De-Lurking to Post my One-Year Success Pics!

fitphoenix

I've been lurking on these forums for the past year, and since the success stories have been so inspirational to me, I wanted to pay it forward and make a post of my own in the hope that I could inspire just one other person.

I found MFP and started my healthy lifestyle on March 11, 2011. Something clicked that day, and I simply decided it was time to stop eating and lazy-ing myself into an early grave.

I gave my habits a complete overhaul: I started as someone whose portions were out of control and who thought take-out, cheese, and carbs were the three main food groups. I never got off my butt and was one of those people who likely would only have made a token effort to run during the zombie apocalypse.

I now go to the gym 4-5 days a week and walk or work out at home most other days. I bought a heart rate monitor and Vibram Five Fingers and like to tell everyone about them. I've run my first 5K. I own almost all of Jillian Michaels' DVDs. I'm familiar with most of the machines at the gym and have just started using barbells as I try to lift heavy. (I've bought NRL4W, and I'm getting calluses on my hands!) I now feel antsy if I don't get a workout in and sometimes need to remind myself how important rest days are.

My stats: I'm 5'4" and started out with a BMI of 34.5 and a weight of 198.2. I reached my lowest weight of 118.4 (BMI 20.3) in February of 2012 and have been trying to maintain since then, fluctuating between 118 and 122 (BMI 20.9). I'm not so worried about the scale these days and am focussing on trying to decrease body fat and increase lean muscle mass. According to my hand-held fat % analyser (not the most accurate thing in the world, I know), I've gone from 44.2% fat to 25.1%. I've lost a combined 74 inches across my body, including 15.5" from my hips and 14" from my waist! I've gone from eating 1200 calories/day when i started to over 2000 these days in order to fuel my body for all my workouts.

I buy loads of fresh foods (shop the perimeter of your grocery store!) and cook many things from scratch. I love to experiment in the kitchen, something I rarely did in the past. I've added whole wheat, quinoa, Greek yoghurt, nutritional yeast, flax seed, almond butter, PB2, and edamame to my diet, just to name a few items off the top of my head. I make my own pizza, pitas, mug breads, and tortillas, and I enjoy them more than I did the store bought versions.

I've never felt better. I've never looked better. And here's the part you've all been waiting for:

This is me starting out (around 194 pounds, size 18-20). Sorry for the headless pics, but I don't like sticking full pics of myself on the internet.



A year later, this is me in the same top and comparably-sized trousers (at around 120lb):



This is me standing in one leg of those old size 20 jeans:



This is me in clothes that fit. (It might be vanity sizing, but it says size 2 on the label!):



And this is what I have to show for my strength-training efforts so far:



I still eat the foods I love and still do activities I enjoy, but I've done my best to constantly push my limits and discover new definitions of those things. I've slipped up more than once, but I just get going again and remind myself that this is a healthy lifestyle that I need to figure out how to maintain for the rest of my life.

I look in the mirror these days and still see all the changes I want to make BUT I also see how far I've come. I see that anything is possible, and I know that we've all got it within us to change our lives and be happy and healthy! Best of luck to all of you on your journeys. ^_^

quietHiker

Great weight loss journey! Thank you for sharing!

jbrinda1

Great job!

Libby_Dunn

Glad you came out of lurking to share your story. Big congratulations to you and keep up the good work. I've come a long way, too, but still have more to go. Your story inspires me!:flowerforyou:

confuzzledwife

oh my gosh! That is incredible! you look great! Wonderful inspiration to me!

Nenabobena

Wow, thank you for posting this! You are such inspiration and example to all of us. Way to go!

luvsdeals

amazing transformation! way to go!

feb06momma

Fantastic job!! Very inspiring.

MNchick

How motiviating!
I'm just a smidgen over 5'4" and I don't think I've been under 120 lbs since 5th grade! I'm well over that now and was shooting for 145...but maybe I can do better than that.
Thanks for posting!

erinliz

AMAZING!!!!!!

AEC50

Awesome job!

harleyj

You look great. Congrats on your success!

krocksa

Thanks so much for giving me some hope! What a wonderfully written success story. I too am 5'4" and was shooting for 145 (I am 162 now - 4lbs down). I think the 120's are long gone for me - I'm over 40 and have had 3 children late in life - but now I'm thinking maybe somewhere in the 130's IS possible. Congratulations to you and your perserverance. So very inspiring. What a great post! :flowerforyou:

Lesa_Sass

AWESOME! You totally rock!

bparr

Thanks for sharing. Great Job :flowerforyou:

demorest

Its people like you, that helps alot of us to know that we can do it too. GREAT JOB!!!!!!

tarnz68

So glad you came out of lurking and decided to post - your pics are simply amazing - way to go!! Awesome job, very inspirational :flowerforyou:

maralou09

awesome!!=)

mandster

Wow! Amazing pics. Well done on your tranformation!

marsellient

Thanks so much for paying it forward. You look amazing and it's clear from your story that you feel amazing, too!

craignev

Holy Moly! That's amazing......congrats on an outstanding achievement.

jdennis719

Thanks for sharing your story; you look amazing and should be SO proud of what you have accomplished!! It is quite significant and you should remember that. I'm relatively new and believe me, it does help to read success stories such as yours to keep me on track and to not get discouraged. give yourself a big pat on the back, as you certainly deserve it. BRAVO !!!

