1 year. 100 lbs. (wordy, but pictures!)

thegreatestlove

Your story brought happy tears to my eyes! Congrats and you look so wonderful! Keep going strong and you will undoubtedly accomplish all of your goals. You are a great inspiration! Thank you!

clhutch76

Fantasitc job and such a great inspiration! Just what I needed to get my butt in gear and get to the gym!

mc100in365

Congratuations! You're a rock star!

Spartan_Maker

Needless to say, you look great. I'm really happy for you.

I also enjoyed the preamble to your photos -- funny.

vlnalto

Congrats chica!! You are awesome!

And very inspiring as I'm still in that "I know I've made progress but I don't really look any different" stage. Thanks for the motivation that's going to help keep me going.

red_road

this made me happy. great job, i love your last outfit. so cute. keep up the great work

sisBdisco

I'm so glad I clicked on your story. Amazing! CONGRATULATIONS! I'm going to come back and reread it whenever I need a 'kick' to keep me going. Thanks for the inspiration. You rock!

gaylynn35

Outstanding!!! Congratulations and thank you for sharing!

Gemini4sho

Congrats! Thank you for the inspiration to keep at my 50 lb goal.

lovinmyselfagain

Well done! You look great!

Deipneus

A bit proud of yourself? Ya think?! You are awesome! Nice job!

TheCats_Meow

You look so awesome! Way to go on all your hard work, day in & day out!

I hope you're extremely proud of yourself, you deserve it!

You are such an inspiration to everyone who has to work hard at getting the results they desire!

Thank you for sharing your story! :flowerforyou:

brendeau

Your story was very inspirational. I've recently started using MFP and I love it! Yours is the first story I've read and thanks for sharing so much, and getting personal.

Mpol2

I love this story. Love the haircut too......a wonderful new you. :flowerforyou:

lovinglifemore

thanks for posting your story and pics! you've done so great and motivated me!

cebiginalaska

Congratulations, that's amazing! I can't wait to be able to see and have results from keeping track of my intake and starting to workout.

dellaj5

[Wow! Very Impressive and Heart Felt. U go Girl!!! U can accomplish anything you want to.]


A year ago, today, I downloaded the MFP app to my phone. It asked my weight - I had no idea. I didn't even have a scale. I went to the doctor's office up the street to be weighed. I hoped for 250. I feared 350. I split the middle and bet my friend it would come in at 303. I was off. The official number was 270 lbs.

Today, after a year of changing habits… of moving more and eating better, I weighed in at 170 lbs.

1 year. 100 lbs. To the day.

I've been thinking about this day for the last few weeks. I thought I'd have something witty or brilliant to say. Instead, I'm speechless. A bit proud of myself, a bit surprised that I actually did it. A bit mournful for the years I wasted, a bit excited about the years ahead. I think about the me of last year and she seems so different and, yet, exactly the same.

But enough of the talking talky - you're here for the pics & details…

The one y'all want to see… the before & current:


I feel extremely guilty to my 250 lb self for using this pic as a "before pic" - I was so pleased with having lost 20 lbs that I forgot to hide from the camera.


A couple days after I took that before pic, on March 30th, I bought my first workout pants. I had been walking and doing a few active Wii games but was getting ready to do more. And, I thought, I might actually be able to find some that fit me now that I was no longer a tight 24. I'd lost 20 lbs, I was walking miles and miles a day, I was kicking butt with Biggest Loser for Wii (really good for someone at about a 0 fitness level. Still isn't bad, I don't know if it's loyalty & nostalgia for those early days, but I still find myself going back to it on occasion.)



By June, I kicked up the courage to get away from working out behind closed doors. I ventured out and discovered my community workout room. It's nothing fancy - a couple treadmills, a bike, an elliptical, cable weights, balls, etc. I tried the elliptical for the first time at the end of June. I last 5 minutes (hahaha). I refused to let it beat me and, by the end of the month, I'd fallen in love. There's something almost meditative about it for me. I know a lot of folks can't stand cardio machines and, I suppose, I can understand that. But for me? The monotonous movement and lack of anything distracting to look at just kills any and all stress. I dunno. I can't imagine a day without it now.



