I'm 5'7.5 and i was actually 37% body fat at 238 lbs.. I was pretty skinny till about 17 i would say.. When i got my licenses i was always getting fast food.. one point in my life i was drinking a lot 19-22... then long term gf break up got depressed.. When i met the girl that I'm with now who is my wife. I was 200lbs when i met her.. 4 years in i got up to 240..
Started getting real shaky all the time. Got asthma and back problems.. Finally i went to the doctor and got some blood tests done.. Not good at all. most levels were in the danger zone and my doctor told me i was heading to a heart attach by the time i was in my 30's. That was a huge wake up call.
My son was born 9-10-11 and I made him a promise to get into shape and be healthy. So when 1-1-12 rolled i made a New Years Resolution. I quite cold turkey on all the fast food i ate and soda i drank. I had a friend who was a personal trainer and he took me on. I trained with him for 3 months. Took in all the info i possible could. Then i went on my own.
5 months after the training had begun, i went back to the doctor and had the blood test again. Results were amazing. My doctor couldn't believe the change in my levels. Everything was perfect spot on.
It's now been a 1yr and 2 months and I'm still at it. It's now become a lifestyle for me. I want my boy growing up to a healthy active dad. He was my inspiration to all of this. I'm 13.9% body fat now.
same exact scenario happened to me. once i got into college and was working 2 jobs I let myself go. lots of red meat, eating out, fast food, bbq, milk, ice cream, cookies, sugars, white pasta's/breads, drinking... I didn't get to your point but i was out of shape enough where i would run half a mile then come home and throw up...
gf broke up with me and I was also in the process of building a house... so i said fuck it, when i move into that new house I am starting fresh and I am gonna get into shape. started doing yoga, totally re-vamped my diet... i lost about 45 pounds in about 5 weeks. from probably 25% body fat to 10%.... i was eating just fruits, veggies and chicken breast and i was drinking ONLY a ton of water and fresh fruit juice..
the lady who sold me the house came back to visit me and was like 'wow, what happened to you?? you aren't sick with cancer are you?" i was like nope just changed my diet and i told her exactly what i did (she was heavy), and she said "oh i couldn't do that, i have a family" and i said okay.. some people aren't willing to change thats their business
i do think its easier to be skinny all your life... let yourself go and then come back to being skinny. the people who have been fat all their life its tougher to transform.. so really both of us were able to transform quickly because of that