It's been a struggle

leooftheyear

So about a year and a half ago, my mom introduced me to My Fitness Pal, she has always been the one nagging me about my weight, since high school if not before and has pushed Weight Watchers on me more times than i can count, i think i've tried weight watchers at least 2-3 times... but mentally my head was never there...

Sept 2012: Introduction to MFP, i started counting calories and tracking everything, which i didn't know a heck of a lot about nutition, so i was still taking the Green Coffee Bean Extract, and other such waste of money nonsense and i just wasn't getting the results i wanted. I started back at the gym, going 5-6 days a week, purly cardio with some light/cardio weight classes. I lost about 5-10 pounds between Sept 2012 and January 2013.

Spring 2013 (Cannot remember exactly which month): I was introduced to the TDEE method, which was great however, i was still having relatively little success losing weight, but i did manage to go down a size in clothes. I was still eating what i thought i had to eat to lose weight, while still halfassing it.

June 2013: I started looking more into strength training, it was right around that time that i stopped going to my cardio classes completely and decided to focus on strength training, of course i was still eating all the wrong foods and decided i didn't need to count calories.

August 2013: At the end of this month i had a work party, and i had just ordered a bunch of new work clothes, same size as i was back in March, because i stopped counting calories, and i went to put on shorts and a tank top for a summer work party and was horrified because they looked terrible and didn't fit right. I also started a new job this month so workout out kinda went out the window.

October 2013: Went to the doctors for my physical, and when she weighed me the scale said i had gained all the weight that i had lost and i got a lecture from the doctor. Of course in my own head i was doing really well and was really on top of what i was eating and i was going to the gym and the doctor and the scale could go $CREW themselves because the doctor doesn't see what i do on a daily basis so she doesn't know what she's talking about. After that doctors appointment and talking to my mom i decided to reevaluate and went to Weight Watchers, where i not only found out that the scale at the doctor didn't lie, but also my portions and eating weren't that great either...BIG SURPRISE....

November 2013: While on Weight Watchers i lost about 8lbs, which would have been good if it was consistent and i was able to keep it off; however, i found i was getting light headed at the gym and my weight was down 4lbs one week and up 2lbs the next, it just wasn't consistent and i found i was saving all my weekly points "just incase" and i really stopped enjoying eating and was always starving.

December 2013: I decided that i wanted to refocus on strength training, i did my research and started looking into New Rules of Lifting for Women. This was a much better month, while not completely successful on the scale, due to the crazy fluctuations i was seeing on the scale with Weight Watchers. I decided to come back to MFP because it was easier for me to track calories and track macros and it's free. I also got a fitbit flex for christmas.

January 2014: I officially started NROLFW and took everything they said in the book to heart and readjusted my caloric goal and my macro goals and am consistenly going to the gym and feel 100% better.... while i have not lost any real weight on the scale, i can tell you that i feel so much better than i did and i can tell in pictures that i have lost inches.

Long story short, listen to your body, and remember this is a lifestyle change not a diet.... if you view it as a diet as soon as you hit your "goal" nothing will have changed and more likely than not the old habits will come back.