A Redditor shared his year-long body transformation, including a forgotten tactic for sustainable weight loss.

We just love body transformations here at DMARGE. There’s nothing better than seeing blokes who’ve been struggling with their weight and, often, their mental health along with it, find a way to turn it all around. In an effort to share the secrets behind their fitness success so that others can kickstart their own journeys, we share some of our favourite stories.

This twenty-eight-year-old Redditor — who posted progress pictures to the site’s dedicated subreddit under the username jadalton02 — revealed an incredible year-long transformation. Shedding 45 lbs but, more importantly, getting a popping beach bod just in time for summer, he managed to totally change his look with a lot of hard work… and one oft-overlooked tip for long-term weight loss.

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Cut, Cut, Cut

Before we get into his secret strategy, we wanted to preface it by giving our top-level top-tips on how to lose weight, whether you follow this guy’s approach or not. What follows are the broad strokes of weight loss, but the absolute basics you have to lock in.

When it comes to shedding those pounds, nailing your nutritional game is always the most important and usually most punishing step. You need to partake in a ‘cut’ by maintaining a strict calorie deficit over an extended period of time, just like Zac Efron did before filming Baywatch. Here are some general nutritional guidelines to follow, but bear in mind that nutrition varies from person to person:

1. Calculate your calories: To lose body fat, you must create a calorie deficit by consuming fewer calories than your body burns. Calculate your daily calorie needs and subtract 250-500 calories per day to create a gradual calorie deficit.
2. Eat plenty of fibre: Fibre-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help keep you feeling full and satisfied during a cut.
3. Stay hydrated: Adequate hydration is essential for optimal health and can also help curb hunger and cravings.

While this Redditor clearly went hard and fast, It’s important to note that a successful cut requires patience and consistency. It’s not advisable to try to lose too much body fat too quickly, as this can lead to muscle loss and other health problems. Aim for a gradual, sustainable rate of fat loss, and be sure to listen to your body and adjust your nutrition plan as needed. One of the Redditor’s comments proves just how paramount this is:

“Diet is 90% of it…”

The Pleasure Principle

Where this Redditor really starts spitting some facts, however, is in his “game-changing” tip for not just losing the weight, but keeping it off for good.

M/28/5’11 [220lb > 175lb = 45lb lost] (12 Months) Dropped into the 160’s but I’m try to put back on some muscle now
byu/jadalton02 inprogresspics

While so many of us are prone to treating the gym like some sort of punishment, a ritual for purging the guilt we feel for smashing a whole sleeve of biscuits or sinking thirteen beers, the key to sustainable weight loss and long-term lifestyle change is actually to enjoy the exercise you do alongside your diet.

“Starting small and prioritizing consistency over anything else Also finding active hobbies I actually enjoyed was a game changer…”

Treating the gym like a torture chamber won’t just see your weight loss plateau (or, in some cases, even totally reverse), it can ruin your mental health too. If you’re looking to make a change that will stick, find something you enjoy and the rest, as they say, is history…