Success after being overweight since childhood?

waverue

Hi all, I could really use a dose of success stories from folks who have been overweight since childhood. I feel like so many stories are folks who put on weight in adulthood and had to take it off, but what about those who have been large forever and do not even know anything different!? I am a 35 year old 5'5" female and have 100 more pounds to lose to get to my goal weight of 160...a weight I haven't been since I was age 10 or so. I have had the battery of tests every few years since I was 5 (hormone, thyroid, etc) and nothing seems apparent in that department. I eat well and am an active person despite my size, so restricting calories further and upping my fitness time is a challenge but one I am committed to. Just could use some pep talks from people who have always carried a lot of extra weight and still managed to lose it. I have lost 25 and am at a plateau that is very frustrating considering the 100 more I have to go! This my first time reaching out for support but read success stories every few days for motivation and very much appreciate this venue! Thanks!

deucetres

I'm interested to hear from people on this as well. I haven't seen a number on the scale below 200 since I was about 8.

star1407

I'm interested in hearing this too

penrbrown

*raises hand* I USED to be a success story until life kicked my *kitten*. Following because I hope to be a success story again and also I'm interested to hear from others who have been overweight since childhood.

Ninkyou

I've been packing on the weight since my grandmother passed away on my birthday when I was 11. I'm 33 now. I'm only 5'2 and my highest weight in 2013 was 211.6 lbs. That's when I began losing weight. I too have had bloodwork and all of my numbers have been in normal to upper normal ranges. I started June 2013 to lose weight. I reached 155 lbs (so, 56 lbs lost) the beginning of May 2014 when (as planned) I became pregnant with my second child. I continued using MFP to log my foods and help me gain a healthy amount of weight for my BMI. I gained 24.6 lbs with her and delivered January 2015. I've since gone on to lose that pregnancy weight and am currently 134.8 lbs. I hit a "Normal BMI" last month and maintained pretty much all month (holiday indulgences) and have worked that all off. I'm not at goal yet, (somewhere between 110-115) but I don't doubt I'll get there. Probably will hit it this year too.

Oliver_Cat_13

I would love to hear some success stories of people who have been overweight since childhood. I have been "the fat girl" for as long as I can remember. When I was 6 years old playing house with my friends on the playground, one girl told me that I had to play the mommy "because I was the fattest".

I was a size 14/16 throughout middle school and early high school, until I went away to boarding school my junior year and gained 50 pounds in 8 months. My weight has only gone up from there, and I've gained another 100 pounds since I started college 6 years ago.

I weighed 325 pounds a month ago, and I'm down to 314 now... I would like to eventually end up back around 175/180 where I was when I was 16. I haven't seen a number on the scale under 200 since then, and I would love to reach the "ONEderland" that I keep hearing about.

I have a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer that I'm trying to stave off, and I'm currently suffering from PCOS. My hope is that I can develop better habits, kick my PCOS, and be healthy for many years to come.

ElvenToad

Here!

I've been overweight/obese since I was a child. I've never been at a healthy weight, never worn clothing that wasn't plus sized. Even in middle school my mom had to make all my clothes because shopping was a nightmare. I am 33 years old now, and I knew it was time for change after a lifetime of horrid eating habits.

My mentality was always that I thought I was too far gone already, and what was the point? I'd rather just sit on the couch and stuff my face, that's easy to do. It was comforting to do. It was all I wanted to do. I would eat massive quantities of food, feel super stuffed, and then get mad that I had to wait to eat more. This was how I lived my life, everyday. That emotional bond I had with food was more important to me than anything. It was my stress reliever, my feel good pick me up, my best friend. I found happiness in food that I was missing in other parts of my life. It was a cycle, I felt trapped, hopeless. I thought dieting was punishment, and that starving myself was the only way to lose weight. I knew food made me happy, but I knew the physical consequences of my eating habits made me miserable. I was desperate for change for a long time, and because of that I felt sorry for myself. I was stuck, it was eat what I want and just keep getting bigger, or eat "diet" food to lose weight. That was always torture for me and I always went back to my old ways.

