A 365 Day Retrospective

Terytha

Today is my 365 day mark since downloading MFP and trying actively to lose weight. I've dropped from 276 to 192.2. That's a solid 1.5 lbs per week for 52 weeks.

Not that it was ever that linear lol.

I've had two or three month long stalls. I've had a few bad weeks where I ate SO much and gained weight. I've had days where I felt so happy and proud, and days where I cried and said I wanted to give up.

But I didn't give up, because I'm stubborn and because what is learned can't be unlearned. Ignorance was my problem. I knew food had calories but had no way to relate that info to myself in a meaningful way. Now that I know, I'll never be able to casually order a double cheeseburger with fries and milkshake again. Also I really no longer am able to eat that much without pain.

Some stats:

Total lbs lost: 79.8
Pants size: from 20/22 to 14
Shirt size: from 3XL to XL
Shoe size: from 11 to 9
Cholesterol: 30% drop
Gym membership: 7 months
Actual gym visits: ~70 (guessed)
Chronic cough: Gone
Ankle Bursitis: Gone
Back injuries from stretching: eliminated
Hair: Fabulous
Outfit: On point

swirlybee

Terytha wrote: »

Hair: Fabulous
Outfit: On point

love it!! Keep up the good work!

RelCanonical

Hotel: Trivago

jk jk. Very awesome! You stuck to it and that's what makes it pay off.

NovusDies

Nice work!

How many times would you say you were forced to adapt over the last year?

Terytha

NovusDies wrote: »

Nice work!

How many times would you say you were forced to adapt over the last year?

Hmm, good question. Probably dozens of little tiny things I barely noticed. A few big ones. Not drinking my calories was the hardest one. Never mind giving up Coke, that was whatever. But I used to drink 3, 4 glasses of milk a day. I still miss milk. I miss it so much. Took me weeks to stop.

As my calories shrunk I had to be a little more creative to get my chocolate fix in. I eat Reese's Pieces now, since even a few of them seems to trick my brain into thinking I'm eating more chocolate.

I have to prep my lunches. No way around it. I hate meal prep but lunches are unavoidable.

Other than completely cutting pizza and Doritos because I can't with those, eating generally less, drinking more water and prepping lunch, I basically eat the same stuff as I used to. Dinners haven't changed much, and we still get fast food somewhat regularly.

My stomach has rebelled completely against the alternative. Any attempt at consuming any fruit or a tiny bit more fiber is met with misery.

Dootzy1

Wonderful achievement, I hope you enjoy the healthier you!!

NovusDies

Terytha wrote: »

NovusDies wrote: »

Nice work!

How many times would you say you were forced to adapt over the last year?

Hmm, good question. Probably dozens of little tiny things I barely noticed. A few big ones. Not drinking my calories was the hardest one. Never mind giving up Coke, that was whatever. But I used to drink 3, 4 glasses of milk a day. I still miss milk. I miss it so much. Took me weeks to stop.

As my calories shrunk I had to be a little more creative to get my chocolate fix in. I eat Reese's Pieces now, since even a few of them seems to trick my brain into thinking I'm eating more chocolate.

I have to prep my lunches. No way around it. I hate meal prep but lunches are unavoidable.

Other than completely cutting pizza and Doritos because I can't with those, eating generally less, drinking more water and prepping lunch, I basically eat the same stuff as I used to. Dinners haven't changed much, and we still get fast food somewhat regularly.

My stomach has rebelled completely against the alternative. Any attempt at consuming any fruit or a tiny bit more fiber is met with misery.

Excellent response. I think it is helpful for people earlier in the process to know that they way you start is just that... a starting place. Like you most of my changes happened without much thought. Some were not that easy. There is no way to know everything you need to know when you start. You have to live it, experience some difficulty, adapt, and move forward.

I also have not had a lot of milk in the last 2 years. I had not really noticed so I guess that one was easy. Alcohol was a bigger challenge for me. It took me 3 months to figure out what I needed to do to moderate it to suit me personally. There were numerous failures.

So how did it feel passing the year mark? Did you eventually realize that the year was inevitable or does it still surprise you? Or both.

Terytha

NovusDies wrote: »

Terytha wrote: »

NovusDies wrote: »

Nice work!

How many times would you say you were forced to adapt over the last year?

Hmm, good question. Probably dozens of little tiny things I barely noticed. A few big ones. Not drinking my calories was the hardest one. Never mind giving up Coke, that was whatever. But I used to drink 3, 4 glasses of milk a day. I still miss milk. I miss it so much. Took me weeks to stop.

As my calories shrunk I had to be a little more creative to get my chocolate fix in. I eat Reese's Pieces now, since even a few of them seems to trick my brain into thinking I'm eating more chocolate.

I have to prep my lunches. No way around it. I hate meal prep but lunches are unavoidable.

Other than completely cutting pizza and Doritos because I can't with those, eating generally less, drinking more water and prepping lunch, I basically eat the same stuff as I used to. Dinners haven't changed much, and we still get fast food somewhat regularly.

My stomach has rebelled completely against the alternative. Any attempt at consuming any fruit or a tiny bit more fiber is met with misery.

Excellent response. I think it is helpful for people earlier in the process to know that they way you start is just that... a starting place. Like you most of my changes happened without much thought. Some were not that easy. There is no way to know everything you need to know when you start. You have to live it, experience some difficulty, adapt, and move forward.

I also have not had a lot of milk in the last 2 years. I had not really noticed so I guess that one was easy. Alcohol was a bigger challenge for me. It took me 3 months to figure out what I needed to do to moderate it to suit me personally. There were numerous failures.

So how did it feel passing the year mark? Did you eventually realize that the year was inevitable or does it still surprise you? Or both.

Oh, definitely. And I should note, I started with nearly 1700 calories a day and it took me I think 3 weeks to regularly stay within that. I spent a lot of time going "well, it's only 400 over that's not so bad." And it still worked out because I persisted.

But also, with those tiny unnoticeable adaptations I now eat between 1300 and 1500 calories every day no problem. It just takes practice.

I realized about 2 to 3 weeks ago I was about to hit a year and I was just kind of like, wow. A year went by way faster than I thought it would.

But it always does no matter what you're doing.

fostersu

Cheers! Well done

siotha

Congrats! Great accomplishments in this past year. Obviously, the weight loss but huge insight as well.