Maybe not a success yet, but definitely a journey (pics)

elizak87 · September 2013

I should preface this with letting you know I am Aussie and as an Aussie we have a tendency to say it how it is without rainbows and butterflies.

Recently I reached a year on MFP. I joined with recommendation of a beautiful friend (thanks _mandapanda_ !). A few months prior to joining I hit my highest weight ever 79kg. I just started a new relationship and was living on my own. I was eating it up and sitting on my backside. I could easy eat four serves of pasta and a loaf of garlic bread for dinner. The final straw was hearing from a guy at work that I was 'fat for a vegetarian'. Long gone were my uni days were I could wear what I wanted and in place was this bigger version of me.

My weight had massive impacts on my self esteem. I used to wear pants as much as possible rather than skirts. I used to wear big baggy clothes to hide my body. I used to sob in change rooms. Once I cried as I walked out of a store. I asked a lady if she had a dress in any other sizes. She looked at me up and down and simply said 'not in your size'. I was an Aussie size 12 and getting close to a 14. I hated photos and I was beginning to hate myself. I hated being seen out so often said no to social events just so I didn't have to dress up.

I got sick of it and I didn't want to get any bigger. My mum who has struggled with her weight her whole life, said to me with tear sin her eyes, 'I don't want you to be like me, I want you to take care of yourself'. So that is what I did.

I had only recently started living on my own and decided that I no longer wanted to avoid social events. So I agreed to say yes to things. Beginning to go for walks and play indoor soccer helped me lose my first 4 kilos. Problem was my eating was still terrible.

MFP helped me learn about protein, which as a vegetarian was a thing I struggled with and was a carb-o-holic. With a claorie intake of around 1600 I started my journey. I learned to love foods that I had missed. Berries with cottage cheese, hummus and tomato, salads, strawberries etc etc. I learnt to say no and I learnt to cut down my drinking. Don't get me wrong, I still eat 'normal people' food. Friday night is poker night so it is likely I will have a beer, I will have my high tea and cupcakes with the girls and I will have chips with a meal but I try not to over do it.

My new found 'yes' to social activities saw me do a 9km run through Sydney harbour and a tough mudder. I was slow as a wet Sunday BUT I loved them. I tried zumba, boxing, personal training, 30 day shred, insanity etc. You name it, I have tried it. My goal for this year was to do 12 events. So far I have done Spartan, Tough Mudder, Bay Run, Sun Run, Tough Bloke and Warrior Dash. The muddier the better. I am still slow as anything but I like having a go and improving my time.

The realistic side of it all is that this hasn't been easy for me. I fall off the wagon and have major binges at times. When I am off the wagon I can go 3000+ calories above my weekly intake. I have days where I have eaten 3000+ calories. I still eat emotionally. I have trouble saying no at group events or parties. But I always log. No point in lying when the scale doesn't.

I hate exercise. That's not true. I hate time leading up to exercise. I hate the idea that after leaving for work at 7:30am and coming home at 7:00pm, I don't really feel like doing much else than eating dinner and watching TV. Seriously, how my MFP mates work and are mums and super fit blows my mind! I also get really bored if I do the same thing for too long. So I have mixed it up. I run, I do weights and I have a PT once a week. I train for whatever event I do that month to keep me occupied.I have days I dedicate to exercise and I have days off.

I am realistic. I do not have the body of a goddess. Far from it. And I shouldn't. I don't eat less than 1500 calories almost ever, I love a cheeky beer and I like bread. I also don't exercise more than four days a week. Ever. I don't deserve to be ripped or have less that 12% body fat. What I have is what I earned. Which is a modest weight loss. I know if I apply myself I can get better results but I have alright results from an alright effort. I guess what I am saying is that you get what you deserve. If you are put off by slow results then work harder.

I am still on my journey and I have no intentions to quit and really I have no reason to.

So the stats. My starting weight was 79kg in March 2012. I am now 64kg. (I fluctuate between 63 and 65kg actually). I am an Aussie size 10. I am 163cm tall and these are some of my befores and afters. As many bigger people I did not have many pics taken when I was bigger and tended to hide from cameras. Here does nothing:

March 2008

[img]<a href="http://s795.photobucket.com/user/elizak87/media/IMGP0145_zps2e86acff.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/IMGP0145_zps2e86acff.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMGP0145_zps2e86acff.jpg"/></a>[/img]

October 2010

[img]<a href="http://s795.photobucket.com/user/elizak87/media/Facebook/Halloween/67746_155660807805049_3197159_n.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/Facebook/Halloween/67746_155660807805049_3197159_n.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 67746_155660807805049_3197159_n.jpg"/></a>[/img]

Feb 2011

elizak87 · September 2013

Damn I knew I would stuff it

SkimFlatWhite68 · September 2013

Eliza, that's a great story and thanks for sharing. You have come such a long way, and yes there are improvements still to come but we all have those battles.

Thank you and best wishes.

Baloostika · September 2013

I love ur story. U have have done a great job, attitude is everything and u have got the right attitude. I can't see ur pictures but I guess u look really nice before and after. I wish I could even be at ur starting weight, lol. I am in the 90s kg.

rachael1805 · September 2013

OMG! No photos! Puh-lease get those photos up, after such a fantastic story, I would just love to see your progress, especially as our stats are so similar; I can't wait to crack the into the 60s

elizak87 · September 2013

I should preface this with letting you know I am Aussie and as an Aussie we have a tendency to say it how it is without rainbows and butterflies.