I was tired of living my life this way. I was exhausted just doing daily chores around the house, my feet hurt if I stood up for more than 10 minutes at a time. I was just miserable. Feb 28th 2014. This day was not like any other day, it was the day I stopped feeling sorry for myself and decided I was going to break free. I didn't know how exactly, but I thought I would try calorie counting and see if that would help me. I actually considered paying for weight watchers that day, after a bit of googling "calorie counting". Weight watchers didn't give me any info without a credit card so I kept going down the list of search results. Myfitnesspal... hmm.. this is free? I signed up, spent the entire day reading the resources, forums, and trying to educate myself on weight loss. I knew nothing about nutrition, never paid attention to calories a day in my life. I made a plan, decided that no matter what I was going to commit to it. I made some friends, found all the nice stickies, I learned a lot.

I went into this process cold turkey, just jumped in head first and stuck to my calorie goal. I wanted to lose weight MORE than I wanted to continue along the path that I was on so I sucked it up so to speak. I put myself on a set eating schedule, that worked really well for me. I learned that it was ok to feel a little hungry between meals and snacks. A few weeks later I bought myself a food scale, and a Fitbit zip. Logged everything to the best of my ability. Bought a nice insulated water bottle, that goes with me everywhere. The weight started coming off! I CAN DO THIS!

Once I got my intake down and felt comfortable with the amount of food I was eating I then started to try new recipes and look for foods that had better macros yet were still tasty and satisfying. Once I found meals and snacks that I knew would be sustainable for me it made things so much easier. I learned that losing weight doesn't have to be torture, you can still eat the foods you enjoy if you eat them in moderation. I still eat out once a week, and I just adjust accordingly. If unplanned foods or treats find their way to me, I just shift my day around to make room for them, or if I don't think they are worth the calories I just don't eat them. I've learned how to balance everything, and I no longer feel emotionally attached to food. Treats are wonderful, I make sure to have one every week but they are not the main staple of my diet anymore.

My plans now are to continue losing weight, get to a healthy body fat % somewhere around 130lbs. I'm hoping to be there within the next 6-7 months. Learn how to maintain once I get to goal, and just keep on weighing and logging my food. Being more active and eating healthy feels good. For the first year I had to talk myself into my daily workout.. now I just get up and do it without even giving it much thought. This is a part of me now, there is no going back ever! I feel like I've conquered my disordered eating habits, I don't like that overly stuffed feeling anymore. I can tell the difference between true hunger, and boredom hunger now. I definitely don't think I would have been as successful without my food scale and my fitbit, they are invaluable to me. Calorie counting works! I still have a way to go to get to my goal weight, the smaller you get the slower the process but I feel amazing!


5'4 starting weight 268lbs, size 22. Current 144lbs, size 4. -124lbs in the 680 days I've been logging on mfp.
Need to update my progress photos as I've lost more, but these are my most recent.

Adc7225

At my largest, 244 at 5'2" I was wearing a 20/22, I thought of myself as being someone who ate healthy because I didn't eat fast-food, I cooked most of my meals and I was so picky about what I ate that eating with friends and family was a challenge. When I started this process, I had no idea about calories, yes I knew what they were but not how sneaky and evil they could be. Hiding in mass numbers in some of the most un-obvious places. I started logging what I was eating in order to see where my calories were coming from, then I added a food scale to start learning about portions. I always thought I would be chunky, though I never wanted to be skinny just a healthy maintainable weight that allowed me to enjoy food (more like - just not being responsible for what I ate). My initial goal was 175, at 45 this was a weight that my doctor and I came up with based on my body type, etc. I shared this with a friend who thought that was too high and that should look to lose more (so much for support). I went from 175 to 160 to 144 as my goal weight, made it to 146 but did not look healthy, so that was not the weight for me. For some 153 at 5'2" would be a starting point to crash diet but not for me. Currently I wear a 2/4 and weight ranges from 153 -157. I still have thunder thighs and a small top like I did when I was larger it's just smaller and a little more shapely but you can see my weight loss more in my face, neck and arms.

