<div><p>Joel McAuliffe spent a long time being overweight, and then he decided to do something about it. In one year he lost 200 pounds and now is running races, but that's not all he's running for.</p><p>He's running for Chicopee City Council too!</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>McAuliffe posted a before and after picture on Reddit, and his results are nothing short of astonishing.</p><div><amp-reddit data-src="https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/60wsl8/one_year_and_200_pounds_later_i_went_from_not/?ref_source=embed&ref=share" layout="responsive" height="400" width="300" data-embedtype="post"></amp-reddit></div><p>He said he went from being unable to even stand as a spectator during a race to running that race in just a year. His incredible transformation saw him lose about 200 pounds!</p><p>Earlier this year McAuliffe announced he was running for Chicopee City Council. While he's been stressing his experience as a communications manager and his relationships with current council members as his strong suits, it's hard not to be impressed by his weight loss.</p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>His Reddit post garnered a lot of attention, with people writing in to congratulate him on his improvement. Some have even shared their weight loss struggles.</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/03/joel-masslive-1.jpeg" title="Joel" alt="Joel" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>MassLive</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>"Keep your head up," wrote back McAuliffe. " It took me a long time to get going. Anything and everything helps."</p><p>I'd say considering his success that's probably good advice.</p></div>