Progress pics for my own friggin motivation lol...

mimiteh35

Ok, so I started at 226.4 a few days after Christmas. I never take full body shots and honestly there are no mirrors that show me below my chest (I'm 5' 1.5") so I never realized HOW BAD I got. I am always a happy person, but over the past few years have noticed how much more I struggle to do simple things like tie my shoes or how much my back was constantly hurting and how stiff I'd be when I first wake up because of my back. I also had a few doctor visits where my blood pressuer was borderline hypertensive, always told I needed to work on my weight to keep it down or I will have to take pills the rest of my life. I started walking "once in a while" with my dog. High blood pressure and diabetes both run in my family, and was warned by my doctor that I needed to get my weight better to reduce my risk. But, I never FELT sick, always assumed my back pain was from my big "girls" and nothing just some pounds. It wasn't until I saw a pic my cousin posted of me from Christmas Eve at our big family party that I realized how big I got. It was not good, I was literally just ROUND, no telling where my boobs ended and my belly began from the side, just round. I never realized I got THAT big.

Why did I not realize? Well, I come from a huge family that are MOSTLY overweight. I have a great fiance who loved me and asked me to marry him (Christmas day he asked) at my HEAVIEST, even though I gained weight since we first met. I have some great friends and am just a happy person. It didn't dawn on me I was THAT bad.

Well, when I saw that pic, I decided to make a change and I ordered Turbo Jam as my first exercise set and bought a scale. I weighed in at 226.4. When I was 9 months pregnant with my son (in 2001) I was 222, so to find out I weighed MORE than when I was pregnant scared me. I made a MINIMUM goal that I would lose 40 lbs by my 40th birthday (Oct 2013). 10 months to lose 40 pounds, I figured at a pound a week it was do-able. Start date was officially 12/30/2012.

I did TJ pretty much to the schedule of the program for about 1-1/2 months, then I kinda faltered and would only do it 3 days a week. I went on MFP at the same time and went by what MFP says to go by on calories. I slowly did lose weight and after 4 months (April) I lost 17 lbs. Bought Zumba for the next month and I kinda plateaued, stayed there give or take 2 lbs for the next month. Then end of May I saw a thing to join a challenge group for the summer, 90 days, and figured I needed to commit. I bought Turbo Fire and worked on that, changed the way I eat/counted calories/macros and saw a difference, though the scale only dropped 11-ish lbs in the next 90 days, the INCHES came off and I am so proud of myself! I have so much less back pain, barely any at all anymore, I can tie my shoes without getting out of breath, I'm starting to see my collar bones, and I have a little bit of biceps muscles that I never had before! Next goal - cross my legs without struggling to keep them there!

This is a side by side, I'm wearing the same tank-top. The first pic is a couple days after day 1, 226.4 lbs, Jan 2013. The second pic is August 2013 at the end of my 90 day challenge, dropped to 197.4. (hope the pic works, never posted on forums with pics): (excuse the open trash can lol)



I gained a pound in the last 3 weeks, it came up, went down, came up again... so I need to refocus and get back on track, and that's why I'm posting these pics and my story, to remind myself, and also to push myself because I'm holding myself accountable IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOU, that I came this far, and I'm so close to that first goal, that I need to keep going!

I have about 7 weeks until my 40th birthday. As of this morning I weighed in at 199 even. So, I have 7-ish weeks to lose another 12.6 lbs. I've only lost 2 lbs a week two weeks total in the last 8 months, so I'm not sure I will get there, but I have to try, I'm TOO CLOSE not to give it my all!

I'm going to finish the last 3 weeks of my Turbo Fire (stopped because our AC broke and it was 82 dg IN the house with all fans on high and a portable AC unit purchased, had headaches most of the last 3 weeks, but it is finally cooling down) and my family and I also started doing the Couch to 5K program, today was week 2 day 1 completed!

I CAN DO THIS!! I'm proud of what I've accomplished even though it took me longer than I hoped, still a ways to go until ultimate goal, but I want to reach this mini-goal!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Feel free to add! Good luck everyone!!

