I found my old khaki shorts in the closet this weekend.

These have a 48-inch waist and while you can’t see them, I’m actually wearing shorts with a 34-inch waist behind these monsters.

This is your dose of motivation for the day.  Look at the pictures above and realize that you can lose weight.  I know it seems like a slow process, and trust me, it is, but anything is possible if you want it bad enough.

The only thing stopping you is you.

The first picture is one of the very first before shots I ever posted.  It was at a cousin’s wedding in December of 2008, right before I started my journey.

I remember the day this picture was taken.

It took me hours to find a decent dress shirt and pants — I couldn’t make a trip to my beloved Big & Tall store due to a lack of time, I had to rely on the mall.  I finally found a 4XL shirt at Dillard’s and a pair of khakis (48 or 50 w) to accompany it.

My wife and I drove separately to the church as I had to stay late for work.  Walking into the church and meeting her before the ceremony I remember telling her how horrible I looked.  I was sweating profusely (like always), my shirt was constantly becoming untucked, and I was just generally uncomfortable around all of these beautiful people dressed up in their Sunday best.

Bluntly, and truthfully, I felt like a big fat slob.

Fast forward a wedding.  This time I watched my sister get married.  It was an outdoor wedding, yet I didn’t have a drop of sweat on me.  I wore shirts and pants that were teetering between a medium and a large.  I must have received at least 20 comments about my looks from family and folks who haven’t seen me in the last several months. People were pointing.

I walked up to two different family members at the wedding, shook their hands and stared right into their faces, and they just didn’t recognize me…

I had to tell them my name.

On the left of the comparison shots below you’ll see me in July 2005 on my wedding day.  On the right, this morning, at the WLTX (CBS) studios with a local celebrity Cocky, the mascot for the University of South Carolina.

Notice how much I was sweating on the left — my hair was drenched.  One thing I remember about being obese was how much I used to sweat all the time, regardless of what I was wearing or how cold it was.

And yes, those are (small) muscles forming.  I plan on turning into a 6′2″ tank by the end of 2010.  It’ll be a lot of work, but it’s not like I’m alone.

I hope these pictures motivate you as much as they do me.

Here’s yet another picture of me before I lost 130+ pounds.

I see a dying, extremely uncomfortable and unhappy 23-year old.

What do you see?

I was in the middle of writing a long-winded post on how to motivate yourself to lose weight again and I simply couldn’t finish writing it.  Nothing should motivate you, or me, more than this:

On the left:  4XL shirt, 48-inch waist pants, sleep apnea, high blood pressure.
On the right:  Large shirt, 34-inch waist pants and a clean bill of health.

All in a matter of 42 weeks.