Over 60 pounds down from 228 to 168!! Pics pics pics!

tigerlilly24

Hi MFP family. I have been on here since 2008 I believe, lurking, watching peoples success stories, and peeking through their diet journals. All without ever implementing any of what I was learning. I cheated, not faithfully logging the bad things I would eat. My weight went up and down but never did I ever take control of it. So fast forward to 2012 I had my first baby who I ended up gaining 75 lbs with. People told me "Oh just breast feed the weight will fall off." I breast fed. The weight did not "fall off". I got to 228 lbs. Size 18/20. I am 5'3. I felt disgusting and so out of shape. I continued to do nothing for 2 more years. Then, as I was sitting in bed devouring an entire package of gummi bears, I had an epiphany. I was miserable. I was eating crap food and MAKING myself miserable! I tossed the remaining gummis and resolved I would begin low carb the very next day. I did. From February to April I did low carb (not keto and no keto devotees I don't care about your opinion on this) and I got down to 204! And then I got pregnant. Unintentionally, although I was planning to have another baby in a few years so he just came a little sooner than expected. This pregnancy I only gained 30 lbs and he weighed 10 at birth so 2 weeks post partum I was at 207. I began again. Low carb. I try to be more active but I do not "work out". I swim, I dance with my kids, I plank during commercials, and as a mom I constantly run up and down my stairs usually with either a 30 lb or more child or baskets of laundry. Today my oldest is 4 1/2 and my baby is 1 1/2. And I weigh 168 pounds. I wear a size 10/12. I'm not sure what my goal weight is. I never thought I'd get this far. My original intent was to get to prepregnancy weight of 180. Now I've surpassed that. 150 is my next gw and then who knows? So to any "lurkers" out there, whether you started MFP yesterday, or have been here since the beginning it is possible. And it is worth it. I do not feel deprived, I do not feel stressed, I can shop at "normal" stores, my husband is so proud of me, my kids love to be active with me. I work full time, I have 2 babies and 2 teenage stepkids, and I go to school part-time. If I can do it YOU can do it. It is all about mindset. The only rule I had for myself was no timelines. As soon as you put yourself up against the clock you're setting yourself up to fail. It's taken me years and it will take me more years. But I am better than where I started. Thank you MFP. I hope I am the inspiration to some that so many of you were to me.

TheHappyLoser

Absolute stunning transformation. You look great and you look happy.

Sis359

Love this! Thanks for sharing your story, you are so inspiring to me.

juanitagardner07

Thank you for sharing!!! What an inspiration it is. CONGRATULATIONS!

Mandygring

Awesome!!!!!

Just_Maddy

Wow! You are looking great! I couldn't agree more I've stopped putting deadlines and obsessing on what the scale says and I've found myself sticking to this a lot easier and I feel soooooo much happier and really enjoying the journey I'm 5'3 as well so I totally understand where you are coming from.

22Brentwoodgirl

Good work! What a fine example of self care you are setting. Your schedule is so busy and you did this!!! Just wow.

Debmal77

WTG!

jbatinker

Great job! You are right about deadlines - they are a recipe for failure! I am down 40 out of 100 and I feel so much better as well as have a ton more energy! Thank you for sharing and hope to one day inspire someone like you have inspired me to keep going.

forruths

Well done-you look fab! Great advice about not setting time limits. I've learned that over time too, to be happy with a downward trend however small.

sparklyglitterbomb

Awesome! Congrats on your success so far!!

tigerlilly24

Thanks everyone! I really can't tell you all how many years I spent longingly reading through others success stories wishing it could be me. It all sounded effortless and easy. Oh wake up, work out, eat healthy, drop massive weight seemingly over night. The reality is it does take effort. It does take will power. The biggest thing it takes is determination. I fell. I fell over and over again and sometimes I stayed down for a few weeks or even months sometimes but I ALWAYS got back up. I will fall again I'm sure but I will always get back up now. I can't think of a bigger disappointment than to achieve so much just to let it slip away. This site is a God send and so are it's members

nowine4me

What a great story. You are an inspiration.

SassyRN_77

You look fantastic

valerieuk1708

Thanks for sharing your story! I'm planning to go low carb starting Monday and was wondering could you give me any advice as to how low did you go? I don't plan to do keto as Iv tried it before (it worked but wasn't sustainable long term for me) ... At the moment my carbs set at 35% or 140g and I usually don't go over but was thinking of dropping it down to 80-100g a day or even try and do carb cycling (regular days and low days to alternate). Any advice would be appreciated!

