My Before and After

micbin

Well, I can confirm I am an expert on dieting, as I've tried millions of them!!!

At my heaviest I was 188lbs. On 2nd November 2009, I decided enough was enough. Not sure how significant that date is, but that's when it started. My final weight loss mission.

I had my 40th birthday looming on 2nd July 2010, and knew I HAD to do something. I wasn't happy and was losing all my confidence. I've tried to analyse where I was going wrong, but I honestly believe there's nothing deep routed or subconscious about my old eating patterns - I just loved food. Not just chocolate, not when I was down or unhappy, I just like to eat, and loved the taste of crisps, veg, carbs, sweets, everything.

But you know yourself when something can't continue. And I knew.....

I started with following a slimming club plan, but not going to class. To be fair, I was motivated enough in myself to do it, and didn't see the point of paying money every week when I knew if I stood on my own scales, they would show me the same result, and that would be reward enough. I wanted to lose a mammoth 4 stone (or 56 lbs), and I wanted to have lost 3 stone (or 42 lbs) by my birthday.

A couple of months on, my husband found this site and suggested it to me. It all fell into place.

My strategy was simple:

1) Weigh myself EVERY morning as soon as I got up, went to the loo, and had taken all my clothes off (that way, the sneaky chocolate bar I had the night before had no place to hide, not having to wait another week for a weigh in). That way the reading has remained consistent.

2) I logged every single thing I put in my mouth on MFP and tried my level best to keep within my calorie allowance.

3) I took a note of my weight each morning in an excel spreadsheet and planned graphs around the readings. Seeing those graphs move downwards was great motivation for me.


4) I joined the gym, going to 4 or 5 spin & step classes per week, and logged those burned calories (which I measured on my Polar Heart Rate Monitor) on MFP too.

That's it. No Rocket Science. No Quick Fix. Just one hell of a slog. I had bad days, course I did, but I tried so hard to counteract those with additional exercise, or reduced calorie intake until I’d recovered the deficit. Or if it was just too bad, I’d write the day off, and start afresh the next day.

Can I tell you all something? I'm happy, and confident, and feel so much better about myself that I ever imagined I would. I can fit into nice clothes. I can look at photos of myself, and think "Hey, that's a good one!" Previously, I looked at photos and thought I looked bad because I wasn't photogenic, not because I was fat!


So that's it. My story, and the photos below to prove it. To anyone who read this, thanks so much for your time. For anyone who now feels inspired, I'm humbled. To anyone who wants a buddy, drop me a friend request, I'll be happy to help steer you on your journey.

Good Luck to everyone who's on this same mission!






IF ANYONE KNOWS WHY THESE IMAGES AREN'T DISPLAYING, PLEEEEEASE LET ME KNOW!! ;-)

ZebraHead

strange. I can quote your post and go to Photobucket via your links and see the photos but the pics themselves won't display. I can find no answer for why photobucket shows it as missing, when I can clearly see it.

ThaiKaren

Well done on what you have acheived, sorry can't see the pictures

undercover

Is your album password protected or something?

I've seen the pictures now, you look so AWESOME! Talk about transformation! You should be so proud of yourself, that is one huge accomplicement! Keep it up and enjoy :flowerforyou:

1findlay

Well done Michelle, you look fantastic x

ypena78

Well, I can confirm I am an expert on dieting, as I've tried millions of them!!!

At my heaviest I was 188lbs. On 2nd November 2009, I decided enough was enough. Not sure how significant that date is, but that's when it started. My final weight loss mission.

I had my 40th birthday looming on 2nd July 2010, and knew I HAD to do something. I wasn't happy and was losing all my confidence. I've tried to analyse where I was going wrong, but I honestly believe there's nothing deep routed or subconscious about my old eating patterns - I just loved food. Not just chocolate, not when I was down or unhappy, I just like to eat, and loved the taste of crisps, veg, carbs, sweets, everything.

But you know yourself when something can't continue. And I knew.....

I started with following a slimming club plan, but not going to class. To be fair, I was motivated enough in myself to do it, and didn't see the point of paying money every week when I knew if I stood on my own scales, they would show me the same result, and that would be reward enough. I wanted to lose a mammoth 4 stone (or 56 lbs), and I wanted to have lost 3 stone (or 42 lbs) by my birthday.

