From 172kg (380 lbs) to 90kg (198 lbs) in just one year

Dear fellow runtastic user,

My name is Steffen Wegerer, I am 42 years young and an avid sportsman. You might think – why is that so special? As of now nothing, except I might not have written this story 15 months ago. At that time I weighed 172 kg (380lbs) and led a sedentary life, lying around, barely able to walk up a flight of stairs. That was the limit of my strength.

Up until January 1^st, 2011 swimming, running or cycling were just words I knew from watching TV or reading books. In January 2011 I woke up and decided to change my life.

I decided to battle my weight problem with the Low Carb method. Why Low Carb? I was inspired by the book “Metabolic Power” by Dr. Ulrich Strunz and knowing that everything else I tried before (and they were not just little attempts) had not worked for me. Eating protein, starting to move more, dealing with a little hunger…didn’t sound too bad at first and it wasn‘t. In the first few weeks I lived off of protein shakes, which I mixed with water instead of milk to save calories and I “pulled through” like this for 4 weeks.

In February, already 9kg (20lbs) lighter, I exercised for the first time in years. Nordic walking was my introduction to a new active lifestyle. In order not to lose motivation, I made the decision to make my project public. I told friends, colleagues and others and put my progress on the Internet for everybody to see.

Since I am tech savvy, I started looking for a suitable fitness app for my smartphone. Ultimately, after trying a few apps, I “stuck” with runtastic and was motivated to continue my training. The main reason I used this app was that it gave me the ability to monitor my pulse and stay in the optimum zone of fat burning.  I always had my smartphone with me; so the app was the perfect solution. I got addicted to reviewing all the great details of my activities including maps, calories burned and pulse zones. These were fun to look at and made me want to work harder and do more.

Over the months, I started to integrate small amounts of running into my walking. In the beginning, I could run only 10 meters (33 feet), then 50m (165ft), 100m (330ft) and 1000m (3300ft). After countless workouts and calories burnt, I started losing more weight and feeling great. For the first time in 20 years I weighed less than 100kg (220lbs). The amazement at seeing a two digit weight on the scale was priceless!

To stay motivated, I rewarded myself with small comforts. As the pounds dropped off and I felt better about myself, I would buy more fashionable clothing in smaller sizes and promised myself to never buy a larger size than the last. I was constantly tempted to eat unhealthy, but to moderate this I would treat myself to the occasional piece of chocolate or plate of pasta – as my weight started to drop.

Today my weight fluctuates between 92 – 97kg (203 – 213lb). I do not want to see the number 100 again on my scale.

Now I am training for my next big goals, to finish a triathlon (Olympic distance) and run a half marathon.

As you can see I changed my life and I know you can change your life too. For me, I let my weight and laziness get in the way and I had given up.

I hope that my story motivates others to lose weight and feel better. I would be happy if I can help someone get healthier, more fit and on the path to an improved life.

You can follow my progress and contact me with any questions on my website http://www.run2life.de. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Team runtastic congratulates Steffen and wishes him all the best for the future.