15 Pounds Down Before/After

arussell134

I wasn't planning on posting in the success stories until farther into my journey, but I feel like I've made good progress and wanted to share!

A little bit about me: I've been fit most of my life but quite frankly, got lazy in the last year or so. I was shocked to learn I'd put on about 15 pounds in a year! This moved me from the "normal/healthy" range to the "overweight" one. I've yo-yo'd before, but decided this time it's not about a crash diet - it's about finding a way of life for the long haul.



The pic on the left was me at my heaviest, 166 lb and the right was taken today at 151. I'm 5'6". Not following any special diet, just using the calorie tracking tools here at MFP. I had started at 1200 calories/day, but found it was NOT enough for me so I'm at 1500 and on big workout days may eat up to 2000. I primarily run (long distance mixed with spring workouts), but do other forms of cardio as well as strength training at least 2 days a week. This has taken me 3 months to achieve.

Thanks for letting me share - I hope to share again when I'm closer to my goal! (I'm thinking that's somewhere between 135-140, but we'll see how I feel/look as I move down the scale).

lolabluola

Fantastic! You look great!

VitaminAmy

Great job! :happy:

WillLift4Tats

Fantastic progress! You look great

srslybritt

You look awesome! Healthy and strong. Good work.

branbuds

Wow! You look fantastic! Congrats

slimdebbiecakes89

Good work!!!

wapan

GREAT LEGS! Thank you for the post. Your story sounds similar to mine. Darned pounds just snuck on!

mizroxy13

You look great! Thank you for your post and information. It's nice to be reminded of what a difference 15 pounds can make on how you feel and how you look! Great success story and keep it up!

Anens630

First off, your smile is contagious! Second, go you! You look fantastic!!!

ChiJenn

Great job, 15 pounds is awesome.

AnitaCRice

Great job! We're the same height, and I have very similar goals as you. Best of luck to both of us!

DaniDC28

You look great! I'm 5'6 too so your pics are a great incentive for me!

tracied30

You look fantastic and even look 5 years younger! Great job!!!

Tal_Kyrte

You look fabulous! I started on MFP as 165lbs at 5"7 so this is really encouraging to me! I was always at 150lbs as well, until last semester when my classes got really intense. To cope with finals week I just ate anything in sight. Then ta-da, I woke up one day fifteen pounds heavier. This is so encouraging to see! Keep up the good work!

Birder155

I wish 15 lb would make such a difference on my body! :happy:
You look terrific!

golf4g

You look marvelous!!!

Kristin41080

Great job! Thanks for sharing!

Milliepet

you're looking great. Nice you make time to get in a lot of cardio .

arussell134

Thanks everyone for the kind comments!! I'd also like to add -I'm loving the community here. I noticed some of you have mentioned you are similar in goals/height/etc - feel free to hit me up for a friend request if you want.

allinoelle007

Great job! I too am a long distance runner and struggle with how many calories to eat back to fuel my runs, but also lose weight. Do you eat a certain amount of your exercise calories back? Thanks for any insights and congrats!