MrsFowler1069

You made it below 200 and what a change! You should absolutely be motivated by this! Congratulations on your progress so far...you're doing great! Guess this Winter's family pictures will be a whole lot different from last, eh?

qtgonewild

Awesome work girl you can do this.

sweetiebelle

Your doing a great job! Keep up the hard work because it paying off! Well done

FixIngMe13

Man... .I totally admire you right now! You are rockin' it, and you are doing it... keep pushing! You look great! :flowerforyou:

PippiNe

Welcome to Onederland! I see a huge difference in your pics! The scale may not reflect it, but you have made some amazing progress. Keep up the great work. I have no doubt that we will be reading a success story in October. Your motivation is admirable!!

mimiteh35

You made it below 200 and what a change! You should absolutely be motivated by this! Congratulations on your progress so far...you're doing great! Guess this Winter's family pictures will be a whole lot different from last, eh?

Thank you! And OMGosh I didn't even THINK of that! I will have to post a comparison pic when its been a year! I haven't seen most of my extended family since then (we live a few hrs apart and I work midnights and most weekends, hard to get away to see them) so most of them will not have seen me since last Christmas! Talk about another thing to help motivate me, thank you!!

mimiteh35

Welcome to Onederland! I see a huge difference in your pics! The scale may not reflect it, but you have made some amazing progress. Keep up the great work. I have no doubt that we will be reading a success story in October. Your motivation is admirable!!

I honestly didn't think I'd see the day, there were times I just plateaued and it wouldn't budge or it would go up instead of down! I was so happy to get under 200, it was AWESOME to reach that milestone of ONEDERLAND!

Thanks! I hope you will be seeing my first goal I set of 40 by my 40th! Then it will be on to set a new goal (not sure what to set my weight at as I haven't been below 180 since before I had my son, he's 12 now, lol.

mimiteh35

Thanks everyone! I honestly didn't SEE the difference in my face until recently, let alone my body. From the side you can see it better, I have a wide belly so from the front its not as obvious, but my family kept saying they could see a difference and when I put that shirt on they said isn't that the shirt from day 1? and I said yes and they made me take a pic that day, lol. I have noticed a feel in my clothes, dropped from size 22/24 or XXL or some 3X in shirts to 18/20, XL or 1X, and pants also 22/24 down to 20 with no elastic give or stretchy pants, or 18 with some elastic lol. I did have to drop a bra size though, booo hahaha.

Elbee1

I also see an amazing transformation in your pictures! Wow! You have done so well! You are motivating me, too. I will be doing Turbo Jam starting tomorrow morning (again).
Linda

Brummig

wow - you are doing awesome! I too started to lose weight finally taking it seriously just before my 40th birthday, and my first goal was 40lb too. I did it(though I did SW) and I've lost more than another 30 since, and kept it off. I'll be 43 in a couple of weeks (eek!)
Try to changing your diet a bit. I find adding in more beans and berries and melon can help boost my loss.

ButterflyDame

Congrats on your weight loss to date, certainly can see it I agree with the family snaps this year they will be different

I can't wait to reach onederland!!!! My next goal is coming up, 4 more pounds and then onederland is calling my name

jdforshort

Way to go, girl! You look great!:flowerforyou: You sound very determined, this is the exact attitude that brings results. I am positive you can lose the rest too! You are going to love axing the Xs:laugh: . You'll see how C25K is going to speed up the trimming process! Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing your future pictures.

