A Victorious Story- 5'6" 24yrs, 170-153 progress pics

kokalvt

Hey all

Like so many others, this is my first post in this particular forum! It takes a lot of dang courage to do this- but you all inspired me and continue to every day! I may not be as active on MFP as I once was, but I'm still here, using this forum to kick my butt into gear.

I'm currently 24 years old, living in the city, and just purchased my first home! I have a wonderful job and live with a wonderful man-- but it certainly wasn't easy getting here. I come from the most wonderful family you could ever ask for- I was given every opportunity to succeed in life. Being the oldest, all I wanted to do was please my parents, so I did really great in school and ended up at the most wonderful university, Virginia Tech!

I was in heaven--no curfew, booze, FOOD (we have the #1 campus food in America!). And sure as shiz, I got that Freshman 15, actually, more like 20. I had NEVER had to watch my weight ever in my life before this point-- I also ran track, swam, and didn't drink in high school. All of my new found girlfriends were even crazier than I was, and did they ever go to the gym? NO! So neither did I. Needless to say, I was selfish and didn't feel like giving up any party time for gym time, so I started to 'explore alternatives.' So...I found myself hunched over in our shower forcing myself to let go of all that food I just ate.

Yes- bulimia. That was a word I refused to say for my entire freshman year-- I had it under control; it wasn't all that bad; no one will ever notice. That last comment was especially true because my job that summer was working at a gym...all the weight I was losing from bulimia along with all the exercising, all of my weight loss looked natural to everyone else. One night, I broke down and admitted everything to my best friend, then my boyfriend, then my parents, and so on...I went to therapy and learned some wonderful coping techniques-- I avoided my triggers and focused on making myself happy.

Flash forward 4 years- graduated VT, got a great job, put on ~40 pounds, and started to feel those familiar urges to purge. So, I signed up for our gym at work and started working with a personal trainer. That's when I joined MFP and started logging- I'm not going to lie to you guys, I do not log anymore at all. I did for about 5 months before I realized that I was making these good food decisions on my own and didn't need to track anything. And that urge to purge is finally starting to subside!

ANYWAY- here are my progress pictures...I started in February 2013 and these go through last week, so 5 months progress!

This is my February to April progress-- I'm including this to show that it's really me...in pictures to come, I've added on to my tattoo


Front progress- February to June


Tattoo side progress- February to June


Side progress- February to June

ChristinaOrtiz23

Your story is amazing and so real!! Im glad you made it out of this and happy your doing this the right and healthy way!! way to go, so happy and proud of you ;-D

jdenig

That's so awesome. Good for you! That must have been a difficult time and it probably never stops being difficult but look at you! You are an inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

linalovekitty

can you tell me what you eat now vs before. What is your fitness on an average day. Also, what is your goal?