101 pounds gone!

xsmilexforxmex

WOWOWOW! You look so much happier and younger! So amazing, Thank you for sharing!

jennz81

You look great! All that hard work is paying off.

JeninBelgium

AMAZING!:drinker:

pattycakes80

thank you everyone for the super kind words!

i am most def going to look back at this thread when i am too tired/crabby for the gym!

i forget to mention that i cut out any foods that triggered bad habits for me. i haven't bought a bag of regular potato chips in nearly one year. however, if i feel the craving coming on, i will snack on something like pringles, which conquer the salt craving and since i don't have an issue with them, i don't go crazy and finish the whole stack. this way i don't go crazy in a time of weakness.

there have been plenty of days where i went over my calories, but i would always think of this:

say you run through one red light - are you going to continue to run through every red light just because of that one miss?

such wisdom has been so helpful.

in the beginning it may feel like a diet, but it is not. it a new way of viewing your relationship with health - not just food. make food an enemy and you give it so much more power and control than it really deserves. at first i was angry at my relationship with food until i came to realization that food was covering up issues that i wasn't ready to deal with. and despite being a terrible band-aid, food was there for me when i wasn't able to handle things. learning to recognize that allows me to not only focus on my issues with a clearer mind, but it forgives the weight gain. holding on to that anger doesn't benefit me, nor does it change my past. i do not get mad at myself when i overeat. punishing myself didn't work before and it clearly will not work now.

shame is something that is tricky to tackle. i stil cringe at "before" pictures. sometimes i feel so sad for the girl in the pictures, so unhappy and lost. most of the time, though, i thank her. for sticking it out long enough until i was ready to change. for giving me the chance at a makeover. for giving me strength.

i promise this: if you work on your mental attitude towards eating, it is very difficult to fail. 101 pounds ago, i had no idea where to start, my end goal seemed IMPOSSIBLE. but moving slow and making natural changes along the way has my goal in sight and i swear it seems like just yesterday when i started.

i may be obnoxious in saying this, but exercise is awesome! we all know about endorphins so i am not going to pretend to be the girl to crack the code, but when you do enough exercise, you crave it. does that mean you aren't going to have days where you are kicking and screaming your way to the gym because you are so tired and would rather watch tv? hecky no. i get those days all the time. but here is the thing: after a work out, i feel like i am in paris, on a cloud, french-kissing ryan gosling. i feel amazing, ya'll. and when i whine pre-workout, my post-workout me wonders why i don't feel like frenching ryan gosling that day. so i do it. sometimes in a sulk, but i do it. plus, i am at a point where i notice speeds and stamina increasing and that is pretty awesome, too.

i put myself in a box a very long time ago. i was a fat girl and that was it. i would always be a fat girl and i would take what i could get because i was just a fat girl. do not make that mistake. you are not your weight, you are not your past. you are today and today has the potential to move mountains. this past january, i started a biggest loser competiion at my work. now this is huge office, in huge downtown chicago with floors of people and i ran a weight loss competition. this girl, who NEVER wanted to discuss weight actually started and ran a program that focused enirely on weight. it was incredibly rewarding to have people ask me for infortmantion on a topic i thought i had failed at forever. easily my happiest victory to date. i completed an 8k a few weekends ago. mostly walking, a little jogging (little) but it was 5 miles and i did it. i might even get my ears pierced - sky is the limit for this little cupcake. no box can keep me in check. (and this confidence that you might be picking up on? yeah, that is new, too. a little alarming at times, but i am going to run with it)

most importantly,

TIME IS GOING TO PASS ANYWAY.

just try and move in the best direction possible.

applecheeksaz

Great job!!!!!

Jump4Fitness

Great Job! Truly inspiring.

bhdon

Truly wonderful! Thanks for sharing - helps me remember that one day at a time can reap big results in a year. ( And a much needed boost on a day I pushed 900+ calories 'over' goal )

BookAngel_a

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing! My goal is to lose 100 pounds and sometimes it seems so overwhelming at the beginning...you are very inspirational. It's true, even if it takes 2 years to meet goal, those 2 years are going to pass anyway, right? So why not make the time that passes count towards your goal? You are so correct, thank you for the inspiration!

pattycakes80

Thank you thank you thank you for sharing! My goal is to lose 100 pounds and sometimes it seems so overwhelming at the beginning...you are very inspirational. It's true, even if it takes 2 years to meet goal, those 2 years are going to pass anyway, right? So why not make the time that passes count towards your goal? You are so correct, thank you for the inspiration!

you got this! i am here for any needed support! you got this. you are stunning and time will pass anyway.