1 year and 30 lbs. later. Pics!
ccruns920
Posts: 14 Member
As of 3/22, I have been logging on MFP for 1 year!
Here's my (ongoing) story:
I am one of those people who had worn the same size for YEARS, even with weight fluctuations. I was starting to believe I was born to be a size 14. If this feels like you, do not give up!
2 years ago in April, my mom got breast cancer and I decided it was time to lower my risk. I weighed about 185-189 and am 5'6". I started a Couch to 5K program. I could barely run 30 seconds. I hid out on a secret treadmill in the far reaches of the gym so no one would see me.
My first 5k was around 35 minutes.
Fast forward to March of last year. Despite running a handful of 5Ks and even a 10K, I hadn't lost any real weight. How frustrating!!! It occurred to me that food might play a bigger role in weight loss than I had thought.
To be honest, I was never a big eater. I think I actually wasn't eating ENOUGH most of the time. A food scale has been my best friend in teaching me how to eat. If you don't have one, get one! As an added bonus, I am way better at estimating calories now when I am out because I use that thing religiously at home.
This entire time, I have kept a similar calorie goal. I eat. A lot. Usually around 1800-2000 calories a day. I have gone from eating just above my BMR plus eating back exercise calories to eating at TDEE-20% without eating back exercise calories. Honestly, both ways gave me a similar calorie total on average. I feel like eating back exercise calories helped me make it to the gym when that was a tough thing for me to stick to. Now, I know I'll work out, regardless of whether it earns me more food for the day:).
I love sweets. I am the crazy person who weighs the grams in her slice of pie.
I do cardio 3-4 times a week and strength/yoga 1 time a week (not including little stuff in front of the TV and my homework from PT). I'm currently fighting a running injury so my cardio has gotten pretty inventive (water jogging anyone?).
I've been stuck at my current weight for about 5 months, but inches are shifting all the time. I have 10ish more pounds to lose. Hello, strength training!
The "before" pics are from about 1 year ago.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a picture from the infamous Vegas Hard Rock Rehab party. What the @#$! made me think this was the appropriate thing to wear? Only that $20 drink in my hand knows:
In this picture, I am wearing Spanx so tight, I can't bend over because they will roll down:
Last April, I got married at about 178 lbs.
September, things are looking better!
November, I ran my second half marathon:
And now, I don't weigh any less than in November, but things have shifted around a little. Sorry, no bikini pictures here. I'm too pale to subject you all to that yet. These are my old work pants:
My jeans today are a 6. And I am, at most, a solid 8 in all brands I've tried. This continues to blow my mind. I still get excited when I see a 14 on sale and then I remember it won't fit!
3 weeks ago I ran a hilly 5K in 27 minutes. My training runs are usually 10.5-11 min miles, but that speed sneaks up on you!
It took me a LONG time to lose the weight this time. But it's better this way. I never feel deprived of any food that I want. I don't beat myself up about not working out on a particular day. I don't get depressed when I have a "bad" food day. I had Costco cake for lunch the other day. I just keep going.
Age: 30
Height: 5'6"
Highest Weight: 195ish
Starting Weight/Size: 185ish, 12-14
Current Weight/Size: 154, 6-8
Goal Weight/Size: 145, 6
Happy logging, everyone!
Here's my (ongoing) story:
I am one of those people who had worn the same size for YEARS, even with weight fluctuations. I was starting to believe I was born to be a size 14. If this feels like you, do not give up!
2 years ago in April, my mom got breast cancer and I decided it was time to lower my risk. I weighed about 185-189 and am 5'6". I started a Couch to 5K program. I could barely run 30 seconds. I hid out on a secret treadmill in the far reaches of the gym so no one would see me.
My first 5k was around 35 minutes.
Fast forward to March of last year. Despite running a handful of 5Ks and even a 10K, I hadn't lost any real weight. How frustrating!!! It occurred to me that food might play a bigger role in weight loss than I had thought.
To be honest, I was never a big eater. I think I actually wasn't eating ENOUGH most of the time. A food scale has been my best friend in teaching me how to eat. If you don't have one, get one! As an added bonus, I am way better at estimating calories now when I am out because I use that thing religiously at home.
This entire time, I have kept a similar calorie goal. I eat. A lot. Usually around 1800-2000 calories a day. I have gone from eating just above my BMR plus eating back exercise calories to eating at TDEE-20% without eating back exercise calories. Honestly, both ways gave me a similar calorie total on average. I feel like eating back exercise calories helped me make it to the gym when that was a tough thing for me to stick to. Now, I know I'll work out, regardless of whether it earns me more food for the day:).
I love sweets. I am the crazy person who weighs the grams in her slice of pie.
I do cardio 3-4 times a week and strength/yoga 1 time a week (not including little stuff in front of the TV and my homework from PT). I'm currently fighting a running injury so my cardio has gotten pretty inventive (water jogging anyone?).
I've been stuck at my current weight for about 5 months, but inches are shifting all the time. I have 10ish more pounds to lose. Hello, strength training!
