33 pounds down (so far)!

Guinevere117

I considered losing weight back in Febuary 2011, but did not actually begin working to it until July 2011.
I am sorry that I do not have any pictures to show, but I have not had my picture taken in many years, so I have no past pics of when I was really big. The only current pic at the moment is the one on my avatar.

The Backstory:
I have been overweight all my life. I hit the 170s in my preteen/early teen years, and when I got about 16 I exploded to 220 pounds. I was extremely self conscious of my weight from an early age and decided to homeschool through middle and high school, because I could not handle going to school looking. I went through many diets to see if I could shed some of the weight, but it never went away and my motivation went to the point that I did not care anymore. I kept getting larger and larger, and ended up having to change my closet every 6 or so months, because my clothes would not fit. My blood pressure was going through the roof (on top of already a inherited high blood pressure problem).
Back in early 2011, I began to wear big plus size jeans and multi-X shirts, when an Japanese internet friend of mine had introduced me to Japanese cosplay, where you dress up as your favorite anime, manga, toku, or video game characters. He also said that he was coming to visit the US early 2012, and wanted to know whether I wanted to go to a convention with him. I was hooked on the idea (since I am a Japanese pop culture geek), but how could I dress up as my favorite character looking the way I did? How would I do the character justice? That was the day, I drew the line on my weight and decided to turn this problem around.
In July 2011, I started my weight lose journey, and though I have stumbled here and there, I have officially lost 33 pounds since I joined MFP (plus 7 pounds I lost before joining). I am currently 180 pounds.
I have a long way to go before I reach my ultimate goal, but I will continue on. Many people have said that my motivation and reasons to lose weight is silly and stupid, and that dressing up in a costume should not a main focus for losing weight, but it does to me! It does not matter what our motivation is, it just matters that we get up off of our lazy behinds and get something done about it! Because of this motivation, I have a new insight into maintaining my health - you know, sometimes you need a push to get started.
So whatever your motivation is, whether it be big or small, keep going with it, because in the end you will thank that motivation for keeping you on track!

RNMDFF

40 pounds down, not 33! Good for you. It's such a hard thing to do but once you get into you start to feel amazing. I was heavy through school and I know how hard that is. (going to college a whole lot thinner

You should be so proud of yourself!

GreenLifeGirl

That's great! Motivation comes in all kinds of forms! = )

ColoradoRobin

Cosplay is a fine reason to lose weight. You get the health benefits as well! Congratulations on your loss so far!