So, I guess I HAVE lost some weight...

vegaslounge

Every summer my two high school girlfriends and I do a weekend vacation somewhere, and we've been doing it for years. Our first one, the one that unofficially kicked off this tradition, was in Washington DC in 2012. I was roughly 215lbs.

Here's me, standing in the Plexiglass vestibule of Julia Child's kitchen.



Here's me tonight, 50 pounds lighter, same shirt. Holy crap. Seriously, holy crap. I'm still 20lb from goal but I cannot believe how different my face looks. My eyes particularly...I can wear eyeshadow and liner now because my eyelids are no longer "hooded" and I don't get creases when I blink.



I never took the classic standing-in-your-underwear "before" shots, but the fact that we've been taking these vacations every year for the past 5 years has given me a good chart of my progress. I'm hoping I'll be near goal by our next one (first week of June) but if I'm not, I'll still look and feel so much better than our first year, or every year since.

Yeah, so basically this post is "OMG how amazing am I" but...dude, I've legit lost 50lbs since 2012. Hell yeah I'm going to self-congratulate.

~VL

bnovak226

Improving everyday, One day at a time! I look fantastic!

fitjcf

It looks like 2 different girls! Great job. How did you loose it you think? Love that kitchen in the back - no wonder why Julia liked cooking.

vegaslounge

fitjcf wrote: »

It looks like 2 different girls! Great job. How did you loose it you think? Love that kitchen in the back - no wonder why Julia liked cooking.

Thank you! How did I lose it?

1) Food scale
2) Logging

I've eaten the same things from 2012 to today. Pizza, pasta, cheese, you name it, I eat it...but I weigh it on a $30 food scale I got 5 years ago (most are around 15 bucks at Walmart, but I'm a sucker for a fancy kitchenware store). I got a Fitbit Zip and try and hit 10/15k steps/day. That is up to you, though. Main thing? Figure out what you need to burn/eat, then...just do that. It's honestly not that complicated. Thermodynamics. The only complication is being honest with yourself.

I don't pretend to be a guru about any of this, but, happy to provide any pertinent answers. Although the answers are as simple as anything...eat less than you burn off.

I know, it's too simple. This is why I don't have a cult megachurch-like following. I should really work on that.

~VL

Frankie_Fan

Congrats!

birdenerd

Congrats! You totally deserve to self congratulate And thanks for this post! I've been overweight since childhood and could never really do makeup like my friends because of my eyelids. I never realized it was because of excess weight. Looking forward to seeing how my face changes after I lose more weight.

jcordray1978

Really brilliant job!

kjurassic

Good job! You look amazing!

UGET1LIFE

vegaslounge wrote: »

Every summer my two high school girlfriends and I do a weekend vacation somewhere, and we've been doing it for years. Our first one, the one that unofficially kicked off this tradition, was in Washington DC in 2012. I was roughly 215lbs.

Here's me, standing in the Plexiglass vestibule of Julia Child's kitchen.



Here's me tonight, 50 pounds lighter, same shirt. Holy crap. Seriously, holy crap. I'm still 20lb from goal but I cannot believe how different my face looks. My eyes particularly...I can wear eyeshadow and liner now because my eyelids are no longer "hooded" and I don't get creases when I blink.



I never took the classic standing-in-your-underwear "before" shots, but the fact that we've been taking these vacations every year for the past 5 years has given me a good chart of my progress. I'm hoping I'll be near goal by our next one (first week of June) but if I'm not, I'll still look and feel so much better than our first year, or every year since.

Yeah, so basically this post is "OMG how amazing am I" but...dude, I've legit lost 50lbs since 2012. Hell yeah I'm going to self-congratulate.

~VL

Congratulations! You look beautiful

Faygetshealthy_2018

Congratulations. You look amazing. Well done!

Styggian

Great story and great results, your 'self congratulate' is well deserved, Good job

StevefromMichigan

Awesome Job. Can't wait to see next year's photo!

beany90a

Well done. I am really proud of you

sportychic87

Awesome! You do look like a different person as others have said. It never occurred to me that those eye shadow creases might go away... Another reason for me to hit the gym!

dsboohead

Are you sure this is not 2 different people....WOW!?

ITUSGirl51

Wow, great job! You look great!!!!

betty_veronica4

Way to go!

lorrpb

Congrats! It’s great to have pics in similar circumstances each year, especially with the same people for comparison. Well done.

klr1981

Congratulations to you on a fantastic job!

tirowow12385

Great job, you've done it, the twenty is doable.

vegaslounge

I'd like to thank everyone for their well-wishes! It obviously has been a bumpy road (which is why it took 5 years to lose 50lbs) but it's been worth it and the remaining 20 will be even more worth it. I'm so close! I'm kicking it into a higher gear... started strength training at my gym and will be joining the local aquatics center for adult swim lessons (I never progressed past "tadpole" at my childhood YMCA classes). I am really, truly, once and for all, going to get this pile o'kittens done. I don't want to spend another summer swaddled in black ("it's slimming!").

What's kinda sad is that I knew I seriously needed to start losing weight in 2012 (I wore a cheapo pedometer throughout our whole DC trip) but I honestly felt cute and kinda sexy at the time. So, rah-rah my amazing self-esteem, boo-hiss my total lack of self-awareness at how big the problem (and myself) had gotten by that point.

vegaslounge

birdenerd wrote: »

Congrats! You totally deserve to self congratulate And thanks for this post! I've been overweight since childhood and could never really do makeup like my friends because of my eyelids. I never realized it was because of excess weight. Looking forward to seeing how my face changes after I lose more weight.

Yeah, I still have a slightly "hooded" effect (I'm ~5% Spanish/Portuguese heritage and it all went to my eyes, lol) but it is FAR less than it ever has been. I"m excited over the prospect of wearing makeup again. I can't do it often because of my job but I bought a few key pieces over the weekend...my boyfriend and I are going to a lecture Thursday night and Hells yes I am glamming it up.

Also, I can wear high heels comfortably for the first time in ages. Next stop, the lingerie department

sachigirl1

Congrats! Self congratulate all you want! You deserve it!