New Theme: The Wednesday WOOT! Factor

Hey Kittens!! Happy Hump Day!! Today marks the beginning of a new them on this blog- from this day forward, Wednesdays are going to be The Wednesday Woot! Factor day. I'm going to feature a new blogger or "fitness celebrity" every week so you can learn about fabulous new peeps like I am! Sound cool? And of course, if you have someone amazing that everyone should hear about, send them my way, I will schedule them in and would love to profile anyone with a GREAT fitness outlook, a great positive outlook on LIFE and something to say! ;-)

Today I am featuring a fellow I met on Twitter. I saw a tweet from @theantijared and had to check him out. This guy has lost over 200 POUNDS people!! And he's not wimpy skinny, he is BUFF! You can check out his blog by CLICKING HERE. 

I asked Tony some questions, and if you have questions for Tony, leave them in the comments!! And again, do you have nominations for future Wednesday Woot! Factor?? Nominate YOU!! I'm all about sharing the bloggy love, y'all!!

Q&A With Tony:

How did you get to the point where you were heavy/unhealthy and what was the turning point that made you decide to change?
I have always been overweight. Ever since I was a kid I have been chasing this dream to be skinny.
I would fluctuate with weight for a long long time. Then, I got to over 400 pounds. I needed to do it, not to put on pants, but to live. To survive. I got to that point by not being active. By eating a good amount of processed foods. By truly not caring. My wife helped me care. Now my son does the same.

Did you have doubters?
I think the weight loss industry is full of doubters. Although one person says "I know you can" I believe in the back of people's minds, they do not believe it can be done.
My story is weird. There are so many 400 plus people who say they are going to lose weight. Some do, some do not. I still have doubters. As long as I do not doubt myself.

Did you ever think you'd end up looking and feeling like you do now?
Yes and no. Once I started I knew I was going to lose weight. I have done it for a long time, I was pretty confident I would do it again. During my weight loss, I realized that I do not want to be skinny. I do not even know what that means. I have seen so many people who are 130 who say they are so fat and hate themselves. I did/do not want to be that guy. So I started to work out. Not with machines, but with free weights. I started to gain muscle. That is a scary thing for a weight loss guy to do.

 What KEEPS you going now??
I love it. I am not an expert. I am learning every day. I enjoy working through my issues and changing up my workouts. I have learned a lot about myself in the last two and a half years. I am a better person because of it.

What kept you going early on before you were really seeing changes?Every day you feel better. You are happy with good decisions, with saying no to things. It is so important. The scale helps as well. Not every day, but ever week or month it can be a great tool.

BIO: I am in Orlando, FL. My name is Tony, aka theantijared. I am married to a wonderful woman, I have a little boy and a pup and two cats. I was over 400 pounds, and lost over 200. For the last year and a half I have been finding myself. I have gained muscle and I do think that people can change....if they want to.

Pretty awesome stuff isn't it? Check out Tony and you can follow him on Twitter- @theantijared.

Here is today's vlog-a-thon.