1 Year, 100 Pounds (Almost)

Jesea

You look amazing!!!!!!!

divainsneakers

Great progress! Looking fab!

ComingUntrue

Lovely work! Pictures rock. Good luck on your journey!

elisa123gal

what a great job just working away at it.. you are looking good. I can' wait to see you at your next goal. Congratualations!!!

JennyJiggle

Absolutely fantastic! Congratulations on all your success - very inspiring!

Zero_excuses

WELL DONE OP!!!!! And I was feeling chuffed to have lost 12ilbs in a year! 100 is amazing, your hard work is inspiring! I hope that you are feeling just as good as you are looking, fantastic job

ddkphotos

congrats! keep up the great work! thanks for sharing your story!

kamaperry

Amazing!! Keep up the good work!

luvforever

You look fantastic!

Kate7294

Way to go!

Jen_1964

You look fantastic and you are an inspiration! I am so looking forward to the day that I can do such a story. One pound at a time.

Awesome job!

CrystalFlury

I’ve been on MFP for just over one year now, and while I’m not done losing yet, I definitely consider what I’ve accomplished to be a success: nearly 100 pounds in the last year. I’ve done this entirely by using MFP, the way it was designed. I’ve been adding exercise in over time, but it’s more because it feels good to feel fit rather than to help me with my weight loss.

Stats: 5’9”, Female, 24, Start: 343 pounds, Current: 243 pounds, Goal: 170 pounds. I started at a size 26 US and I’m currently a size 18 US.

I’ve been the fat girl my whole life. In elementary and high school I was the biggest girl in a class of about 100 people. Throughout my childhood I always told myself that I’d get taller and it would get better, but that’s not how things work. As I got older, I just got bigger, primarily because of family eating habits. I really looked up to my dad and I got a lot of his eating habits; what I didn’t get was his activity level. By the time I graduated high school, I was just about 300 pounds.



This got a little higher in college, up to 315, but then after college when I worked in an office and wasn’t walking to and from classes everyday, my weight quickly hopped up to 340.



While I never really avoided the camera, as time went on I just sort of didn’t aim to be in the picture. There are only 14 pictures of me from when I graduated college in June 2012 to when I started MFP in July 2013, so finding a before picture is a bit of a challenge. I’ve got a few though:





Despite being morbidly obese for most of my life, it was never a source of deep depression or self-loathing or anything. If anything, I consider myself almost aggravatingly happy and optimistic. My reason for losing weight was primarily for tangible health reasons (versus theoretical health reasons like I might one day get diabetes or have a heart attack). There’s a history of weight-related infertility in my family. Last July I had reasons to start being concerned about this, so I went to the doctor. The first thing she did was hound me about my weight before she even knew why I was there and told me to walk half an hour a day (I walked 3-5 miles a day in college and was still 300 pounds), then offered to refer me to a free nutritionist. I got a different doctor next time, but still decided to see the nutritionist because of the general concern that my weight would make it impossible to have kids. In preparation for this visit I was told to log my food, which led me to My Fitness Pal. I haven’t looked back since.





And to top it off, a few similar pictures to show off the changes:




This is my favorite. Just after starting to lose weight I spent a lot of money on a lovely corset. When I wore it in the “before” picture it was as open as we could make it, and I still could have used an extra inch or so. Recently we took a picture of the corset on me now:



Perhaps the most common question I get about my weight loss is “Do you feel different now? Better?” This is a complicated question. On the one hand, I do feel better. Because I’ve been exercising I can run, go up stairs without dread, and I’m pretty strong too. Not to mention I don’t have this awful fear that I’ll break a ladder if I stand on it, or that I won’t fit in the seats when I go to the fair in a couple weeks. Those bits are nice. I also have collarbones for the first time in my life; I can feel them. That still weirds me out a little.

Do I feel different though? Not really. I didn’t feel like I was fat when I started, though it’s clear in the pictures and by the numbers that I was. Now that I’m 100 pounds lighter, I still feel the same. Every time I go shopping I hesitantly grab the size that I theoretically am (18 right now), and still can’t believe it when the clothes fit. When I look in the mirror, I’m still the same general shape, simply smaller, and I can’t tell that I’m smaller without comparing it to something. I’ve also been taking mostly-naked pictures every month this year, and every time I have to look back at the beginning to remind myself that I really am a much smaller person. So in short, take pictures, because it’s hard to notice the changes. They take so long that you forget what you used to look like, and the new you is just the normal you.

:drinker: Here’s to the last 70 pounds and a new me that I’ve never seen before. I couldn’t have done it without MFP.

Bonus commentary: I know I wondered about it when I first started, and I’m sure lots of other people are. Loose skin. So far, I don’t really have any. I do have some skin that’s loose, but I don’t notice it on a regular basis and I definitely can’t see it when I’m looking in the mirror. We’ll see what happens in the next 70 pounds, but I’ve been lucky so far.

Thanks for sharing your story. I can completely relate to your last few paragraphs about feeling "different" and grabbing a smaller size and having to get around the mental block of, "this can't be right..." I spent most of my life overweight to obese. I think losing weight is just as much a mental challenge as it is a physical one. Pictures are FOR SURE are a lifesaver, especially when I had hit my bad days or weeks and thought, "I'm getting nowhere!!" I had it built up in my head for a while I was going to be some skinny model with a perfect belly and when I got closer to my goal I realized I was still me; same shape, just smaller, healthier and stronger. Pictures are worth a thousand words and looking back made me realize just how much I accomplished and helped me through the tough times.

Great work, in fact, amazing work and dedication. Keep going and enjoy your new found health :-) :drinker:

ScottH_200

Great job! Keep it up!

joyfuljoy65

Congratulations - you look great

lifestyle8change

This is Awesome! Thank you for sharing and congratulations to you on your new journey!

StephanieBrocious

Loved this success story. My mind set is exactly the same. I don't feel like the fat girl, until I see the pictures. I have realized though, since turning 30 two years ago, that the weight adds quicker/easier now, and harder to knock off. So it's time to start putting in some work. I hope to have your success, congrats!

marykate723

You look awesome. I can't wait to see how the next 70 pounds go!

KnitOrMiss

Congrats...you remind me a lot of myself. I was never the "fat girl" in my head, exactly. I was just bigger than everyone else. At 5'4", I topped the scales at 335 - last recorded weight, but more accurately was an estimated 350. I've been fighting to maintain at 250 for a while, but I'm about to have to seriously ramp everything up to continue. I am always told that I'm obnoxiously cheerful, that one can actually "hear" the smile in my voice over the phone.

Someone mentioned to me yesterday that I intimidate other women because I carry myself with such confidence. I could have given myself whiplash and muscle strain from how quickly my head spun around in shock and how high on my face my eyebrows must have risen. I have never once considered myself confident....not that I can remember. But someone else telling me this is really making me step back and take stock.

I wish you the best of luck on that continued journey! Oh, and if you haven't missed your Ren Faire, find a good seamstress in your area. She should be able to take in and modify that corset at least for you to be able to wear it!!! Enjoy your journey. Finding yourself is amazing.

mrstracyharper

Awesome story! So proud for you! Inspiring!

optionalsourcewins

FANTASTIC!!! You look great - keep up the great job you're doing. Thank you for sharing your story and inspiring me!!!