5 months and 78lbs lighter.. I'm getting there!

cinemec

MFP has truly been the magic bullet for me and I wouldn't have got anywhere near my progress without it.

Here's me at my sister's wedding which is about a year before my starting date of July 14th 2012, If anything I was heavier than this when I started (at 285lbs). I chose this pic as it seems like a fairly true representation of just how large I was. There wasn't much choice of shot.. I guess it's just a natural thing that the photos that make you look fattest have a habit of disappearing!



And here I am now at 207lbs, almost 80% of the way to my initial goal of 185lbs.. (16th December 2012)



I'm posting this as the shots people have posted over the last 5 months have really inspired me and spurred me on when I was on the verge of packing it all in. I hope I can do the same for somebody else!

ashleysuperfly

Congrats!! You look amazing!! :-)

babeinthemoon

WTG!

virichi08

WONDERFULLY DONE!!!!!!!!! YOU LOOK GREAT~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

wendytc

You have done an amazing job!!! Way to go!! You look like a completely different person! Keep it going!

Molly_Maguire

Wow, you look great! Congratulations!

79BigGirlBeauty

You look awesome!

NCchar130

Amazing! That is a huge accomplishment, you have much to be proud of!

besaro

dayum! amazing results!

now let's talk about that mirror.

firemanfive0

awesome job!!!!

NuggetLovesEdie

Good work!

LesaDave

WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!
You look AMAZING!! Not even like the same person!
Thanks for sharing your pics.
Oh, and CONGRATS!!

Sharon_C

Wow! Congratulations! What an accomplishment.

thealexbeard

Good job. Diet/training info?

yoovie

dont forget to slow down and let your brain catch up sometimes!!

cinemec

The mirror has only become useful recently as I was too wide for it before!

Thank you all for your kind words xx

yoovie

BTW TWO THINGS

1. You're amazing - I should have said that first.
2. We have the same mirror LOL

:drinker:

ETA: I cant post the pictures i took in that mirror on the interwebs, cause i didnt fit in it til I was smaller either :P

You know how you can buy 4 of them together, well I remember walking past three all together - so fitting my whole self in that mirror... man - if there was ever a non scale victory like that day! hahaha MAY 2012 - It was a Wednesday. Fit in the Wavy Mirror.

AnnaVee84

Congrats!!!! What an accomplishment!

es2189

congratulations!! you look really great!

madcat_wechanged

One heck of a transformation!

Super JOB MAN!:drinker:

fishgutzy

Awesome.
That is pretty fast.

kiddoc88

congratulations! keep up the great work!

TXtstorm

Way to push for the goal! Looking great!

mstissa02

Congratulations on your weigh loss! Keep it up & continue to be an inspiration for others!

calamity71

Thanks for posting, You have done fabulous. I agree seeing success on here keeps me motivated! Thanks for contributing to that.

cmsu64113

Great job!!!

glahlstedt

Great job!

cinemec

My plan has been to try and stick as close to possible to the MFP calories without going over. What has worked so well on this diet is that I can eat anything I like as long as I stick to the limit. Saying that I can't touch chocolate or potato chips and they are real all or nothing foods for me.
In the past 5 months I have become intimately familiar with Subway's turkey breast and ham sub (with cheese!) (and south west sauce!) (they're allowed as long as you count em!) and also my local supermarket's chilli chicken noodle salad. Finding foodstuffs that you enjoy and can replace the likes of Big Macs and fried chicken seems to me to be the most important jumping off point. I also rarely ate breakfast before but have often started the day with a nutrigrain bar to get me going and reduce my hunger when it comes to lunch. I prefer to try and save more calories for later in the day as I tend to stay up late a lot and the hours of 9pm-midnight are a real danger zone for me for fast food and snacks.
Exercise! One of the first things I did was go out and buy myself a second hand bicycle. This summer's Tour de France was one of my main inspirations for embarking on this journey. I've also dabbled in sports I haven't taken part in since I was a teenager.. badminton, football (soccer). If it's within walking distance I walk. Long walks and bike rides have been key to my success so far. When I go and see the greatest football team in the world (Manchester City!) I walk the 45 mins to the stadium and after the game I walk back. When the weather was better I tried to cycle further and harder ever time I went out.
I was a little over zealous at one point for a few weeks and came in well under my calories. Progress slowed and I corrected back up to my set amount. It was amazing to see that eating a little more can actually speed up the loss.. I couldn't believe it.
Happy to answer if anyone has any more questions.. I'm just so happy to report that I finally found something that works for me and I plan to continue with MFP once I reach my goals.. the last thing I want to do is undo all the hard work.

Thanks again for the kind words people, the community here has really been crucial to picking me up on the bad days and inspiring me to keep going. You can all be proud of yourselves for helping inspire your friends on here.. trust me it makes all the difference!

gaylynn35

Awesome job, well done!!! Congrats!!

ynotcycle

Amazing transformation dude! Keep it up!

JudeGilford

That, my friend, is a very fine gift you've given yourself for Christmas! You R awesome!!