Hi there!

MrsPixelbark

Hi there,

I've been using MFP now for about a month, and have been browsing the forums for a while. I just haven't managed to pluck up the courage to say hello to all you lovely people! Well, better late than never, eah?

I've been struggling with my weight for a long time now, I slapped on weight massively for various reasons over the course of five to six years from about sixteen onwards. But upon saying that, I was fairly 'happy' in myself, and didn't think much about loosing it at the time. However, that all changed about a year and a half ago after a family death when I finally decided that life was too short as it is- I certainly didn't want to make it any shorter! Since then I've lost the best part of five stone (honestly, I'm sure it could be more, as I had a phobia of scales back then) over the course of the past year and a half, going from a size 20 (UK sizes) to a neater size 12-14 now.

The majority of my weight loss came from working at a rescue centre five days a week, where I was on my feet lifting bags of dog food, running around, cleaning like a maniac and generally getting very sweaty (plus smelly). Diet was the least of my concern back then, in fact I didn't make any major diet changes bar to eat a bit more cleanly. However, as I went back to college last September, my weight loss has slowed down dramatically now I'm only there twice a week. I tried changing my diet by myself, but to be honest I didn't really put my all into it, and my results echoed that lack of effort.

But, a few months ago, my other half proposed: and I want to get into the smallest size wedding dress I can in a few years time, and have some amazing wedding photos to look at. I know this sounds really quite vain, but it's worked extremely well as a starter to a serious lifestyle change!

I started running two months ago (started from scratch with the C25k), and I'm now happily running 5k 4-5 times a week with a mixture of Fartlek training alongside side- I'm hoping to run my first 10k race at the end of August. I also started Jilean's 30 day shred a few days ago, and I've finally been persuaded to start the gym soon- so no doubt I'll add some weights to my repertoire. I'm hoping this plus a mix of calorie counting will eventually get me where I want to be, I'm under no illusions that weight loss will take time, but I'm hoping this time next year I'll be a few steps closer to my goal!

I've lost a few KG so far from this website, I bought a new set of scales a few weeks back which put me at higher than my old set- so I'm not 100% sure exactly what I've lost prior to the new scales. However, the new scales showed a shiny loss of just over 1kg for the last week and a half, so I'm getting there!

Sorry for the stupidly lengthy post, but it's lovely to chat with you all!

MMMendoza007

Hey, don't be shy! Great story! Welcome and I wish you much success!

MrsPixelbark

Thank you very much!

jewels6869

I just started this program..does anyone hav ea ny great tips to keep me on track.?

elwoodsfs

Great uplifting story. I'm new to MFP also and stories like these are the ones that keep me on track. What has also helped me is to have a couple of MFP friends for encouragement along the way. :happy:

MrsPixelbark

I'm hoping posting here will keep me going too Elwood! It's lovely to read about everybody else's successes I have to say!

Jewels-

Just keep going, and don't be afraid to think outside of the box for exercise. So, if you have a free afternoon, perhaps do a spot of volunteering- not only are you helping the community, but it'll also help the waist line!