How did you motivate yourself to start improving your body and how successful have you been since?

I didn't motivate myself. Honestly something just snapped inside me and I'd had enough of the lifestyle I was leading. Cleaned up my diet and started exercising. Nine months in and it's my lifestyle now. I was having a bad workout last night because I didn't get enough sleep, but I knew I would feel like shit if I quite early so even though it took two hours, I got it done. And then I cooked food for the next two days when I got home. All I wanted to do was play Cities: Skylines, but I only got 45 minutes of game time as a result. Compared to me 2 years ago, this discipline is huge.

I'm in the best shape of my life and I have no intention of stopping. If I had to pick out one motivating factor, I would say it's that I was always kind of insecure about my body, the way clothes fit, etc. As a result of an increasingly poor diet, I also kind of felt like shit all the time, and I was starting to look it. I thought how horribly depressing it would be to grow old and never experience what it was like to feel sexy and comfortable with my body. That, and also at 28 I had been through some shit the last few years, and I realized how fast time was moving. A year, two years, it's not much time at all in the scheme of things. It's like the say, one year from now you'll wish you had started today. That became my reality, and with the above I think was my main catalyst for significant lifestyle change.

To get started, hit up /r/fitness and read the FAQ. I'd start focusing on diet, since that will have the most significant and immediate impact on your health and appearance, and if your diet isn't on point, workouts will suffer. Then you can get started on exercise. I started weight training and what helped me get started was setting up some sessions with a quality PT. He really helped me learn about different lifts, good programming, and good nutrition, and he inspired me too.

/r/AskMen Thread