KKishaA

tigerlilly24 wrote: »

Hi MFP family. I have been on here since 2008 I believe, lurking, watching peoples success stories, and peeking through their diet journals. All without ever implementing any of what I was learning. I cheated, not faithfully logging the bad things I would eat. My weight went up and down but never did I ever take control of it. So fast forward to 2012 I had my first baby who I ended up gaining 75 lbs with. People told me "Oh just breast feed the weight will fall off." I breast fed. The weight did not "fall off". I got to 228 lbs. Size 18/20. I am 5'3. I felt disgusting and so out of shape. I continued to do nothing for 2 more years. Then, as I was sitting in bed devouring an entire package of gummi bears, I had an epiphany. I was miserable. I was eating crap food and MAKING myself miserable! I tossed the remaining gummis and resolved I would begin low carb the very next day. I did. From February to April I did low carb (not keto and no keto devotees I don't care about your opinion on this) and I got down to 204! And then I got pregnant. Unintentionally, although I was planning to have another baby in a few years so he just came a little sooner than expected. This pregnancy I only gained 30 lbs and he weighed 10 at birth so 2 weeks post partum I was at 207. I began again. Low carb. I try to be more active but I do not "work out". I swim, I dance with my kids, I plank during commercials, and as a mom I constantly run up and down my stairs usually with either a 30 lb or more child or baskets of laundry. Today my oldest is 4 1/2 and my baby is 1 1/2. And I weigh 168 pounds. I wear a size 10/12. I'm not sure what my goal weight is. I never thought I'd get this far. My original intent was to get to prepregnancy weight of 180. Now I've surpassed that. 150 is my next gw and then who knows? So to any "lurkers" out there, whether you started MFP yesterday, or have been here since the beginning it is possible. And it is worth it. I do not feel deprived, I do not feel stressed, I can shop at "normal" stores, my husband is so proud of me, my kids love to be active with me. I work full time, I have 2 babies and 2 teenage stepkids, and I go to school part-time. If I can do it YOU can do it. It is all about mindset. The only rule I had for myself was no timelines. As soon as you put yourself up against the clock you're setting yourself up to fail. It's taken me years and it will take me more years. But I am better than where I started. Thank you MFP. I hope I am the inspiration to some that so many of you were to me.

Congratulations to you! Absolutely great work!

kuksabs

Congrats! You look fabulous!

hunnnybee

Great job

tigerlilly24

valerieuk1708 wrote: »

Thanks for sharing your story! I'm planning to go low carb starting Monday and was wondering could you give me any advice as to how low did you go? I don't plan to do keto as Iv tried it before (it worked but wasn't sustainable long term for me) ... At the moment my carbs set at 35% or 140g and I usually don't go over but was thinking of dropping it down to 80-100g a day or even try and do carb cycling (regular days and low days to alternate). Any advice would be appreciated!

I stay between 50-100. Carb cycling works best if you plan to do heavy cardio on your high carb days. The biggest secret I learned with LC is to just take whatever you ate before and tweak it to make it low carb. I found replacements for everything from noodles to bread. Pinterest is the holy grail of low carb recipes! If you can think of something you're craving Pinterest will find a way to low carb it for you! Good luck!! And remember patience is key!!!

gawworthington

Congrats- I am totally stuck at 189 and your story inspires me!!!!

leecha2014

As soon as you put yourself up against the clock you're setting yourself up to fail. - this really hits home, my progress has stalled for months because I'm less than 10lbs from my first goal and I keep setting timelines. Ty. Congrats on your success!!

EllenOlenska1

That is amazing!!! You are a true inspiration. I am now at the same weight, with the same goal...you just put a big smile on my face and fueled my motivation. Keep up the great work. You're beautiful and glowing!

normalicia11

Your story is very inspiring... CONGRATULATIONS!, I think you look fabulous at your current weight. I am also doing low carb and stop setting timelines as well, and even though The weight is coming off slowly And I have my setbacks I am still here looking at stories like yours to remind myself that IT CAN BE DONE!.

Toronto6fan

Great work!

mxchana

How good you must feel!!! You have added years to your life to enjoy your family, kudos!!! You are an inspiration.

tigerlilly24

zbernie

Great great job! So nice to read a "real do-able" journey. Thanks for the inspiration and congrats!

mylifeisbeautiful

You have the right attitude! Love your story- definitely inspiring! Thank you and congratulations!!

RedLipsRedDress

Wow, just wow. Great job! I can relate to your story: after years of going up and down, I gained a lot during pregnancy and thought it would magically come off but it didn't. I also found I was miserable and wanted to be happy. Starting weight was also 228 lbs,now I'm 175 and always looking for motivation to keep going. I can't imagine how much harder it is with two kids. Again, awesome job. Never take a step back! And thanks for pinterest advice

KareninLux

Really great post!

tigerlilly24

I should add for those of you interested in doing low carb I have a few tips. 1. When you are looking at carb totals also look at the amount of fiber and subtract that and what's left is your "net" carbs (the only carbs that matter).
2. Eat fat! A lot of fat. If you aren't getting most of your calories from fat you won't feel as well or as satiated.
3. Protein is good but not as good as fat. My macro goals are 50% fat 30% protein and 20% carbs. I don't always hit my targets but I try to stay in range
4. Don't give up foods you love! Find a way to low carb them! I love Chinese food. I get wonton soup, beef and broccoli and instead of rice I get mixed Asian vegetables and then I throw soy sauce and sriracha all over and it's so good! Fajitas are my other fave with either LC tortillas or just straight over the plate smothered in cheese, salsa , avocado, and full fat sour cream. LC doesn't and shouldn't be boring! Best of luck to everyone!