A couple of months on, my husband found this site and suggested it to me. It all fell into place.

My strategy was simple:

1) Weigh myself EVERY morning as soon as I got up, went to the loo, and had taken all my clothes off (that way, the sneaky chocolate bar I had the night before had no place to hide, not having to wait another week for a weigh in). That way the reading has remained consistent.

2) I logged every single thing I put in my mouth on MFP and tried my level best to keep within my calorie allowance.

3) I took a note of my weight each morning in an excel spreadsheet and planned graphs around the readings. Seeing those graphs move downwards was great motivation for me.


4) I joined the gym, going to 4 or 5 spin & step classes per week, and logged those burned calories (which I measured on my Polar Heart Rate Monitor) on MFP too.

That's it. No Rocket Science. No Quick Fix. Just one hell of a slog. I had bad days, course I did, but I tried so hard to counteract those with additional exercise, or reduced calorie intake until I’d recovered the deficit. Or if it was just too bad, I’d write the day off, and start afresh the next day.

Can I tell you all something? I'm happy, and confident, and feel so much better about myself that I ever imagined I would. I can fit into nice clothes. I can look at photos of myself, and think "Hey, that's a good one!" Previously, I looked at photos and thought I looked bad because I wasn't photogenic, not because I was fat!


So that's it. My story, and the photos below to prove it. To anyone who read this, thanks so much for your time. For anyone who now feels inspired, I'm humbled. To anyone who wants a buddy, drop me a friend request, I'll be happy to help steer you on your journey.

Good Luck to everyone who's on this same mission!






IF ANYONE KNOWS WHY THESE IMAGES AREN'T DISPLAYING, PLEEEEEASE LET ME KNOW!! ;-)

I cant see you pics but I am sure you look amazing...Keep up the great work girl..."DEDICATION IS THE KEY"

bluiz13

check to make sure the name of the folder your pics are in on photobucket does not have a space in it...i had that problem before....also make sure you change the IMG to lower case img at the start and end of the link...

taletreader

check to make sure the name of the folder your pics are in on photobucket does not have a space in it..

Yup, that's exactly the problem. The URLs are being changed -- they have %20 (space) in the folder name, and it is changed to %2520 -- which won't resolve. Just copying the correct URLs WITHOUT img tag below - it may be enough for you to grab/copy/paste them:

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb457/Michelle_Binnie/Phat Photos/188lbs.jpg

http://i1206.photobucket.com/albums/bb457/Michelle_Binnie/Phat Photos/130lbs.jpg

SHBoss1673

yes the %20 is the character expression for a space in HTML, you need to create a new folder without the space (hint, I use underscores if I need to space something). When posting photos inline here, always make sure the source url in the img tag has no spaces in it.

Fit4Vet

You don't even look like the same person! Well done.

micbin

micbin

Ha! Got it to work! However the BIG photo's a little too big! LOL! :-) Thx for all the positive comments guys (and sis in law) - much appreciated.!

:flowerforyou:

SparkleShine

Great job, you look fabulous!!!

bluiz13

you look fabulous....
it is amazing how losing weight transforms us into completely different people at the end of our journey...
you look like a whole new person...

Sugar_Apple

Wow you look fantastic!!!!

mariasheehan

you are simply STUNNING!!!!

Juliane_

wow those pictures are absolute stunning! Great job! Is that even the same person? You look great.

I appreciate the tips you have given us. I will definitely continue weighing every day then.

ypena78

I finally got to see your pics. You look "AMAZING" I can tell all your hard work has definately paid off...

ZebraGlee78

I think the ONLY thing left over is your nose!

reneeot

That incredible smile shines through in both pictures!!

I’M SO HAPPY FOR YAH

alitarose

Wow, you look wonderful. You must feel wonderful!

Pinomami89

Good Job :P ur so Pretty !!!!

melanie92

What a beautiful smile and a beautiful story! Thanks so much for sharing!! Sp glad that the pics got working!!

chickadee2010

Congrats!

BigGail

Love the pics - well done x Your dess is cracking too by the way x

chazsucks

you look amazing! well done xxx

micbin

Love the pics - well done x Your dess is cracking too by the way x

Thx Gail - quite liked it myself, but only after I tried it on! Before I tried it, i thought it was a tad oscentatious!! :0)