SallyAnnFromChichester

Don't give up - you are on the way! Well done!! There is a skinny person in there xx

getitamb

You look great!!!! Don't focus too much in the scale. This NSV is better than any number anyways.

sarahrbraun

Ok, so I started at 226.4 a few days after Christmas. I never take full body shots and honestly there are no mirrors that show me below my chest (I'm 5' 1.5") so I never realized HOW BAD I got. I am always a happy person, but over the past few years have noticed how much more I struggle to do simple things like tie my shoes or how much my back was constantly hurting and how stiff I'd be when I first wake up because of my back. I also had a few doctor visits where my blood pressuer was borderline hypertensive, always told I needed to work on my weight to keep it down or I will have to take pills the rest of my life. I started walking "once in a while" with my dog. High blood pressure and diabetes both run in my family, and was warned by my doctor that I needed to get my weight better to reduce my risk. But, I never FELT sick, always assumed my back pain was from my big "girls" and nothing just some pounds. It wasn't until I saw a pic my cousin posted of me from Christmas Eve at our big family party that I realized how big I got. It was not good, I was literally just ROUND, no telling where my boobs ended and my belly began from the side, just round. I never realized I got THAT big.

Why did I not realize? Well, I come from a huge family that are MOSTLY overweight. I have a great fiance who loved me and asked me to marry him (Christmas day he asked) at my HEAVIEST, even though I gained weight since we first met. I have some great friends and am just a happy person. It didn't dawn on me I was THAT bad.

Well, when I saw that pic, I decided to make a change and I ordered Turbo Jam as my first exercise set and bought a scale. I weighed in at 226.4. When I was 9 months pregnant with my son (in 2001) I was 222, so to find out I weighed MORE than when I was pregnant scared me. I made a MINIMUM goal that I would lose 40 lbs by my 40th birthday (Oct 2013). 10 months to lose 40 pounds, I figured at a pound a week it was do-able. Start date was officially 12/30/2012.

I did TJ pretty much to the schedule of the program for about 1-1/2 months, then I kinda faltered and would only do it 3 days a week. I went on MFP at the same time and went by what MFP says to go by on calories. I slowly did lose weight and after 4 months (April) I lost 17 lbs. Bought Zumba for the next month and I kinda plateaued, stayed there give or take 2 lbs for the next month. Then end of May I saw a thing to join a challenge group for the summer, 90 days, and figured I needed to commit. I bought Turbo Fire and worked on that, changed the way I eat/counted calories/macros and saw a difference, though the scale only dropped 11-ish lbs in the next 90 days, the INCHES came off and I am so proud of myself! I have so much less back pain, barely any at all anymore, I can tie my shoes without getting out of breath, I'm starting to see my collar bones, and I have a little bit of biceps muscles that I never had before! Next goal - cross my legs without struggling to keep them there!

This is a side by side, I'm wearing the same tank-top. The first pic is a couple days after day 1, 226.4 lbs, Jan 2013. The second pic is August 2013 at the end of my 90 day challenge, dropped to 197.4. (hope the pic works, never posted on forums with pics): (excuse the open trash can lol)



I gained a pound in the last 3 weeks, it came up, went down, came up again... so I need to refocus and get back on track, and that's why I'm posting these pics and my story, to remind myself, and also to push myself because I'm holding myself accountable IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOU, that I came this far, and I'm so close to that first goal, that I need to keep going!

I have about 7 weeks until my 40th birthday. As of this morning I weighed in at 199 even. So, I have 7-ish weeks to lose another 12.6 lbs. I've only lost 2 lbs a week two weeks total in the last 8 months, so I'm not sure I will get there, but I have to try, I'm TOO CLOSE not to give it my all!

I'm going to finish the last 3 weeks of my Turbo Fire (stopped because our AC broke and it was 82 dg IN the house with all fans on high and a portable AC unit purchased, had headaches most of the last 3 weeks, but it is finally cooling down) and my family and I also started doing the Couch to 5K program, today was week 2 day 1 completed!

I CAN DO THIS!! I'm proud of what I've accomplished even though it took me longer than I hoped, still a ways to go until ultimate goal, but I want to reach this mini-goal!!

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Feel free to add! Good luck everyone!!

You and are actually very much alike! I am the same height, and I started out at 228.4lbs...and I am only about 18 months younger than you are! No matter what, be proud of what you have accomplished! Don't worry about the shrinking boobs, I have gone from a 42DD to a 38C, but they look better!