Looking to lose 100 pounds is not a small task and you should look to take your time doing so. You have to learn how to eat and how to be active, forgetting about past failures or successes because those didn't last. I gave up very few food items I just had to learn how to manage how much, how often and why I ate what I did.

It is hard getting past those numbers we see on the scale that afford us so much acceptance yet they are based on myths and fantasy. The reality is that for the most part no matter what, we will never be totally happy with our bodies. If you feel that you will always be overweight, have a talk with your doctor about 'your' weight based on 'your' body, not some outdated BMI chart or what the next person weighs but what your body is capable of to be at its best.

At 175 I no longer had high-blood pressure at 160 I no longer had any pre-existing conditions, medication free!

KathyApplebaum

I've lost 90 pounds, with 20 more to go. Now I weigh about what I did in junior high, and feel fantastic!

The key to success will be understanding that this isn't a diet, it's a change in your relationship with food and fitness that will be for the rest of your life.

arditarose

I've been overweight since puberty or before. I'm smaller now than I was in 6th grade. While I didn't have 100 lbs to lose, I have gotten to be 40 lbs down from my highest (recorded) weight.

Congrats on your loss so far. Remember, weight loss isn't linear so if it has only been a week or two without a loss-don't fret. If it has been longer, tighten up your logging. Make sure to weigh all your food and don't forget to log condiments/cooking oil/drinks/etc.

orchidbutterflies

I've been overweight from probably the age of 6 until my current age of 22.
I weighed about 260 lbs when I was 15 and put on 100 lbs in a year. Over time I maintained that gain and put on even more weight. My highest recorded weight was 383lbs but there was definitely a time when I was more than that.

I started making very small changes (stopped drinking pop and started drinking water, cut out certain fast food I couldn't eat in moderation) and lost about 20-30lbs in 9 months without trying.

Then I buckled down last February and I'm currently 259lbs. So about 125lbs down from my highest weight and almost 100lbs down in a year.

It's possible. I still have a really long way to go, but I'm committed to this. I couldn't keep living the way I was. You need to find your ultimate motivation and use that to help you get through the hard times.

sunshynes_

I've been "the chubby one" (at the least) since as early as I can remember--have always been overweight to one degree or another. I went all through primary, junior high, high school & college having to shop specialty sizes. My highest recorded weight was 260...may have been higher, but that's my "official" number from the scale when I decided it was time to change my life. At that weight I had high blood pressure, asthma, reflux, sleep issues, racing heartbeat with minimal activity (like even getting out of bed in the morning) & a number of other health problems, & was on medication for most of these issues. My BMI was over 47, well past the morbid obesity category into obesity class III.

March of 2014 I decided that it was time to take control of my life & change it for the better while I could. I was clueless about actual portion sizes/portion control, so started out with Weight Watchers. While on their Points+ plan, I steadily lost 1-2 pounds per week. I remained with that program for a bit, until I felt I had a handle on the portion sizes I actually should be eating, then unsubscribed from it & found MFP. Have been logging my food/exercise here & finding great support in the message boards since.

For me, learning to monitor *why* I was eating was almost as important as watching what & how much I ate--discovered that I often go to food out of boredom or stress. Learning other (better!) ways to deal with that was huge for me. I also do some sort of activity most every day, usually walking or resistance training.

Over the course of the last 22 months, I have lost 106 pounds (current), dropped my BMI by over 19 points, stopped all meds for BP, asthma, & reflux. I've gone from a (tight!) size 22 to a 10 or 12. All this by someone in their mid-40s, who has been overweight their entire life. There have been plateaus, weeks of gained weight, & moments of wondering if the work is worth it (spoiler alert: it is!).

It CAN be done!

lisalsd1

I was an overweight child; I was about 200lbs at 15 (and about 5 feet tall). I lost weight on my own when I was in highschool through small dietary changes and increased activity (cutting out soda/light jogging). When I left home for college, I lost significantly more weight and weighed about 125 when I graduated from college. 14 years and 2 kids later, I weigh around 125 still, but am actually a smaller size (thanks to a heavy lifting program) than when I graduated from college.

