. I also started running (which I dreaded!) but found that the mix of strength training and cardio was really helpful in getting the pounds to fall off.

Overtime I came to really embrace running, and it became a competition for me (I am in most everything I do a very competitive person). I enrolled in a few 5k races, and eventually in a 10k and I did well in them and saw significant progress week over week. I set my sights on a half marathon, but it wasn't until after I completed the 10k that I felt that I could really achieve that. Eventually, recently I signed up for a half marathon at the end of September. The furthest distance I have completed to date is 9 miles, but I am confident that over the next 9 weeks I will be able to ramp up my mileage to successfully complete the half marathon (and hopefully with a time around 2 hours 30 minutes or less!).

To date I have lost ~32 pounds in 6 months, and an within 20 pounds of my goal weight. In 6 months I have improved my 5k (3.1 miles) running time by over 12 minutes, increased my strength and lifting capabilities tremendously, and significantly improved my overall health and wellness. Stay tuned as I continue to prepare for the half marathon (and who knows what will come after that) and along the way we will discuss my training schedule, dietary changes, how to stay motivated, and much more!