Before and After- almost there!

theconstantgardener

Before: (2010)





Now: (2012)












Not sure how much weight loss exactly but roughly one and a half stone. Keep trying to switch to maintenance, binging and regaining a couple of pounds so having to diet again. Hopefully I will have finished dieting by January next year though.

shrinkingislander

Cannot see your pictures, you'll have to change the uppercase IMG at the beginning and the end to lowercase img.

theconstantgardener

oh okay thank you will try again!

theconstantgardener

how do i make the photos smaller please someone?

christinekry

You have to do that through the photo sharing site you used. But if we right click - view image, we can see them just fine. Great work! You look amazing

JS268

Awesome! How'd ya do it?

Josh_H

what do you mean almost there? it looks like you have arrived.

shelbiejo

I want to look like you:flowerforyou:

theconstantgardener

I think I've sorted it- for some reason downloading them off facebook first worked.

Thank you so much

I guess I just tried to develop a liking for vegetables as I'd previously thought they were really boring. Now I can't have a meal without them and my attitude to healthy food has completely changed. I love cooking and I'm always experimenting with new vegetables. Starting university has been difficult with everyone else having pizza etc every night but I just have stir fries the majority of the time and buy my own pizza to have on takeaway nights as then I can join in with everyone but I know the calorie count and it's also much cheaper!

If I'm honest I do very little exercise so this is predominantly been the result of a much healthier diet and counting calories every day.
(1200 calories)

theconstantgardener

well almost there as in trying to go onto maintenance now (find it much more difficult tbh!)

will010574

Great progress!! Great pics!

emilynicole02

wow! you looked great before and amazing now! great job!!

always looking to add friends, add me if you'd like

Josh_H

well almost there as in trying to go onto maintenance now (find it much more difficult tbh!)

Ahhh yes, that is very true.

JS268

Gosh, that is SO motivating to hear. I haven't been doing much exercise lately and was feeling very deflated that I won't ever get a nice body! Also I've seen ppl ask about healthy diet alone and they basically get their heads chopped off in the forums lol.

Congratulation! :drinker:

Get120

great job!! you look fabulous!!

theconstantgardener

JS268

I know that really annoys me, obviously it is much more healthy to do it with exercise but if it's difficult to fit into your regime then feeling guilty about missing it is really bad because I find guilt is the most dangerous feeling to have when dieting. Particularly if you are a comfort eater (guilty!) I love running though as it's such a great way to burn off some calories whilst having time alone to think. I just wasn't strict with exercise like I am with food. When I have time/ am in the mood I do a workout, run or go surfing. If not, then I don't beat myself up about it! If you have any more questions I've accepted your friend request so feel free to ask on here or message me

theconstantgardener

Just brief warning though- I completely lost my boobs doing this! haha

AyaKara

Your photos are so inspiring that I legitimately started tearing up. Thank you for making my day. I was feeling really down & this completely picked it up for me. How long did it take to get to your goal on healthy eating alone? I'm also at 1200 calories & it feels it's more than enough for me everyday. I exercise about 350cals a day too. Thank you for inspiring me

EDIT: What were your macros like? Carbs/ protein/ fat percentage?

fisky123

Oh wow, You look amazing!! Your before pics look like me at the moment so this is very inspiring. Great to see that this can be achieved without killing yourself with exercise too. How long did it take to reach your goal?

theconstantgardener

Your photos are so inspiring that I legitimately started tearing up. Thank you for making my day. I was feeling really down & this completely picked it up for me. How long did it take to get to your goal on healthy eating alone? I'm also at 1200 calories & it feels it's more than enough for me everyday. I exercise about 350cals a day too. Thank you for inspiring me

EDIT: What were your macros like? Carbs/ protein/ fat percentage?

Thank you so much for saying that, I really appreciate it as have always been very insecure and even though I've reached a point where I am more happy with my weight I still want to lose more (although have been told not to by friends and family so I am trying to be satisfied with how I look now)

Well I'm not sure how long really but I only started properly in March. I'd been off and on at 1200 before then but in March I really began trying hard. I always choose low fat stuff and eat very little meat (although that's not so much the diet, more that I don't particularly like it) But these are the main discoveries that helped me:

PORRIDGE is my life saver, Honestly, I used to be hungry within a couple of hours after breakfast regardless of how much I stuffed in my mouth. Then I started having porridge everyday (made with water not milk- so used to it now I actually prefer it) Then just use sweetener, reduced sugar jam or a teaspoon of light hot chocolate and it's lovely. I have it every morning and if I don't have time to eat it I put it in a thermos.

Extra light Philadelphia (15g = 30 kcal)
Lighter than Light Mayonaisse (10 kcal per tablespoon!!!)
Kraft Light Salad Dressing (mix with water so it goes even further)
Fry lite


In terms of protein/carbs ratio etc I never took too much notice, except for with carbs I did keep low as possible. I never eat pasta or rice really and buy low calorie 50-60 calorie bread. Protein I think is good and I eat tuna and spinach a lot so that's often high. If I think of anything else I will let you know

Oh, if you want something sweet

Frozen blueberries (have a big bowl in front of the tv in place of popcorn)
Greek yoghurt 0% with raspberries
Frozen watermelon- to die for!

EDIT: (I had lost about half a stone before March but that was over a year)

theconstantgardener

An example of my day if this helps

Breakfast:

Porridge made with water with a teaspoon of tesco light choices hot chocolate powder

Lunch/Dinner:

Weight watchers tortilla wrap with fried peppers and courgettes (with extra light philadelphia)
Omelette made with 2 eggs, low fat cottage cheese, feta, sundried tomatoes and peppers- sometimes with tuna and/or spinach instead
Sweet potato cut into wedges with peri peri salt and a red onion- baked in oven
Soup with weight watchers petit pain
Stir fry: peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, beansprouts/ instant noodles- sometimes with prawns, ALWAYS with thai sweet chilli sauce
(if in a rush) weight watchers ready meals

^always have lots of lettuce with these so I feel really full and can have a big plateful of food

Dessert

Things I said in the above comment
Fruit
Mini milks
Frozen frubes
Frozen yogurt
Tesco everyday value mousses- 90kcal and SO CHEAP

jerrydwane

Almost UN-believable....Way to go !!!!

Hard to believe how well you have done, congrats...

Dan112358

how do i make the photos smaller please someone?

Umm, how do I make the photos bigger?

isis8319

Holy smokes. You look great! I am very encouraged.

theconstantgardener

thank you guys- means a lot

how do i make the photos smaller please someone?

Umm, how do I make the photos bigger?

haha cheeky.

Sarahx86

Wow you look amazing! Well done!

Flamencoflynnie

You look fantastic and thank you for being so honest about your food. You have great muscle tone too. This is the kind of food I like to eat so I can see this is very do-able as you have proved. I'd never thought about adding chocolate to porridge but it's got to be worth a try. I can see that might be a favourite on these cold winter evenings too. You look very petite.... how tall are you by the way?

LTGPSA

Great job; you really look great! :flowerforyou:

Iluvstaffies

Good going, you look great.You don't need to lose anymore weight.

marathon_mama

you look great! and your daughters look just like you.

theconstantgardener

you look great! and your daughters look just like you.

thank you but they're my friends not my daughters, I'm eighteen haha