I realized that I had learned bad habits from overweight/unhealthy parents. I read a lot about nutrition and exercise (borrowed materials from the library), and just incorporated SMALL lifestyle changes one at a time. It took a couple of years to lose the weight initially, but the lifestyle changes took. Even at 35 years old, you still have time to make small, manageable changes.

Escloflowne

I was fat my entire life, lost 100lbs in 12 months using MFP's suggested calories and eating back my exercise calories.

BekahC1980

I don't have any adolescent pictures of me but i've always been heavy.. my story is posted here : community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10277427/im-not-done-yet-pic-heavy/p1

AmbitiousButRubbish

I was overweight as a kid. I think I gained weight when I was in 6ish grade. I had to change schools because I was bullied mercilessly and even abused because of my weight. I often times asked for detention at lunch so that I wouldn't have to go out at recess because it wasn't fun to be beat up. I tried but didn't have the commitment that was required until I got into grad school. I was 235 at my heaviest and dropped to 200ish without MFP. Joined MFP (using a food scale) and started T25 and the weight dropped of quickly. I fluctuate between 175 and 180 now. The forums seem like a waist of time when I started but it is amazing how much I have learned here and I actually feel confident that I can do the next stage which is a body recomp. Good luck and stay with it. Getting in better shape is completely worth the hard work.

rainbow198

Growing up, I was always bigger/taller than the other kids. It didn't affect me socially or was a problem at all however.

My weight would fluctuate. I look at old photos and one year I would be close to a normal weight and the next year I would be chubby or slightly overweight. Then the next year I would be close to normal again.

I was the only overweight person in my family. That kind of sucked, but no one made fun of me or said anything about it. Most of my life I used food as comfort and wasn't active. Plus I used to keep up eating like my very athletic bigger/taller brothers. No one told me to eat less and those habits followed me into adulthood.

I lost a lot of weight without trying at the end of high school/beginning of university. Once I got into my career the weight slowly came on and I never got back near normal weight. Years later I became obese.

Worked my butt off to get the weight off in my mid-30's. Now I'm the smallest I've ever been as an adult and in the best shape of my life at almost 40. Feels really good!!! People from my past don't even recognize me.

What worked for me was digging deep and working with my relationship with food, getting active and staying consistent.

zgdijeta

I was overweight my whole life and I will be 49 this year. Now looking back only last ten years really super obese with weight going up to 377 lbs at its highest. I dieted first when I was 10 years old and ever since all I did was dieting and bouncing up and down in the range of 45 lbs. Ten years ago I really hit the heavy one at 377 lbs and bounced again in the range of 60 lbs down and then back up again... Now, for the first time with MFP I managed to lose more than 140 lbs so far and I am on my way to get to the healthy weight once again and never bounce up back. Before MFP I was always dieting with crash diets (tried them all) and deprived myself of everything that tasted good for month or two, would lose plenty of weight each time but as soon as I stopped dieting it would be eating like crazy again... It can be done and the most important things are logging everything you eat, never overestimate how active you are and underestimate the amount of food you are taking in, eat things you love in small quantities just work it up in your calories so you don't feel deprived, be aware that it will not be fast (I am already doing it for more than a year, which I never did before). I am living proof that this is possible. Add me as friend if you would like support, would love to help.

Here is my before and now picture :-)

unrelentingminx

Hi all. I was an overweight child, then an overweight teen and then adult. My mum always told me as a child that I just had 'puppy fat' and that I would slim down as I grew. I was in adult trousers by the time I was 11 due to my size and height.
At age 16 I weighed 16 st (224 lbs) and was a UK size 18. At Aged 18 I went up to a size 20 (my largest).
I yo-yoed a lot in my 20s but always stayed around the 15 st and size 16 mark.
I joined MFP in November 2014 as a size 16 and weighing 210 lb. Today at 32 and 5'9'', I am a size 12, currently 175 lbs (although I still want to get that down a little more) and have reduced my BMI from 35 ('obese') to 25 (top end of 'ideal').
I have never been a size 12 before as an adult and always thought it was an unobtainable size for me. But it wasn't, I'm there, and I'm now working on reducing my body fat weight by strength training to build muscle instead.

