384 Sticks of Butter Gone Missing

JulieSHelms

The title comes from early on in my weight loss journey when I discovered counting in sticks of butter (1/4 lb pure fat) added up a lot faster than pounds...making the weight loss sound more encouraging! It also gives a really graphic visual--how could I ever have had the equivalent fat of 384 sticks of butter stuck to my body. Gross! Would that much butter even fit in a shopping cart? Lol.

So 384 sticks of butter equals 96 lbs.

I lost the first 30 lbs with strictly limiting carbs and nothing else. (I'm sure my caloric intake actually went up because I was then eating more fat. But with insulin resistance, cutting carbs has an amazing effect--until it doesn't any more.)

The second 30 lbs was continued carb restriction and serious portion control, though I still wasn't counting calories. Then that loss stopped. I treaded water for about 8 months with no progress up or down.

For the final 40 I did two things simultaneously--found MFP and started logging calories and joined a gym on my 50th birthday--first time in my life even walking into one. It was a really scary thing for me to do, not to mention I haven't really exercised since 6th grade PE class. I began doing cardio and was introduced to weight training--turns out I love them both! It's been 4 months and I've lost almost 40 lbs doing this.

I still have a ways to go--still technically obese according to the BMI chart. But I feel maybe the best I've ever felt in my life. Many medical issues have improved or gone away.

Age 50
Height 5'8"
SW 300 (As of Feb 2015)
CW 204
GW 175

(The pic says -100, but it's really -96)

mecoconleche

Nice job, keep grinding!

dahliagrower11

You look fit and fantastic! Congratulations on taking control and getting to healthy!

allmannerofthings

Wow - awesome work love the sticks of butter idea.

hale03071

You look fantastic! Thank you for sharing. I was down on my self for not losing as much this week as in past weeks, it was a nice motivation to see your transformation so far. I too am 5'8" and just about the same weight.

JulieSHelms

Thanks guys! This is what I love about MFP--getting to encourage one another and be inspired by each other.

JulieSHelms

I wanted to update with some mini-goals reached since I posted this 3 weeks ago:

* I've lost 104 lbs now...or 416 sticks of butter
* I've lost more than 1/3 of me
* I hit Onederland
* I passed over the hated BMI calculator designation of obese to just overweight

I'm hoping to lose 21 lbs more for my final goal (and no, I don't count the pounds left to go in sticks of butter).

IdLikeToLoseItLoseIt

Great work!

vanmep

Ooooh! That's very exciting! Look at you go! I have lost 80 sticks of butter! Love the visualization.

CaliMomTeach

Lol! I took out sticks of butter when I first started losing weight too. Now, I'd need 45 pounds of it. Yes, it is a very motivating visual! Congratulations!

bellajan17

Great job!!! Can't wait until I can post in here!!

pandahead76

Wow! You are an inspiration! And I'm totally going to think of my pounds lots in butter now. 28 sticks of butter sounds like so much more than 7 pounds!

middlehaitch

Great work @JulieSHelms. You are an inspiration.

Cheers, h.

federicafezza4271

Love this! the picture made me genuinely smile at my laptop

JCFan3

Awesome job. Keep up the great work.

Luly7jc

Congratulations you look amazing!!!

JulieSHelms

I wanted to update this now that I have lost another 23 lbs since I first posted it. I've lost 468 sticks of butter (-117 lbs), and I have about 8 lbs to goal and re-evaluation.




SW 300 (Feb '15)
CW 183
GW 175
5'8"
Age 50

The_Movie_Chair

I like the comparison with butter. I can visualize it. You are my age, you are an inspiration. Thank you!

snickerscharlie

Congrats, Julie! You look amazing!

I can relate to the sticks of butter thing.

Just after I lost my first 10 lbs, I was in the grocery store and wanted to get a better idea of what 10 lbs really felt like. So i picked up two 5lb bags of sugar and put them in my basket. I then spend a minute continually picking up the basket and putting it back down until I got a really good feel for it.

Then put the bags of sugar back on the shelf because sugar wasn't on my shopping list.

I wonder what the security cam peeps thought I was doing? LOL.

SueSueDio

You look great, Julie - like a different person!

Brelynn

You look amazing! Congrats.

andrewgrainger242

Way to go inspirational

success313

You have done an absolutely amazing job! You should feel very proud of what you have accomplished so far. Thank you for posting this!

__TMac__

I've pictured my own missing sticks of butter too. With much joy.

I think I've done the math properly that a gallon of fat would weight 9 lbs, so I'm thinking about stocking up on gallons of water (which would smart for disaster prep anyway) and building the number up to match my weight loss. Right now, I've lost 36 lbs, which would be 4 gallons. The actual weight of the water is a little less than that (8.3-ish), but close enough to get the idea.

Looserpbc

Wow! You look great and I really admire your ability to persevere. I have also used the thought of pounds of butter to visualize the weight loss, or more recently GAIN! So thanks for the motivation to get back on track.

Thehardmakesitworthit

Hey beeee-uuutiful friend!!! You look amazing!!!! Such an inspiration!!!

JulieSHelms

Justimagine10 wrote: »

Hey beeee-uuutiful friend!!! You look amazing!!!! Such an inspiration!!!

Thanks, Carmen! And I'll have you know, those thighs up there are all from you inspiring me on SQUATS! ;-)

WindyCityGal160

So inspirational!! Thanks for breaking your weight loss into segments- it's helpful! You must feel like a million bucks!

CDT12000

You look so athletic!! Great job!

julie2038

Love your story. Way to keep pushing through and finding new things that worked at each stage.