50 lb Weight Loss Goal REACHED! With pictures

shimmergal · July 2011

You look fabulous! Awesome job. It shows how committed you are. Truly inspiring!

oliviaforever · July 2011

Wow congratulations! You're beautiful!

TheGoktor · July 2011

Congratulations! Fantastic achievement, and a wonderful result! Not only are you so much slimmer but you look so toned too....I think I may have arm envy! :bigsmile:

Very, very well done...I think that grin says it all! :flowerforyou:

xjlishey1 · July 2011

you look great!

aksingingbreeze · July 2011

Thank you all so much for your sweet replies!! I definitely feel great. For those who have expressed interest in my "regimen," I can't say I really had one. I just watched what I ate and exercised hard.

Tools that I have found invaluable in my journey aside from MFP of course have been: my Garmin Forerunner which I used to track my walks/runs and also as a heart rate monitor. Even when doing my exercise videos, I could just put on the chest band and track my average heart rate over the course of my workout. I then went to this website and plugged in my average heart rate to get my calories burned.
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
Overall, the shapesense website had a lot of great tools. It has some great ways to determine your VO2Max which were very helpful.

The Garmin Forerunner isn't for everyone, so if you still want a hrm, but don't want to spend that much money, this one has great reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Womens-Heart-Monitor-Bronze/dp/B001U0OFD2/ref=sr_1_11?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1311987825&sr=1-11

Another great tool was the Omron body fat percentage calculator. It is a great indicator of how much fat you are actually losing which is really encouraging when the scale sometimes doesn't seem to budge... I also think it is a more accurate assessment of you health than the scale.
http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306C-Loss-Monitor-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_4?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1311987825&sr=1-4

This food scale proved invaluable as I started figuring out exactly how much I was eating. It is amazing how small a "portion" really is!
http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311988151&sr=8-1

I stayed very strictly to my calorie goal every day, but one day a week I would give myself a "free" day where I could eat whatever I wanted and not feel guilty. I didn't always use it, but it was nice to know it was there if I needed it. I did eat back my exercise calories most of the time, though I wasn't fanatical about always eating them. As I mentioned before, I didn't cut out anything I loved entirely otherwise I would never stick with it. So, keep the things you love, exercise hard, don't stress and enjoying working towards a healthier you! If anyone has questions for me, feel free to message or friend me!

Happy healthy weight loss to all of you!
Breezy

missbp · July 2011

Fantastic! You look fabulous!

Michelle

coultesr · July 2011

Seriously Amazing!!! This is just the motivation I need to finish the last leg of the race. I started in Jan, 191...with a goal of 140/135. I am at 148 and need to get the extra jump to keep going since I am so close.

Thank you again for this update!!!! Awesome Job!

sexychick66 · July 2011

Great Job!

woodworths · July 2011

Thanks for sharing! You look great! I turned 51 and way over weight...I have fought it all my life. I'm commited to getting healthy and that is my goal. It's always encouraging to hear others success stories!