‘One’derland… 117 lbs lost – Pics and journey story!

AShannon54 · October 2014

Height: 6’0”
Age: 30
SW: 316 lbs - BMI 42.86 (Obese Class III)
CW: 199 lbs - BMI 26.99 (Overweight)
GW: 180 lbs - BMI 24.41 (Normal)

As of today - 37% body mass lost

I officially hit my first major goal – 199 lbs before my 31st birthday (which is in two days)! After my 2nd son was born, I went to my 6 week checkup and I had managed to gain weight after his birth. I was at 316 lbs and I told myself right there on the scale at the doctor’s office that I was going to get back to where I was 10 years ago… no excuses.

That was April 3rd, 2014. Now, 26 weeks later I hit my original goal I set out to do – be under 200 pounds by my 31st birthday. It was an over ambitious goal that I set and honestly didn’t think I would really hit. My reasoning was that if I set the bar really high, that in the end I would make significant progress even if I fell a bit short.

Every single day of the last 182 days has been a challenge and I never let myself have an excuse not to accomplish my goals. I work full time at a demanding sales job. I have two boys that were both under the age of two. I had knee and back pain. We have a tight budget we live on. (No time, no money and injuries) I had to crash through these walls one by one.

There have been tears, arguments and awkward moments. Learning to eat healthy portions, learning what foods were good for me, learning to say no (politely) to desserts and alcohol in social and work situations. Every time it got easier and slowly the people around me knew that I was serious about my new life. They become supportive… or at least respectful to the process.

No pills, special drinks or fad diets (two people have asked me if I had surgery). I maintained a daily intake of 1200-1500 calories a day and I get exercise as much as I can. I allow myself to eat what I want, as long as I hit my daily calories goals. Of course, I now gravitate to lean protein, veggies, fruits, oatmeal and low fat dairy simply so I can eat more and stay within goal. Eating two cups of fruit is much more satisfying than 10 potato chips.

For exercise, I started off slow and over time the workouts have gotten more intense. In the beginning it was walking and using bottles of water for hand weights to do small exercises. Then I dusted off an ancient elliptical machine from the back of our garage and used that until I broke it. I enjoyed doing Wii cardio boxing for a couple of months and then eventually found my new passion which is running. I completed the C25K program and now I run anywhere from 3 to 6 miles at a time. I run every other day. My hand weights are now 10lbs each and I do other strength training at home like squats, leg raises, arm circles, ect.

I can only say that this has worked for me and that every person’s body is different. I am not a doctor or any type of health expert. I listened to my body and I was getting results so I stuck to my plan. I will soon be upping calories once I hit my goal weight.

Every person needs to find their own passion and motivation. Overcome your fears and your excuses and hold on to your passion and dreams.

AShannon54 · October 2014

For my face comparison photo... I went and found the same shirt and necklace I was wearing in the 'before' photo for a better comparison. The shirt is way to big to wear now-a-days!!!