Ohwhynot

I was an overweight child and teen, lost weight by using adderall in my early 20s, then gained it all back. I'm now nearly 40 and finally a normal weight. Add me! I'm on daily and my diary is wide open.

try2again

ElvenToad wrote: »

Here!

I've been overweight/obese since I was a child. I've never been at a healthy weight, never worn clothing that wasn't plus sized. Even in middle school my mom had to make all my clothes because shopping was a nightmare. I am 33 years old now, and I knew it was time for change after a lifetime of horrid eating habits.

My mentality was always that I thought I was too far gone already, and what was the point? I'd rather just sit on the couch and stuff my face, that's easy to do. It was comforting to do. It was all I wanted to do. I would eat massive quantities of food, feel super stuffed, and then get mad that I had to wait to eat more. This was how I lived my life, everyday. That emotional bond I had with food was more important to me than anything. It was my stress reliever, my feel good pick me up, my best friend. I found happiness in food that I was missing in other parts of my life. It was a cycle, I felt trapped, hopeless. I thought dieting was punishment, and that starving myself was the only way to lose weight. I knew food made me happy, but I knew the physical consequences of my eating habits made me miserable. I was desperate for change for a long time, and because of that I felt sorry for myself. I was stuck, it was eat what I want and just keep getting bigger, or eat "diet" food to lose weight. That was always torture for me and I always went back to my old ways.

I was tired of living my life this way. I was exhausted just doing daily chores around the house, my feet hurt if I stood up for more than 10 minutes at a time. I was just miserable. Feb 28th 2014. This day was not like any other day, it was the day I stopped feeling sorry for myself and decided I was going to break free. I didn't know how exactly, but I thought I would try calorie counting and see if that would help me. I actually considered paying for weight watchers that day, after a bit of googling "calorie counting". Weight watchers didn't give me any info without a credit card so I kept going down the list of search results. Myfitnesspal... hmm.. this is free? I signed up, spent the entire day reading the resources, forums, and trying to educate myself on weight loss. I knew nothing about nutrition, never paid attention to calories a day in my life. I made a plan, decided that no matter what I was going to commit to it. I made some friends, found all the nice stickies, I learned a lot.

I went into this process cold turkey, just jumped in head first and stuck to my calorie goal. I wanted to lose weight MORE than I wanted to continue along the path that I was on so I sucked it up so to speak. I put myself on a set eating schedule, that worked really well for me. I learned that it was ok to feel a little hungry between meals and snacks. A few weeks later I bought myself a food scale, and a Fitbit zip. Logged everything to the best of my ability. Bought a nice insulated water bottle, that goes with me everywhere. The weight started coming off! I CAN DO THIS!

Once I got my intake down and felt comfortable with the amount of food I was eating I then started to try new recipes and look for foods that had better macros yet were still tasty and satisfying. Once I found meals and snacks that I knew would be sustainable for me it made things so much easier. I learned that losing weight doesn't have to be torture, you can still eat the foods you enjoy if you eat them in moderation. I still eat out once a week, and I just adjust accordingly. If unplanned foods or treats find their way to me, I just shift my day around to make room for them, or if I don't think they are worth the calories I just don't eat them. I've learned how to balance everything, and I no longer feel emotionally attached to food. Treats are wonderful, I make sure to have one every week but they are not the main staple of my diet anymore.

My plans now are to continue losing weight, get to a healthy body fat % somewhere around 130lbs. I'm hoping to be there within the next 6-7 months. Learn how to maintain once I get to goal, and just keep on weighing and logging my food. Being more active and eating healthy feels good. For the first year I had to talk myself into my daily workout.. now I just get up and do it without even giving it much thought. This is a part of me now, there is no going back ever! I feel like I've conquered my disordered eating habits, I don't like that overly stuffed feeling anymore. I can tell the difference between true hunger, and boredom hunger now. I definitely don't think I would have been as successful without my food scale and my fitbit, they are invaluable to me. Calorie counting works! I still have a way to go to get to my goal weight, the smaller you get the slower the process but I feel amazing!