ZailieB

Wow,,, Thanks for sharing x

jchocchip

Super pictures, thank you for sharing them. Wonder if I will ever be able to get both legs in an old pair of my trousers, must keep one pair!

ChrDG

Congratulations!!!!
I would like to run again, but I frequently get pain in my hips/legs/knees after workout at the gym. Been thinking of trying to change my running form to midfoot striking (chi running for example). I wonder if I am too heavy to let go of cushioned shoes (BMI 29,9). At which weight did you start using your Vibram shoes?

fitphoenix

How motiviating!
I'm just a smidgen over 5'4" and I don't think I've been under 120 lbs since 5th grade! I'm well over that now and was shooting for 145...but maybe I can do better than that.
Thanks for posting!

Thanks! I'm so glad to hear that you found my story motivating. When it comes to goals in this sort of journey, I think it's important to both shoot for the stars and not be so unrealistic that you set yourself up for failure. (I've found it hard to balance between the two during my journey so far.) Remember that every body is different and 145 on you might well look like 120 on me. Find what makes you happy and what you can sustain long term.

fitphoenix

Thanks so much for giving me some hope! What a wonderfully written success story. I too am 5'4" and was shooting for 145 (I am 162 now - 4lbs down). I think the 120's are long gone for me - I'm over 40 and have had 3 children late in life - but now I'm thinking maybe somewhere in the 130's IS possible. Congratulations to you and your perserverance. So very inspiring. What a great post! :flowerforyou:

I'm a big believer in the fact that you don't know what you're capable of until you push yourself harder than you've ever pushed yourself before. I'm not advocating any sort of crazy fads or starving yourself or anything like that. We're all different, different bodies, different ages, different genetics, but I definitely discovered I was capable of way more than I thought I was, and I'm sure you are, too!

fitphoenix

Super pictures, thank you for sharing them. Wonder if I will ever be able to get both legs in an old pair of my trousers, must keep one pair!

I would definitely recommend keeping one pair and getting rid of *everything* else. I'm an organised, anal packrat, so I keep things "just in case". But this time, I told myself there was no "just in case" for my old clothes. I was *not* ever going to need them again. The day the Diabetes Association came and picked up the five garbage bags filled with old clothes was one of the highlights of my journey so far. (Even when I was feeling sentimental, I just reminded myself that by giving them away like this, I was potentially enabling someone else on a journey like mine to pick up a nice bargain to help them on their way down to a healthy size.)

I never imagined that I would be one of those people who lost enough weight to stand in one trouser leg, but I tried it anyway, and here I am. That one pair of jeans and shirt that I've kept serves as a reminder of where I came from and lets me take silly pics like the one that I posted--which is great motivation in those discouraged moments.

lomajess

Wow o.O Im currently 5'5 and weigh 194.8 as of last week 3/7 Wednesday, hopefully I can succeed as you have My goal is 130, havent weighed that much since high school.

I gained alot of my weight when I was pregnant with my son & never bothered to hit the gym afterwards, he's 5 now and my weight just kept going up, I hit 198 & decided I didnt want to be over 200 pounds. So I've been going to the fitness center Monday-Friday completing 20+ miles a week, (includes workout classes that are converted into miles)

fitphoenix

Congratulations!!!!
I would like to run again, but I frequently get pain in my hips/legs/knees after workout at the gym. Been thinking of trying to change my running form to midfoot striking (chi running for example). I wonder if I am too heavy to let go of cushioned shoes (BMI 29,9). At which weight did you start using your Vibram shoes?

Thanks.

I bought them when I was 167lb and had a BMI of 29.2 (so I'd just gotten out of the obese range and into the overweight range). I started C25K with them and have never run in any manner except with a midfoot strike. I definitely caution you to start out slowly; you can really hurt yourself if you go too quickly and don't give your muscles time to get used to the new motion.

When I bought the Vibrams, I was told to wear them around the house in 30-minute doses to start getting used to them. If you're already a runner, you shouldn't jump into your regular speed/length with the Vibrams but should build up in small increments as though you were a new runner again. As I understand it (though I'm far from an expert), the midfoot strike allows your calf muscles to absorb the impact as they were designed to do, helping prevent strain to hips/legs/knees. But if you strike wrong in the Vibrams, you'll have less padding to absorb the shock and could make it worse for your hips and knees.

I'm not running right now, but I wear the Vibrams at the gym for all my workouts (including to fencing class, where I get some strange looks, lol), and I'm seeing more and more people doing the same.

The store I bought them from let me buy them and try them out (as long as I didn't wear them outside) for a week to see what I thought of them; maybe you could find somewhere that would allow you to do that? Best of luck!

ToxicTinkerbell

Thank you for posting this and well done you have made such an achievement! I love reading these stories and seeing people's hard work pay off with the amazing transformation. You are truly an inspiration to me and many others. Congratulations, I wish you the best for the future