Learning Balance After Weight Loss (Pics)

Pastela

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate all the feedback and nice comments. I'm always amazed by how kind and supportive the MFP community is.

kmsoucy457 wrote: »

You look so happy and beautiful!
Do you mind if I ask how tall you are, just for reference?

Thank you! I do not mind at all. My height is at 5' 8".

Asher_Ethan

You look so good at 160! Congrats!

Pastela

grapebanana wrote: »

What an inspiring journey. I get disheartened w/ people doing the focus on the externals when, in my own experience (and, as I read, yours too!) it's the feeling good in our skin that matters.

I have noticed that when I'm eating well, I'm feeling well, and don't consider the body anymore than how grateful I am to live in it. I have also noticed that when I'm eating badly (a period of unhealthy choices or not enough) I consider the body with criticism and feel more critical of it than I am grateful for it. That's a sad and awful way to feel.

I MUCH prefer how I feel when my brain isn't malnourished (and only weigh myself out of curiosity or to make sure I'm eating enough).

KUDOS to you. Thank you for sharing your story.

Thanks for your response, and I totally agree! I feel like the emotional aspect of weight loss isn't discussed as much. Even after losing weight I have days where I still feel large compared to other women and feel like what I did was not good enough.

As I keep maintaining my progress, I have to keep reminding myself that I cannot compare myself to others and that my journey is my own.

Being restrictive to myself wasn't fun, and it's definitely something I don't want to do again.

Asher_Ethan wrote: »

You look so good at 160! Congrats!

Thank you! I think I found the correct weight range to stay at.

joinn68

Great reminder. I read someone's post on MFP once where the person said "I set up a number of calories; I was at a deficit and then I wasn't". Basically found where they'd be happy to eat for the rest of their life. It struck me as being quite smart
It's good that you found a way/weight to live healthy and be happy! Keep it up

elaineamj

Congratulations! I'm just at the start of my journey and your story is inspiring. I'm a little concerned I am losing a touch too quickly - so I am monitoring trendweight carefully. After another week, I will have enough data to know for sure. If so, I'm definitely bumping up my calories. I want this to be sustainable, not miserable.

chrysalis2015

That's great advice! It's so easy tk get caught up with the numbers...all about how you feel

Pastela

I'm so glad my story has helped and inspired others! This really means a lot to me. I didn't know how emotional going through a weight loss journey can be. It took me a long time to feel comfortable with how I am and what I accomplished.

Omoe11

Congrats! You look great!

elisa123gal

I would think if a person lifted weights …they would weigh more but be smaller in size, than if they weighed less and didn't lift weights. You look like that. Perhaps on the scale you weigh more..but in that photo..i'd never guess you weighed 160. You look perfect and fit.

neztiloy

Such an inspiritation. Keep it up!!

efrensgirl2015

AWESOME!!!!!!!

agreenid

Wow wow wow! What an inspiration.

This time around for me it's so important to focus on "strong and healthy" versus "skinny" and your now picture is a big reason why. You look great and look at all those muscles!

rebeccaEsmith

Looking good girl, keep up the good work

lemonychild

Go YOU!

clarklessk8

This post was really cool because it not only showed you being happy with your body, but it also showed you being healthy and proving that the lower number isn't better because it wasn't healthy. I find this inspirational because I personally struggle with losing weight and have found myself have periods of not eating and/or throwing up but I've also had period where I over-ate. I still haven't found my balance but I'm glad that you did

Pastela

Thanks for the awesome responses everyone! I'm glad my story has helped and inspired so much! If MFP had a 'Like' option I would like everyone's post. I read them all!

I wanted to shed light on an aspect of weight loss that I don't feel like is discussed enough. There is always emphasis on getting down to the lowest size you can go, but sometimes it's not for the best. I still sometimes feel at odds with myself. There are times where I feel like I'm still large compared to other women, but I have to be mindful about what is good for me and remind myself that I overall do make consistent efforts to be active and fit.

Listen to your body, be active, and eat to be healthy and not be skinny. Sometimes our bodies knows what better for us before we even know it.

snacksizegirl

Wow. Love it. You look GREAT at this weight. It's good you are following your body because it's definitely working for you. Your body knows BEST.