Recently I reached a year on MFP. I joined with recommendation of a beautiful friend (thanks _mandapanda_ !). A few months prior to joining I hit my highest weight ever 79kg. I just started a new relationship and was living on my own. I was eating it up and sitting on my backside. I could easy eat four serves of pasta and a loaf of garlic bread for dinner. The final straw was hearing from a guy at work that I was 'fat for a vegetarian'. Long gone were my uni days were I could wear what I wanted and in place was this bigger version of me.

My weight had massive impacts on my self esteem. I used to wear pants as much as possible rather than skirts. I used to wear big baggy clothes to hide my body. I used to sob in change rooms. Once I cried as I walked out of a store. I asked a lady if she had a dress in any other sizes. She looked at me up and down and simply said 'not in your size'. I was an Aussie size 12 and getting close to a 14. I hated photos and I was beginning to hate myself. I hated being seen out so often said no to social events just so I didn't have to dress up.

I got sick of it and I didn't want to get any bigger. My mum who has struggled with her weight her whole life, said to me with tear sin her eyes, 'I don't want you to be like me, I want you to take care of yourself'. So that is what I did.

I had only recently started living on my own and decided that I no longer wanted to avoid social events. So I agreed to say yes to things. Beginning to go for walks and play indoor soccer helped me lose my first 4 kilos. Problem was my eating was still terrible.

MFP helped me learn about protein, which as a vegetarian was a thing I struggled with and was a carb-o-holic. With a claorie intake of around 1600 I started my journey. I learned to love foods that I had missed. Berries with cottage cheese, hummus and tomato, salads, strawberries etc etc. I learnt to say no and I learnt to cut down my drinking. Don't get me wrong, I still eat 'normal people' food. Friday night is poker night so it is likely I will have a beer, I will have my high tea and cupcakes with the girls and I will have chips with a meal but I try not to over do it.

My new found 'yes' to social activities saw me do a 9km run through Sydney harbour and a tough mudder. I was slow as a wet Sunday BUT I loved them. I tried zumba, boxing, personal training, 30 day shred, insanity etc. You name it, I have tried it. My goal for this year was to do 12 events. So far I have done Spartan, Tough Mudder, Bay Run, Sun Run, Tough Bloke and Warrior Dash. The muddier the better. I am still slow as anything but I like having a go and improving my time.

The realistic side of it all is that this hasn't been easy for me. I fall off the wagon and have major binges at times. When I am off the wagon I can go 3000+ calories above my weekly intake. I have days where I have eaten 3000+ calories. I still eat emotionally. I have trouble saying no at group events or parties. But I always log. No point in lying when the scale doesn't.

I hate exercise. That's not true. I hate time leading up to exercise. I hate the idea that after leaving for work at 7:30am and coming home at 7:00pm, I don't really feel like doing much else than eating dinner and watching TV. Seriously, how my MFP mates work and are mums and super fit blows my mind! I also get really bored if I do the same thing for too long. So I have mixed it up. I run, I do weights and I have a PT once a week. I train for whatever event I do that month to keep me occupied.I have days I dedicate to exercise and I have days off.

I am realistic. I do not have the body of a goddess. Far from it. And I shouldn't. I don't eat less than 1500 calories almost ever, I love a cheeky beer and I like bread. I also don't exercise more than four days a week. Ever. I don't deserve to be ripped or have less that 12% body fat. What I have is what I earned. Which is a modest weight loss. I know if I apply myself I can get better results but I have alright results from an alright effort. I guess what I am saying is that you get what you deserve. If you are put off by slow results then work harder.

I am still on my journey and I have no intentions to quit and really I have no reason to.

So the stats. My starting weight was 79kg in March 2012. I am now 64kg. (I fluctuate between 63 and 65kg actually). I am an Aussie size 10. I am 163cm tall and these are some of my befores and afters. As many bigger people I did not have many pics taken when I was bigger and tended to hide from cameras. Here does nothing:

March 2008

October 2010

Feb 2011

[img]http://s795.photobucket.com/user/elizak87/library/Facebook/Mobile Uploads[/img]

December 2011

[ img]http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/28834057_2458_zps7ee1df2b.jpg[/img]

December 2012

[img]http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/Facebook/Mobile Uploads/739731_464090356962091_309809263_o.jpg[/img]

Feb 2013

[img]http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/Facebook/Mobile Uploads/251575_482914018413058_1098579765_n.jpg[/img]

March 2013

[img]http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/Facebook/Mobile Uploads/922675_511318065572653_1439457711_n.jpg[/img]

July 2013

[img]http://i795.photobucket.com/albums/yy240/elizak87/Facebook/Mobile Uploads/296135_522742577763535_99028231_n.jpg[/img]

Well that's all folks. Thanks for listening to me blabber. Hope I did someone some good by it.

minizebu · September 2013

You look fantastic, Eliza! You have worked so hard to get to where you are and you have such a good attitude. You are who you are and you have achieved what you have achieved and you are so matter of fact about it. I so admire your determination to get out there and do a fun and challenging activity every month.

Many Kudos!

I am glad that you are my pal.

P.S. There is no "maybe" about it. You are indeed a success!

Maybe not a success yet, but definitely a journey (pics)

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