A week after discovering the workout room, I'd hit 50 lbs lost. 50 lbs! That was a tough one for me - I felt like I'd done so much and, yet, I didn't look any different. I mean, not that different. I certainly didn't see it. Fortunately I kept a pair of old pants. I still put them on when I can't "see" the change.



It felt like forever going from 220 to 200. I had family coming down in August and desperately wanted to hit the number while they were here. I hit 200 on Labor Day.



And everything started to fall apart. I quickly gained 5 lbs and spent the rest of the month in a funk. Fortunately, the good habits I'd picked up throughout the year stuck. Despite bouncing around from 202 to 206 most of September, I miraculously ended the month UNDER 200. It was a huge milestone, I hadn't been that small in over a decade. My logging and exercise was sporadic throughout the fall. Birthday, work travel, holidays… they all got the better of me. A bum knee wasn't helping. I decided to not focus on losing, if it happened, that would be great, but I wasn't going to stress about it. As long as I didn't gain. I would work on maintaining and seeing how well I could keep my habits in check without the "crutch" of constantly recording. The, after the holidays, I would get back to losing. I didn't do too terribly! I bounced around 185-190 through November and December.

I took advantage of the post-holiday sales to get myself excited about getting back on track. I went clothes shopping, for me, for the first time since losing weight (as a packrat, I had clothes size 14-24 in my closet… of course, those few 14s were 15 years old, ha!). For the first time in at least a dozen years, I bought clothes in the normal clothes section. So overwhelming! So many choices! The first thing I tried on were jeans. I didn't know what size. I figured a 16 was likely but grabbed an 18 just in case. They were both too big. I bought two pairs of size 14. Both are getting too big for me now.



On New Years Day, I weighed in at 188 lbs.


And the very next day I came back into MFP and started logging. I went out this week to look for clothes for my 1 year…100 lbs celebration. I wondered about a medium shirt. My larges are a bit loose. It fit. It was incredibly exciting. Until the size 10 jeans I grabbed to see how far I had to go before they'd fit not only went all the way up, they buttoned! and zipped! Admittedly, they were crazy stretchy and I had to peel them off… but still. a size 10. there were tears.



I'm not done yet. I have a half-assed goal of 135. The hardest is probably yet to come, but I've come this far. I have no doubt that I'll make it. Hopefully by my birthday in October… it should be great fun to turn 42 smaller (and far healthier!) than I was when I was 21!




Specifics….

Starting Weight: 270 / BMI 47.8 (morbidly obese)
Current Weight: 170 / BMI 30.5 (obese… 1/2 a pound from overweight!!!)
Goal Weight: 135 / BMI who cares! I hate BMI!


Inches lost:
Hips: 56.5 - 42.5 = 14 inches lost
Waist: 51.75 - 36 = 15.75
Bust: 49 - 40 = 9 (kinda sad about some of that )
Thighs: 29 - 20.5 = 8.5
Arms (upper): 16.25 - 9 = 7.25
Neck: 15.75 - 13 = 2.75

Clothing:
Starting: 24w / 3x
Current: 10-12 / M-L
(most 12s fit perfectly but some are a bit loose, got into a 10 the other day bit most are still too small)
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Bonella

Congratulations to you! You look wonderful and I loved reading your story. You are very inspiring.

Swedgen

This is so inspirational! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!

LesleyGillan

Clothing:
Starting: 24w / 3x
Current: 10-12 / M-L
(most 12s fit perfectly but some are a bit loose, got into a 10 the other day bit most are still too small)

WOW! Just WOW and that pic??? you look stunning and so happy :flowerforyou: congratulations!