My 365 Day Journey on MFP! :)

onyxgirl17

Let me begin by saying I have looked at a lot of success stories before and I waited a long time to have one of my own. I had an eating disorder when I was 15/16 and was obsessive about comparing myself to others and calorie counting so I didn't want to go back to my lifestyle. That's probably what prevented me from really trying to lose weight in the first place.

Over the years after I got married from 21-25 I gained weight pretty steadily. I'd say on average 10 pounds for each year we were married. So I got married at 132 pounds and weighed about 177 pounds four and a half years later. On a small, 5 foot 5 1/2 foot frame that did not look good or healthy. My mom died of undiagnosed diabetes last year and that was, at least, part of what motivated me to get back to a healthy weight.

I was scared to count calories at first but knew that it was necessary to lose weight. When I started in May 2012 I decided to eat between 1200-1400 calories a day. Boy, it was tempting to go lower to lose faster. I was losing pretty fast (1.25 pounds a week) which to me was a good rate. I exercised 2 hours a day 5 days a week for that first month and didn't eat calories back because I'd never heard of the concept of "net calories". I discovered MFP a year ago today and that was when I really started to get an understanding of BMR, TDEE, net calories etc. I didn't want to screw my metabolism like I had when I was 15/16 so I leveled out the exercise a bit and made sure I was "at least" netting 1200 calories a day average.

Once school started back in August I really couldn't exercise as much but I kept the diet under control, eating healthy portions of less processed foods and limiting how much I ate out to once maybe twice a week at the most. The weight continued to come off.

Now that I am within 5 pounds of my goal weight, the weight is coming off pretty darn slowly, but I feel great and accomplished at all I have done. Also, I have upped my calories to about ~1500 average daily.

In one year on MFP, I lost 40 pounds!


For those of you struggling, I understand. There were many weeks that I lost nothing at all and some weeks I would lose a few pounds and be super happy. Results come from consistency, so keep it up and you WILL reach your goals. :flowersforyou:

Now for the pictures: First, a graph of my progress over the last year.


Me at start weight (174) versus me now at 132 pounds.


Side view of me near start weight (170) versus me now...


Me at 19 years old versus Me at 26 years old (now)


Me at 19 years old (120 pounds) versus Me at 26 years old (132 pounds)

onyxgirl17

I'll fix the size of the images when I get home... but you guys can right click on the images to see the full thing

pamuyamakene

Wow, you look great! Well done on such a fabulous journey, you are a great inspiration:flowerforyou: