19 lbs lost results so far (PIC)

nastia19 · December 2012

My name is Anastasia and I'm 22 years old. I've struggled with weight since I was a child. I was always chubbier than my peers. At 13 years old I became very active, and started to become lean; however that same year I moved to USA from Russia, and to deal with the stress of adjustment I turned to food. At 5'3' I was 165 lbs at 13 years old.
It was until 15 years of age I realized that I need to take control of my body, and so I did, and I reached a healthy weight of 135-140. Until 20 years old I had ups and downs. When I got married I was 140 lbs, and during the first year of marriage the weight creeped up to 150 lbs. In January 2012 I got pregnant, and quickly started gaining weight. I would control it halfway through the pregnancy, but after 30 weeks I lost control and gained a total of 45 lbs putting me into 195 lbs. Regardless I was considered a healthy pregnant woman, with no GD or High BP, I just tend to put on weight if I eat a lot.
I delivered at 37 weeks via emergency C-section, so I dread thinking about how heavy I could've been if I carried full-term and my baby wasn't even that big! He was born 6 lbs and 8 oz.
Two weeks after delivery I was 170 lbs, and thats when I started getting serious with MFP, but sometimes I had my off days. 6 weeks postpartum, I was 174 lbs, which made me realize that I need to start doing something about my weight. So I started exercising, and watching my calories, even though I ate less calories and stayed under my daily goal, I only lost 4 lbs during the first month. I got stuck at 170 lbs for another month, until I drastically changed my diet. I cut salt by a lot, cut sugar out of my diet, no white carbs, reduced animal fats, and cut out any kind of additives that make you addicted to food, and ate lots of veggies, fruit, lean meats, fish, fat reduced dairy, whole grains, nuts, and legumes. Thats when it started working! I started losing weight fast, and I was concerned about my milk supply, and to my surprise my milk increased since I eat lots of almonds and oatmeal. So far I lost 19 lbs and still going strong. I workout 4-5 days a week and breastfeed. My goal is 130 lbs, and I am 25 lbs away from there. I know that I can do it, and I don't expect it fast. I just know that eventually I will lose all that unwanted weight. Even though I'm not there yet, I thought I would share this, so others can see my success. I feel on top of the world energy wise, and I want to share it with you guys. My baby is almost 4 months old, and I love him so much, and I love that I have more energy to take care of him, thanks to a healthier lifestyle.

P.S. holidays and eating out are tough, but I've manage to simply ignore the foods I don't eat. My poor mother in law must have been hurt by that, but I choose my body over someone else's feelings.

Before pic: October 7th, 2012 - 3 weeks PP - 173 lbs After pic: December 28th, 2012 - 155 lbs

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