I started my journey in February 2012, and I started taking pictures in March or April. I have only lost about 37lbs, but pretty much every month, on the same day, I take pictures in the same clothes as one of my before pics so I can see my progress. Here are some of mine from last year.


Untitled by crochetmom2010, on Flickr

I actually take new ones any time I find myself feeling bad about the way I look Usually I can find some small change to cheer myself up.

Don't forget about the NSVs ( non scale victory/validation) either. I have had several people at the gym come up to me and tell me that they can see that my body has changed, gotten tighter. The other day, I was trying to do sprints, and my yoga pants kept sliding down?!? Yesterday I helped at a boy scout event, and as we were cleaning up, I picked up a canopy and carried it across a field with no issue--another mom was going to drag it.

ETA: the bottom right picture is from March of this year, about a month after i started working with a PT.

AnitraSoto

Congrats on a job well done - amazing progress!!

arewethereyet

Great job, keep up the good work!! WOOT!

JulieBowe

Your first 3 paragraphs are identical to me with the exception of being married for 28 years... I congratulate you for putting this out there so you will be more accountable. AWESOME! Keep it up sister...
I just started MFP and joined a gym two weeks ago, so I'm on the beginning of my journey. Hope to post side by side in a few months. Friend me if you need a friend to help you stay accountable

jenilla1

...our AC broke and it was 82 dg IN the house...

I'm one of those sickos who likes it hot. :devil: If I've got some shade, I can hang outside well into the triple digits. Indoors, my AC isn't set to kick in until it's above 85. I do like air flow, so I have fans going.

Where I live it's hot and dry during the day, but the ocean breezes come in through the windows in the evenings and cool everything right down. It's heaven.

Wouldn't want to do a hardcore workout in the heat, though, so I feel you there.

midnight_storm

Wow! Congratulations! It definitely shows how much happier you are to take the 2nd picture! I don't even think you are smiling in the first! I'm glad for you and I hope you the best in your journey!

fhargis0002

that's such great progress. fantastic work and good luck on ur journey!!

princesstoadstool82

seriously!!!! look what you have already achived!!!! you go girl!!!!

MyJourney1960

awesome! you got to ONEderland and you look amazing! look at the differences - your whole lower body, your chin, face, rib/stomach area. wow - amazing changes!

patty9013

Congrats you have done an amazing job so far!! You can lose the last 12 lbs by your birthday!!

TdaniT

Awesome job!!! You are doing great!!

lsfurniss

I have only just started , but reading your story and seeing your amazing pics - gives me such a big incentive to really go for it. Well done you.:happy:

mimiteh35

I have only just started , but reading your story and seeing your amazing pics - gives me such a big incentive to really go for it. Well done you.:happy:

Thank you so much! I am always looking on the success stories when I feel unmotivated or feel like giving up, so I'm so grateful that you think that of my own progress! You can do it, reach out if you need to talk to someone, it has helped me so much when I was down or hard on myself! You can do this!!

mimiteh35

I also see an amazing transformation in your pictures! Wow! You have done so well! You are motivating me, too. I will be doing Turbo Jam starting tomorrow morning (again).
Linda

Hey you! Thank you so much! I love Turbo Jam! I am thinking of doing some sort of Turbo Jam/Turbo Fire hybrid after I complete the Turbo Fire in 3 weeks! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Diana

mimiteh35

wow - you are doing awesome! I too started to lose weight finally taking it seriously just before my 40th birthday, and my first goal was 40lb too. I did it(though I did SW) and I've lost more than another 30 since, and kept it off. I'll be 43 in a couple of weeks (eek!)
Try to changing your diet a bit. I find adding in more beans and berries and melon can help boost my loss.

Thanks! And congrats on your own loss!

I am working on changing my diet actually, I've looked up and printed out a bunch of new recipes to try. I've decided since the family doesn't want to purposely eat healthy with me, to make it easier on me to make sure I eat healthier, I am going to work on our family meals in small ways, when recipes call for milk going to change to skim or try almond milk or something, lol, cut out cooking with butter, etc. If I do it and don't say anything, they might not even notice many of the changes if I ease them in there slowly. The hardest part for me is cooking 2 different meals some days, so I end up with a sort-of healthier dinner but not as healthy as my lunch can be when I'm at home alone eating lunch by myself because everyone is at school or works day shift.

