Well, it’s complete. I finished my 102-day cut, and the results were just about exactly what I hoped for.

Over that time, I lost a total of 21 pounds. At the beginning of my cut, I weighed as much as 190 pounds. At the end, I checked in as low as 169 pounds.

Before I get into a lot of detail, I should probably provide you with what most people are interested in when reading about a successful diet: the before and after pictures.

The rear photos are probably the best at depicting how much weight I lost. Everyone stores fat differently. It all depends on your genetics. For me, its in the lower back and into my love handles, and as you can see here, the difference is staggering.

Throughout the cut, the most most noticeable difference week to week was the rear photo. Slowly but surely, my waistline would inch inward, and when I view all of my photos in succession in a time lapse, it looks like the larger version of myself melts into a much more fit, new edition.

Once again, in this front view you’ve got some pretty drastic differences between these photos. My shoulders ended up looking more capped off, there’s more definition through my midsection, and a slight V-taper exists. Between both the rear and front views, you can even see my posture improve. I’m no longer hunched over, with my shoulders rolling forward.

In the end, I’m extremely happy with the results. I expected to lose 15 pounds. I hoped to lose 20 pounds. I actually lost 21 pounds.

The process was one that took a lot of structure, consistency, and determination. Hopefully, through me documenting some of this process, you saw that these characteristics can pay off.

There are no miracle foods. There isn’t one perfect exercise that will help you lose fat.

What there are, are a million different healthy foods, a million different exercises to choose from, and a determination within each and every person that can make it happen.

In case you missed anything, here’s a brief rundown of how this cutting process went, from start to finish, with links to additional articles.

First, I set my goal. After two years of bulking, it was time to see if I could make it through an extensive diet to lose fat and truly see the progress I’ve made in the gym.

Then, I went about setting up my meal plan and training split. Both worked together in coordination with very strategically planned purposes. Both were also designed with flexibility in mind, understanding that there would have to be changes along the way to account for a number of variables — fatigue, plateaus, etc.

Once I had all of those elements — my goal, my nutrition, my training — in place, it was time to get into the gym six out of seven days a week, track my macros every day, weigh myself every morning, and document my progress on a weekly basis.

Does that sound like a lot of work? Probably. And it is. It’s a lifestyle change. It’s dedicating yourself to something bigger and better than what you’re currently doing — than the lifestyle you’re currently going about day after day.

But if you want it, then there’s no reason to make excuses. There’s no reason to put it off any longer. Stop second-guessing yourself all the time and just commit to it, because in the end you’ll be better for it.

That’s the key to your success. 

If we’re lucky, we live a long life. Make it a healthy one, sacrifice a few months, and come out better in the end.

You’ll have set a goal and accomplished it. You’ll learn about the level of perseverance you truly have, and you’ll develop better work habits and attitude along the way.

You’ll also learn about your relationships with food and fitness. You’ll learn what makes your body tick, and how to manipulate your training and diet to get results. Hopefully, in the end you’ll develop the right relationship in order to move forward appropriately and live/eat intuitively.

Now that I’m finished, I can clearly see how my work ethic has improved. Magically, it’s easier for me to multitask between work and school. It’s easier for me to help out with chores around the house. Going to the gym is just a reflex, rather than being this thing I want to avoid. Things are just easier because I developed that higher level of dedication to something, and it conditioned me to be better in the long run.

This process, and the results, are something I’ve wanted to go through and achieve for a long time. In the end, I did it for myself, but I did it for another reason, too.

Something I want to do in the future is help people along similar journeys. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, learn about healthy foods, gain muscle, increase your strength, or achieve any other types of health and fitness goals, I’d like to be your coach.

A high point of this process was something totally unrelated to my progress. I was accepted into grad school to get my master’s in Health and Fitness. That’s a new long-term goal for me, as I want to learn as much as I can to help people achieve their goals.

In the meantime, I encourage you to reach out to me and let me know what your goals are and feel free to ask questions. I don’t know everything there is to know about everything, but I do know from self study and this subsequent weight-loss journey that much of my knowledge can be put into practice to achieve positive results.

I want to be a coach to help people better themselves, and if you need a coach I encourage you to reach out. My e-mail is always at the bottom of the website, as are links to the site’s social media accounts.

Thanks for reading! More content is on the way as part of my “wrap up” to this cut.