My Weight Loss Journey (size 18-20 to size 12-14) still going........(pics)

jorinya

Hi everyone,

I'm Joanne, 35, mum of four fantastic kids. I've never had a problem with my weight until after my little girl, my fourth child was born. I started adding weight when I started not to care what I ate and boy did I eat. I'm living in Lagos, Nigeria and the food here is really tempting and it did just that. I didn't watch my portion sizes and eat lots of chin chin, groundnut, biscuits and some of my daughters Pringles.
I was very sick over Christmas and as a result had to go to the doctors. I weighed in at 95kg/209lbs. The doctor said I needed to lose weight fast but didn't give advise on how to do it. My husband went to the clinic in his workplace and was told about CWP, which worked perfect for me as only liquids did not hurt my stomach. I started 25 March weighing in at 91kg/200lb.




My measurements as of that day were: (inches)
Waist: 43, Hips: 50, Chest/Bust: 39, Arms: 13 1/2, Top belly: 40, Bottom belly: 46.

Two weeks later I was 86kg/189lb. Stood on the scales in you consultants office and........ wait for it.......86kg. What!!!! Oh my God!! I have lost weight. I hugged her and she laughed, telling me that I'm the one that did it and not her. 5kg (11lb) gone. It was working. I was loosing weight.



Week three/four:
Back in to consultant, stepped on the scales and...... 83kg (182lb). 3kg (6lb) gone again. Ok time to start working out, get stronger and increase calorie intake a little bit. See what happens!! My strength came back. I had suffered an attack f typhoid last year and was very ill. Around week 2 into my journey I had noticed I was still feeling sick after been I'll over the Christmas and recovered but I didn't get treatment. My brother-in-law came to the house with herbal medicine for me to take but damage was done that's why I had to choose CWP, under doctors supervision. So back to week 3/4:


Started walking as much as I could around the estate, to the shop about a mile away and up and dwn the stairs as many times as I could manage without falling down but that was not enough for me. Then I found my old Pump It Up DVD. Put it on, manages 30 mins then........ DVD stopped playing..... it was scratched. Oh crap!!!!
Went on YouTube, found it there and started working out.

Week five:

Ok so with being sick before I sort of ate some foods I wasn't allowed to on the plan because I knew it would help the medicine work its magic! Wasn't expecting a big result but then......
Back to the consultant and back on the scales and 81 (178lb). That was two days ago and after eating my breakfast and drinking about 3 glasses of water.





Week seven

Started to add more veg and more protein, seeing what hurts my stomach and what is safe for me to eat. I'm full of energy throughout the day so in the evening I do 30 Day Shred as my workout and walk around the estate during the day as an added exercise. I don't know how many times I climb the stairs a day even if I don't have to go upstairs. I'll just for a laugh. 15 May weighed in at 79kg/174lb.
Measurements now:
Waist 36, Hips 45, Bust 36, Arms 12, Top Belly 34, Bottom Belly 42.

Starting BMI 35.7
Current BMI 31.0

Im nt finished yet. I've gone from 95kg to 79kg, from size 18-20 down to 12-14.

cdcruizer05

Great job taking control of your life, and dropping the pounds! Keep up the good work!

Ciler_80

wow look at you. u doing good my friend. thanks to you seen you i have hope for me. i know for sure i will see you reach your goal and you will see me. yay for you. congrats. so far so good keep going. seeing you like this really push me for more be cause if u can i can too

ObiWanJacoby_

Congrats!!! Keep up the great work!!

chrisjonesy2k

awesome job,keep up the good work

jorinya

@cdcruizer05 thank you. You're so kind.
@Ciler_80 Girl, we will both reach our goals and the celebration will be so big they will be talking about it for years,lol. Seriously, you are doing great. Loving what I'm seeing!! Its my MFP friends like you that give me the strength and focus to persevere. Thanks for being there!!! We're on this road together!!
@ObiWanJacoby_ thanks. From your pick see you have done really well yourself.
@chrisjonesy2k thank you so much. You are one of my inspirations so a comment like that from you is GREAT!!!!!

gle8442

Congratulations! I used to live in Cameroon and I remember so well the chin chin, boiled groundnuts, koki beans, scotch eggs... so much good food! But it is also harder to count calories with so many foods are unlabeled. You look great, best of luck.

jorinya

@gle8442 thanks very much. I understand what you mean. I think NAFDAC should do something about that. But I doubt that will happen.

jorinya

Quick update:
I injured my lower back and pelvic muscles due to over stretching an old injury when getting up too fast from the couch. Silly me. Rested for a few days then my husband got sick so I gave up my workout to take care of my darling. He is better now. I've recovered from my injury and am now back on Day 3 of 30 Day Shred Level 1, 2 and 3. Weigh in is not till next Friday because of recovery but going this Friday just to touch base.

erojoy

This is an awesome post! Good Job! I hope you reach all of your goals.

amitglinkedin

Awesome...great

jorinya

@erojoy Thanks very much. You're such a sweetheart. Struggling to meet my goal for this week so extended it a few days so that I don't get frustrated and stop.
@amitglinkedin Thank you. Anything is possible if you just believe you can do it!

smkondy

Fantastic Job!!!

jorinya

@smkondy, thank you very much.

