52 pounds in 52 weeks

jemhh · January 2015

I really enjoy reading everybody's success stories. They are so inspiring and fun so I thought I'd try my hand at one and holy cow this has been hard to write. The "don't brag" and "you're not there yet" thoughts are strong, is what I'm saying. But I'm just going to tell my brain to shut it for awhile. So here goes.

I was very thin through high school. I graduated at about 115 lbs. at 5'6". I was thin but very weak. I can remember in gym class we had a unit on weightlifting and the gym teacher had me test my bench press first so I could max out immediately and then sit there and record everybody else's lifts so he didn't have to. In college I went up to 127 but was much more fit because I walked a ton. Still didn't do any strength training though.

Once I graduated from college I got an office job and turned into a typical sedentary worker bee. My weight went up, of course, and for the first time ever I started dieting. My starting point was 148 lbs. and I eventually got down to 136. Soon after, I got a promotion at work and exercising fell by the wayside due to working more hours. For the next 10+ years I did the yo-yo diet, on/off exercise thing.

(I posted these in another thread once before, I think. They are the only “before” pictures I have because I avoided getting my picture taken whenever possible. I avoided looking at myself whenever possible, actually, and the only full length mirror in the house was in my daughter’s room. Still is but now I actually use it too

.)

By January 2014, I was 202.5 pounds (50+ lbs. overweight) and extremely out of shape. My self esteem was down in the dumps and my health was headed there as well (sleep apnea, PCOS, etc.) I can remember thinking to myself that I was 37 years old and feeling like garbage due to my body had to stop. I needed to either accept myself as I was and stop moping about it or get it together and make a change.

I decided to make a lot of changes.

At that time, I was a refined carb addict. I couldn’t open a sleeve of saltines without eating the whole thing. I couldn’t eat one piece of cake without eating three pieces. On and on. I knew this was bad and possibly even moreso due to having PCOS and a family history of Type 2 diabetes. So my first change was to severely limit refined carbs. I wanted to be able to add them back in sometime but at that point I had to kill the habit. So for several months I limited them to one serving of grain (bread, pasta, etc.) and one serving of what I will call sweets (ice cream, candy, etc.) each Sunday. That was it. The rest of my carbs came from fruits, veggies, and dairy. I logged all of my food but didn’t count calories. I did a little bit of walking on the treadmill. I lost 15 pounds by the end of February.

Then in March I added in more exercise. I started with walking on the treadmill 2-3 times a week and completing the Nerd Fitness beginner bodyweight workout 2-3 times a week. The first time I did the latter, I was able to do 2 sets of 3 lunges and then I could barely walk for 3 days. I laught about it now but I was so sore at the time. But I stuck with it and added a lot of stretching and it did get easier. I then switched the walking for the C25k program. By the end of April I was at 29.7 pounds lost.

At this point, my weight loss slowed down so I started tracking calories using MFP. I switched over to the Start Bodyweight basic routine, part of which was working toward pull-ups. I had a new goal--pull-ups by the time I was 40. That gave me 2+ years to work on them. In June I also ran a 5k with a time of 34:29, which was a big improvement over the 39:42 I had run a few years prior.

In July I took a one week break to eat at maintenance. Best idea ever. I really needed a recharge at that point. I was up to 42.4 pounds lost but needed a bit of a break. That month I switched over to lifting free weights rather than doing bodyweight strength training. In August I felt confident enough to go to my 20 year high school reunion. Just being able to walk into that was a huge achievement for me.

Since then I have lost another 10 pounds for a total of 52.5 lbs. That doesn’t seem like a lot of weight to lose over six months but my body has really changed along with it. I very much believe in the honeymoon/newbie gains period of weightlifting. As Lyle McDonald puts it, overly fat newbies can build muscle even on a deficit. I think that, all too often, people ignore that and post “you can’t gain muscle when you’re in a deficit” to posters who ask about it.

Right now, I’m 150 lbs and my fat is somewhere in the 25-27% range (based on a few different estimating methods.) My goal is to get to 22% bodyfat or, as I keep saying, to whatever point I’m at when I lose the stomach. Like a lot of women with PCOS, I am apple-shaped so I hold a lot of fat in my midsection. I generally try to avoid side shot photos but I’m posting one below since I have on in my before pictures above. I’m guessing that it will take another 10-15 pounds to get to the point where that fat is minimized. I have added back some more grains (1-2 servings a day on average) but I still keep them low because I feel like it helps a lot with the PCOS.

Fitness-wise, I’m walking/running 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes or so but my main interest is lifting right. I do a Greyskull LP style program for my upper body and I’m starting the lower-body only program from Strong Curves. I benched 95 lbs this morning as a 1 rep max. I can do chin-ups. I can lunge and still walk perfectly fine afterwards

My goals in that area are mostly to get stronger and leaner, especially in my lower body which seems to lag compared to my upper body. And I’m still working toward those pull-ups but I think I can get there by age 39 in July, if not earlier.

My “now” pictures:

So that's me. I've come a long way and I'm really happy with my results so far. The biggest keys to my success have been the support of my husband (he is simply the best) and staying flexible, whether with diet breaks or changing exercise programs or a plethora of other things. I really want these changes to stick around for life so flexibility has definitely been the key.

Happy 2015 everybody!

marynb67 · January 2015

Great post! I can relate to so much of what you said (similar height, skinny but not strong in high school, family history of diabetes, etc.) I am doing C210K now, but I still have 30-35 lbs. to get to where you are. You look amazing, and this inspires me to keep going. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

TropicalParaMonster · January 2015

You look amazing. Brilliant work and you're right about the support, it pushes you further. Happy 2015 to you!

Liftng4Lis · January 2015

OH honey, BRAG! WTG You did amazing!

MindyG150 · January 2015

Wow, you cut your age in half! WTG!!!!

klkarlen · January 2015

Wow, what a fantastic change! Congratulations.

Delilahhhhhh · January 2015

Fantastic and very inspiring. You look marvelous. Loving the jeans and boots combo. Happy New Year

sekhmet13 · January 2015

Great job! Thanks for your post, you sound like you used to be a lot like me. I know now that there's nothing stopping me but me!

jemhh · January 2015

Thank you everybody!

I feel a lot younger too. Good grief do I feel younger. It's just so easy to get into that downward spiral and not see how bad it is until one day you realize you can't scratch the middle of your own back anymore or the fact that you have been avoiding walk into work with coworkers because you don't want them to hear you huff and puff on the stairs.

@sekhmet13 and @marynb67, you can both do it!