I can't do beans...well I can, but they don't agree with my stomach well, at least certain ones. I don't like melons either unfortunately. I've tried, but I can't make myself eat them, but I am definitely making some changes every week and growing and learning! I used to think I'd starve on healthy eating, but turns out I can eat a lot more if I cut out some things. I'm not a huge bread eater anyway, so I have been cutting out buns on burgers, and cooking with the leanest burger meat or sometimes turkey burgers when I can get them on sale (tight budget this time of year for our family), and who knew those little changes wouldn't even be noticed much!

Thanks again and congrats to your own successes!!

mimiteh35

You and are actually very much alike! I am the same height, and I started out at 228.4lbs...and I am only about 18 months younger than you are! No matter what, be proud of what you have accomplished! Don't worry about the shrinking boobs, I have gone from a 42DD to a 38C, but they look better!

I started my journey in February 2012, and I started taking pictures in March or April. I have only lost about 37lbs, but pretty much every month, on the same day, I take pictures in the same clothes as one of my before pics so I can see my progress. Here are some of mine from last year.


Untitled by crochetmom2010, on Flickr

I actually take new ones any time I find myself feeling bad about the way I look Usually I can find some small change to cheer myself up.

Don't forget about the NSVs ( non scale victory/validation) either. I have had several people at the gym come up to me and tell me that they can see that my body has changed, gotten tighter. The other day, I was trying to do sprints, and my yoga pants kept sliding down?!? Yesterday I helped at a boy scout event, and as we were cleaning up, I picked up a canopy and carried it across a field with no issue--another mom was going to drag it.

ETA: the bottom right picture is from March of this year, about a month after i started working with a PT.

You're doing great! And funny thing is to add to the similarities, I also started at 42DD, lol. So far I've only gone down to 42D, but when you've been DD for so long, it seems so small to get to D, I'm sure I'll end up at C or smaller, I was C in college and a little after before I really gained some weight.

I was in a challenge group and we had to take our pics every 30 days, and I took them in the same clothes, but it wasn't the same as this first day, but I loved seeing the difference, but the pants are now fitting weird and actually make me look bigger because they hang funny on me now, lol. Ive decided I want to keep taking pics in this tank top at least and maybe the pants too but the pants were baggy to begin with so not sure you could see difference if I wore the pants. I should try taking pics every time I feel bad about myself too, see if that helps to compare. My fiance made me do the one in the white shirt when I hit the 90 day mark because I thought I didn't make much change in the past 90 days, I mean I lost but I couldn't see it, so he said then maybe I need to compare it to day 1 from my journey, not just the 90 day challenge, to see how far I came and I was so happy to see changes! So I might have to try doing that when I feel bad, thanks for the idea.

I've only had a couple of NSVs, one was just the other day, my step-mom's friend who I hadn't seen in a few months, had said she noticed that I lost weight. Aside from my immediately family, no one has ever just come up to me and said that, so it was so good to hear!! After 8 full months I was starting to wonder if anyone noticed! My fiance always says he does, but I also tell him that he has to say that because he's being supportive, lol. He also says to people before anyone would have a chance to say anything "doesn't she look great? She's lost almost 30 pounds!" He's very proud of me (I'm proud of me, too) and so then I feel like people HAVE to say something because he put them on the spot, so having that woman tell me without him saying something first made me feel great after 8 months of working at losing and having no one openly just say something to me.
The other NSV's have been clothing fit related, stuff I couldn't wear for a few yrs that I hung on to now fit and some of those are a little loose now, and a dress I bought 2 yrs ago on vacation that I never wore, still has the tag on it, is now LOOSE. The last NSV was that I went through my whole closet and all the dressers and got rid of stuff that doesn't fit me anymore. then I realized I don't have much to wear hahaha.

Thanks again and good luck on your continued progress!