AnneLSam

Wow! You look great and your new self-confidence is all over your face! Congratulations!

jorinya

@AnneLSam, thank you so much. I'm happier than I have been in a long time. Glad it shows

praksindiafit

Great going..nice to put up week by week...keep posting.. it gives us all more hope..

jorinya

@praksindiafit, hope is a great thing, it helps you live life to the fullest. Without hope, life would be horrible. I hope I reach my target weight, I hope I will set a good example for my kids, I hope I'm there for them when they are older and need me most. Next update will be next week once I see my consultant and weigh in and get measured. Thank so much for your comment.

jorinya

Quick update as I am really happy with myself and want to share it. I'm on level 3 of 30 Day Shred, day 4 after restarting due to unrelated injury and I managed to do full sit ups and all the plank movements with easy. Its been over 14 years since I did a sit up. I'm on my way to being fit and healthy again and I feel on top of the world. Full sit ups were impossible for me to do due to having 4 c-sections, or that was what the doctors told me. Today I proved them wrong. If I can do it then you can do more. Just believe you can do it and you are half way there.

jorinya

Week 8:
OK so I'm now officially over two months into my journey, 8 weeks and 2 days to be exact and I am now 78kg, 171lbs. I have lost over 12kg, almost 27lbs which is almost 2 stone weight gone. I can't believe it. I am back to the weight I was before my little girl was born over three years ago. I have only 12kg to reach my goal weight. Today I celebrated by eating a normal breakfast and adding some carbs. In a few minutes I'm going to tuck into potatoes and butter, yummy. Might have a bit of chicken and veggies but not sure as I am just so happy. No PIC to update today but will do measurements. Possibly will add pic on Friday or Monday. So watch this space.

Starting Measurements: (22 March 2015)
Weight: 91kg. BMI: 35.7
Waist: 43. Hips: 50. Bust: 39. Arms: 13.5. Top Belly: 40. Bottom Belly: 46 Thighs: unknown (didn't want to measure)

Current Measurements: (25 May 2015)
Weight: 78kg. BMI: 30.3
Waist: 35. Hips: 44. Bust: 38. Arms: 12. Top Belly: 33. Bottom Belly: 41. Thighs: 22 (for further ref for me)

Thanks to Cambridge Weight Plan (Nigeria), my consultant, my doctors, my wonderful darling husband and four amazing kids and of course you guys and gals on MFP, I am now past the midpoint of my weight loss journey and coming to the closing stretch. You guys rock!

jorinya

PIC update:




Tummy gone now. Yippee!

Kerry211168

You're looking great! An inspiration to me as I was just over 200 pounds (not so long ago) and a size 18 - 20, I am at the beginning but have lost 12 pounds and my goal is to get down to a size 12 - 14, I have another 36 pounds to lose to get to 11 stone, I think that's realistic for me.

jorinya

@Kerry211168, thanks so much. That's why I posted so that others can see that its possible. I'm going to see I'd I can lose a bit more because still a little heavier that when I had my little girl. My goal for this month is to get to 76-77 kg or 167- 169 lbs. I'm almost there. Slow and steady is best. You've done so well so far. Keep up the good work. Enjoy every minute.

North44

You look great- you have such a cute figure! I also have four kids and I also gained weight after having the fourth. Life just got so busy and I started to go to food and drink for pleasure more than I had before. After my baby (she's 10 now) went off to school I started to take time for me- doing things like playing tennis!

jorinya

@North44, thanks very much. We always feel like we are the only one that have gained weight because of pregnancy. Truth is even the dad's add weight. I felt everyone was judging me because I was fat. I saw it as the price I had to pay for having my kids. Had I known I could lose weight the way I am doing, I would have started ages ago. We live and learn.
Wow, you are doing something I want to do which is great. Once my little girl in school I'm gonna do a distance learning course, probably in psychology. Set up my own weight loss clinic here in Nigeria, will start training once I'm near my target weight and then its looking after me time.
You're amazing. What an inspiration to me!

jorinya

Just a comparison on before and mid journey. Half way there now. Almost at my monthly goal of 77kg or 169lbs. Not sure if I will make it but will try my best.

jorinya

Update:

Disaster struck! Unable to workout due to illness. Won't know when I can workout until Wednesday's scan on my abdomen. Target for last month not met due to this stupid illness. I'm going to wait till after I'm taken off the antibiotics and other meds and then give it a week before attempting to stand on the scales to weigh in. All I can do is sit and wait. Going to try to walk for 10 mins a round the estate until I feel better. In constant pain since Friday but its slowly dying down. Doctors not allowing ms to eat carbs until further notice, hopefully will no when after the scan. One good thing to come out of this - actually 2 things:
1) Doctors have set my target weight to 70kg or 154lbs. So I have only 8kg left.
2) The nurses that fat shamed me in January and the doctor that didn't really help were shocked when they saw me on Friday and Saturday in the hospital. Some of them even asked me for advise on losing weight!

marievinejackson

I hadn't seen this tread before.

Your doing so well!! Don't let this little set back get you down, get better and then carry on.

Thanks for supporting me to xxx

jorinya

@marievinejackson, thank hun. Don't know why you didn't see it before but yep here's my story. Tomorrow will tell when I can get back to training. Bit nervous but well better to know the truth than worry. Anytime you need me I'm right here!

jorinya

Still I'll. Scales shows 77kg but I'm not logging it. Will wait till Monday and see what it says then.
Pic update:






@arian10daddy today asked me to post a more recent pic of myself because I mentioned my hair was longer than my previous pic (the one in a red top). Even though I am still feeling weak and I'll, I got up from my couch where I am resting, dressed up and took the pic. I hope he is happy that I rose to his challenge because he hasn't said thanks for updating yet, lol.
I will update my weight and measurements as soon as I'm feeling better.

yopeeps025

Chin chin is so damn good though. I couldn't eat that in moderation.