What I take away from this is that it's really no different whether you've been overweight your whole life or became heavy as an adult, because the entire description fits me word for word! Under different circumstances, I probably would have been an overweight child too, because the way I thought & the behaviors were the same, I just had an involved parent monitoring what I ate. Your example will help so many people- you should be so proud! (and you look great )

KerryITD

thank you all for your stories--I really needed them today!

ElvenToad

Thank you! Just getting control finally is so freeing, and to know that I was capable of doing it so much sooner I just didn't know how.

I had an involved parent monitoring what I ate too. My mother was a single parent and once she realized what was going on (babysitter was a feeder) she tried so hard to stop my weight gain but by then it was too late. I was an overweight four year old with a newfound taste for cookies, ice cream, and various other sweets that mom had never had around me before. I wanted more, more more. Mom moved us away, she tried all sorts of methods with me, watched me like a hawk but I learned to be sneaky, and the older I got, the more sneaky. I wanted to good stuff and no one was going to stop me.

Without going into all the details, it was bad. I've read other people's stories about food hording and gorging and its pretty much the same so I know I'm not alone. It IS possible to break the cycle though and I hope that if anyone relates and feels trapped by their eating habits they will see that there is a way out. I dug deep, pulled out a big old can of willpower, determination, and a family sized bag of consistency

ald783

I was overweight as a child (probably starting around 3rd grade), lost weight in high school, then gained a LOT of weight in the last couple years of college and law school, then lost it in the 3.5 years after that. Weight and health is always ongoing so I don't like the term "success" necessarily but I think after doing this and tracking for the past 7 years and keeping the weight I lost (115 lbs) off for the past 3.5, I at least feel like I have incorporated healthy eating and exercise habits into my life.

When I was younger and I would yo yo constantly and diet and lose and gain weight, I never really did anything in moderation. It was always trying to be extremely perfect and healthy and eating as little as possible, and then going to the other extreme. I think there is something boring and unglamorous about making small, sustainable changes and losing weight slowly, but I think that is the only reason I have been at it this long. It can be difficult to reprogram your brain after years of bad eating habits but it can certainly be done. Just be patient and incorporate small changes and you will get there!

Smokey705

KathyApplebaum wrote: »

I've lost 90 pounds, with 20 more to go. Now I weigh about what I did in junior high, and feel fantastic!

The key to success will be understanding that this isn't a diet, it's a change in your relationship with food and fitness that will be for the rest of your life.

I totally agree you have to Change the relationship you have with food and your body.

shadowconn

My sister succeeded at this. She was a fat baby, fat child, fat teenager. Somewhere in high school, she got sick of it and started running cross country and doing other things. It took her about 10 years to get the body she wanted. She is still constantly tweaking it, and it's been prolly 15 years since she started. I should slso say she still has to be very vigilant. She likes to eat, and she pretty much refuses to diet, so her weight is maintained by copious amounts of extreme exercise. Marathons, ultra marathons and crossfit.

try2again

ElvenToad wrote: »

Thank you! Just getting control finally is so freeing, and to know that I was capable of doing it so much sooner I just didn't know how.

I had an involved parent monitoring what I ate too. My mother was a single parent and once she realized what was going on (babysitter was a feeder) she tried so hard to stop my weight gain but by then it was too late. I was an overweight four year old with a newfound taste for cookies, ice cream, and various other sweets that mom had never had around me before. I wanted more, more more. Mom moved us away, she tried all sorts of methods with me, watched me like a hawk but I learned to be sneaky, and the older I got, the more sneaky. I wanted to good stuff and no one was going to stop me.

I remember this. When my mom was out the door, I was in her secret candy bar stash or in the jar of peanut butter! I remember drinking pancake syrup once! But I played outside a lot and always had long walks to school, so my weight was never a problem until I was out of the house. But regardless of how we got to that point, the process of changing our patterns is basically the same.

marise51

sunshynes_ wrote: »

I've been "the chubby one" (at the least) since as early as I can remember--have always been overweight to one degree or another. I went all through primary, junior high, high school & college having to shop specialty sizes. My highest recorded weight was 260...may have been higher, but that's my "official" number from the scale when I decided it was time to change my life. At that weight I had high blood pressure, asthma, reflux, sleep issues, racing heartbeat with minimal activity (like even getting out of bed in the morning) & a number of other health problems, & was on medication for most of these issues. My BMI was over 47, well past the morbid obesity category into obesity class III.

