From $100 Bet To 100-Pound Weight-Loss!

It started as a bet with a buddy to lose weight, but Mike wound up changing his life and making it about more than the money.

From $100 Bet To 100-Pound Weight-Loss!

Why I decided to transform

Six years ago, while having a get-together at the house, I saw a picture my sister-in-law had taken. It was of me and my kids in our swimming pool. I was in denial and didn't even recognize that it was me; I was gigantic. It knocked me on my ass, and I really wanted to cry. The image of the picture was etched into my brain while I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 290 pounds. I was like, "Damn dude, this is fucked up."

I grabbed the picture before too many people could see it and tore it up. But who was I trying to kid? The hard truth was staring me right in the face. I was 42 years old then, and pictures don't lie. I was fat. I didn't eat anything for the rest of the day. I was truly depressed.

The next day at work, I had a conversation about the picture with my good friend Miguel, who had also commented about himself gaining weight. Our conversation quickly turned into a competition, as we're always betting with one another. We ended up betting $100 that in a month's time, whoever who lost the most percentage of weight would be the winner.

Now, a hundred dollars is a lot of money, but I didn't do it for the money. My pride and dignity were on the line now. When the month was over, I ended up losing 22 pounds.

Before /// 290 lbs
After /// 190 lbs
AGE 42 / HEIGHT 6'1" / BODY FAT 34%
AGE 46 / HEIGHT 6'1" / BODY FAT 10%

How I accomplished my goals

I began to plan. Failure to plan is planning to fail. I began my fitness journey by first planning my diet, then implementing a training and exercise routine and establishing good habits that would help me achieve my goal. Maintaining discipline and a positive attitude was the key, and knowing that I had what it took to live a healthier lifestyle. I felt if others could do it, I could too.

I thought back on having learned discipline while playing sports and participating in Boy Scouts in my youth. It was now time to re-engage good, healthy habits. It was my turn to shine. I changed my diet immediately, based on the limited information on nutrition I had. When I got home from work, I began exercising by jogging with my daughter. I had total support from my family, especially my lovely wife.

It was only after having changed my diet that I really started to burn fat and keep muscle. One of the best rewards was that it seemed like everybody noticed my weight loss, which gave me more encouragement. This made me content for the time being, but also gave me a desire to push forward and continue my transformation.

What aspect challenged me the most

The biggest challenge would definitely be injuries and how to avoid them. Now I spend more time warming up and stretching, and always include warm-up sets at the beginning of training.

Having a nagging injury can hinder your plans and make goals harder to reach, and I had to learn the hard way before adding stretching exercises to my training.

Now I occasionally stretch before my workout, but usually afterward.

My future fitness plans

I would like to help others achieve their fitness and nutrition goals. I'll continue on leading and living a healthy lifestyle through training and eating healthy, and keep growing and working to improve my weak points.

I want to get better by continually raising the bar and seeing how far I can get.

How Bodybuilding.com helped me reach my goals

Bodybuilding.com has always been a great source of information and inspiration. I've literally studied thousands of different articles. I went through different workout routines they had to offer from beginner to advanced training levels.

Mike's Favorite Gym Tracks

Black Sabbath
"Iron Man"
Lil Wyte
"Crazy"
The Beastie Boys
"No Sleep Till Brooklyn"
Metallica
"Master of Puppets"