The "before" pics are from about 1 year ago.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a picture from the infamous Vegas Hard Rock Rehab party. What the @#$! made me think this was the appropriate thing to wear? Only that $20 drink in my hand knows:
In this picture, I am wearing Spanx so tight, I can't bend over because they will roll down:
Last April, I got married at about 178 lbs.
September, things are looking better!
November, I ran my second half marathon:
And now, I don't weigh any less than in November, but things have shifted around a little. Sorry, no bikini pictures here. I'm too pale to subject you all to that yet. These are my old work pants:
My jeans today are a 6. And I am, at most, a solid 8 in all brands I've tried. This continues to blow my mind. I still get excited when I see a 14 on sale and then I remember it won't fit!
3 weeks ago I ran a hilly 5K in 27 minutes. My training runs are usually 10.5-11 min miles, but that speed sneaks up on you!
It took me a LONG time to lose the weight this time. But it's better this way. I never feel deprived of any food that I want. I don't beat myself up about not working out on a particular day. I don't get depressed when I have a "bad" food day. I had Costco cake for lunch the other day. I just keep going.
Age: 30
Height: 5'6"
Highest Weight: 195ish
Starting Weight/Size: 185ish, 12-14
Current Weight/Size: 154, 6-8
Goal Weight/Size: 145, 6
Happy logging, everyone!
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Replies
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This is legit. Thats some real motivation and so amazing to see ALL these pics. what a transformation. enjoy all the compliments, because girl you straight up earned it!0
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Amazing job!!! You have made fantastic progress!!0
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Congratulations!! You look great and it's inspirational to know that slow and steady does it.0
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Amazing and congrats. You will lose those last few pounds before you know it.0
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congrats!!! you look wonderful!0
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Congratulations! You look great. :flowerforyou:0
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nice work.. my mom is fighting as well.. best of luck0
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Nice work you should be very proud of yourself0
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Excellent job, you should be proud
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Well done, you have worked so hard and look amazing. I'd also like to thank you for this post as it's given me a personal boost. The scale has not been kind recently, everytime I lose a bit the following week it goes back on. But this morning I tried on a skirt that i haven't worn for ages because it was way too tight, and it is now too big. I am so pleased that I have confirmation that my body is changing that I'm not going to listen to what the scale says anymore as my clothes can shout louder. Then to top it off I found your post and it has helped to reinforce what my skirt told me earlier.
So thank you for posting and good luck with the rest of your journey.0 -
Excellent work ethic! Good for you!0
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you look great, congrats. And wow --you're 30? Not old at all, but you could pull of 20 if you wanted to, no kidding.0
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Congratulations on your success, you are just the motivation that I need; thank you for posting x0
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Great work, you look amazing!0
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You look fantastic. Congratulations!0
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Now that is real. Well done and thanks for proving that it is not all about the scales....You look fabulous!0
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True congrats for sticking with it - although I would like to point out that you looked great before! I know no one wants to hear that after having put a huge effort in to losing weight, but I still think someone needs to say it. Basically, I do hope you're not beating yourself up about how you looked before, because you really don't need to, you looked lovely (even in your discomfort at wearing spanx - believe me, I empathise!).
That said, your motivation seems to have been for health reasons, not for looks. I think health needs to be the prime motivation for losing weight, so big thumbs up from me at your persistence with getting healthy because fitness is nowhere near as tangible or visible a motivator as dropping dress sizes.
Best of luck in your continued path to a healthy lifestyle. It's an ongoing pursuit - but one worth sticking with :-)0 -
You look great...Congrats on accomplishing your goals and still pushing forward....Happy 1yr..0
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Fabulous! congrats hun you look great!0
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Good for you, I also struggled with such weight issues, but since this year started it's actually getting better and i'm feeling good about myself.0
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Wow! What a great story and very inspirational! Thanks for sharing and you look great! Congrats! :happy:0
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Way to go!!!0
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You look wonderful. Great dedication and consistency0
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You look great! Way to go! :happy:0
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Awesome story! Thanks for sharing!!!0
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Thanks so much for the inspiration! I have been struggling a bit lately, and feeling defeated....but you just gave me some sparks of motivation and I can't express how good it feels to feel optimistic again!0
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Love it!!! Congrats. I have been on MFP for over a year also and have been maintaining for over 7 months. I find maintenance harder than losing!! During loss, you said no to everything now, I sometimes give in but, I get right back on track the next day!! I think this is what people w/out weight issues due. They eat good 90% of time and if they indulge, they naturally eat less.
You go girl!!!0 -
AMAZING! Your story sounds so much like mine...stuck at size 14 anyone?
It's so inspiring to see the possibilities when I read others transformations. I've also had some success, but still a ways to go.
Keep running and THANK YOU for sharing your story and making me believe that I can really do this thing too... 0 -
This is such a motivating story! Thank you for sharing this! Keep up the new healthy lifestyle! You look great!!
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Thanks for your post. Inspiring story. I wanted to add my congrats to the pile!0
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