March of 2014 I decided that it was time to take control of my life & change it for the better while I could. I was clueless about actual portion sizes/portion control, so started out with Weight Watchers. While on their Points+ plan, I steadily lost 1-2 pounds per week. I remained with that program for a bit, until I felt I had a handle on the portion sizes I actually should be eating, then unsubscribed from it & found MFP. Have been logging my food/exercise here & finding great support in the message boards since.

For me, learning to monitor *why* I was eating was almost as important as watching what & how much I ate--discovered that I often go to food out of boredom or stress. Learning other (better!) ways to deal with that was huge for me. I also do some sort of activity most every day, usually walking or resistance training.

Over the course of the last 22 months, I have lost 106 pounds (current), dropped my BMI by over 19 points, stopped all meds for BP, asthma, & reflux. I've gone from a (tight!) size 22 to a 10 or 12. All this by someone in their mid-40s, who has been overweight their entire life. There have been plateaus, weeks of gained weight, & moments of wondering if the work is worth it (spoiler alert: it is!).

It CAN be done!

Wow great transformation and wonderful words of advice.

marise51

Smokey705 wrote: »

KathyApplebaum wrote: »

I've lost 90 pounds, with 20 more to go. Now I weigh about what I did in junior high, and feel fantastic!

The key to success will be understanding that this isn't a diet, it's a change in your relationship with food and fitness that will be for the rest of your life.

I totally agree you have to Change the relationship you have with food and your body.

It's like saying god bye to your best friend for me.

malibu927

I was always the big girl in school. Born to obese parents who didn't teach me portion size/nutrition and didn't care much even when illnesses kicked in (my dad was diagnosed with T2D at 42, my mom has high blood pressure and severe arthritis in her knees). Weighed over 200 pounds by the time I graduated from high school. At 32 two years ago, I decided to do something about that...248 pounds down to 186 in fifteen months, which put me into overweight rather than obese.

I'm at 213 now because the second half of the year was majorly stressful and I turned back to my old habits, but I'm determined to make it farther. And I've inspired my parents in that we're hopefully purchasing a treadmill for all three of us to use.

emamun

This is such a great thread! Those of you who have posted stories have done so well -- and those with photos are amazing! I love looking at success photos because it shows me i can do it!

I have always been overweight, as has my whole family. About 8 years ago (2007) I was 265 lbs and started eating better and working out because i wanted to lose the weight before I had a baby. I was down to 206 when i got pregnant in early 2008 and gained back all of the weight despite working out three times/wk until 37 weeks pregnant. After baby I lost some weight, but stayed at about 230 lbs.

Just before my baby turned 2 (2011), I started back on the fitness train determined to get fit so I could be a healthy mom. I had lost about 7 lbs when we found out she had brain cancer. I tried to keep myself in check and track my food in MFP for a few weeks, but it was something i just couldn't do given all of my other, much more important priorities during that time.

Fast forward to 2013 and I am back at it, losing weight and feeling good back around 210. And what happens when i look/feel good? My husband is all over me, and then I'm PG again ... a month after we find out our kiddo's tumor is growing again. I'm pregnant, she's on chemo, and food/fitness are not my priorities. Then I fall and dislocate my pelvis in month 8 of my pregnancy and i can't walk - awesome!

In May 2015, just after kiddo 2 turned 1, I told myself i had to start again. It wasn't easy, especially with two kids and weekly PT appointments, but I'm doing it! This time I was 270 when I started and 8 months later I am at 213. I don't eat super healthy or nutritious food, but i stay within my goal amount of calories each day and have a 12k step average (fitbit + mfp runs my life). I am wearing the same size now that i wore in high school and hope to stick with it long enough to get to my goal of 190 lbs.

Thanks again for sharing your stories!! It's so encouraging to me!