A Year Ago Today.. minus 61 pounds (pic heavy)

For the last 365 days, I've come on this Success Stories page and have read, looked at photos and become immersed in everyone else's stories. They have inspired me, encouraged me and motivated me to continue on my own journey. I've dreamed of the day that I could share mine. Today is that day.

In March 2011, I weighed in at a whopping 265 lbs. I felt horrible, always out of breath, nothing fitting, finding it difficult to find clothing that would fit me. I surrounded myself with people who was sarcastic, snarky and seemed to wallow in self pity. Sounds perfect, right? I could just meld into the wallpaper and not be seen. But, deep down, I didn't want to live that kind of life. I had always been large, even as a child. My mom always had the difficult task of finding clothes for me. I remember making my first holy communion, we had to go to 4 different malls to find a "pretty-plus" section so that I would have something to wear. I spent my childhood active -- 5 nights a week at dancing school, playing soccer, girl scouts, the whole kit and kaboodle. But I would eat crappy foods or over the portion sizes. Back then, no one cared about portions. It was "eat what's on your plate." And that was that, there was no arguing with the powers that be.

From January to April 2011, I suffered horribly from a cold. I couldn't shake it no matter how many times I'd go to the doctors. I was miserable and in tons of pain. My primary doctor sent me to a rheumatologist. In June, I was diagnosed with early stage Osteo-arthritis in both knees and psoriatic arthritis in my joints.

That's when I heard the shocking news: "You are FAT. You need to LOSE THE WEIGHT if you don't want to continue in this pain. Find something you like and DO IT."

I had joined a gym the previous November and was going religiously, but I wasn't losing any weight. In March 2011, I weighed in at 265lbs. After seeing photos of myself at a St. Patty's Day party, I cried for a full day. I'll admit, I started to lose the weight for the wrong reasons (to get the attention of a guy -- figuring if I lost the weight, he'd see the "real" me). I started to eat less (as in, when I was hungry, I'd ignore the pangs) and workout more. I managed to get myself down to 241 lbs in 4 months but would then plateau. I knew what I was doing was hurting myself, but I just wanted to lose the weight. It was during an outing with a friend of mine at the time that she introduced me to MyFitnessPal. I was skeptical, I won't lie -- how can a website that is FREE be beneficial or contain information that will help me on this journey? I put it off for several weeks and then after joining, poking around in the community and reading these success stories, I became hooked and thought: "You know what? These people are no different than me. I really can do this and I'm going to." I was tired of hearing "You are a gorgeous girl, you just need to lose the weight." They were right -- I had to. I wanted to. I NEEDED to.

It wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. There's no magic wand or pill, it's a lot of work, but it's all about, at least for me, making it NOT feel like work. I had a lot of people try to sabotage me in my efforts, I had heard a lot of jealous retorts like: "Oh, it's so easy to lose weight. I could do it if I wanted to" or "Oh it's so much harder to lose weight when you are older, so I don't bother. Not sure why you are either." Many of these comments came from people I worked with. They honestly believed I couldn't do it (negative Nancy's -- yes, I was surrounded by them). They would scoff at me when I would say "Hey, lost another pound!" or put up notes on my computer that would say "You can do it! Keep it going! XX more lbs to go til that half-way point." Coworkers would bring in donuts and offer other sweets, but I wouldn't say I couldn't have them. I would say I choose NOT to have them. I had a mental plan in place -- lose this weight. My goals shifted and I started to lose the weight for myself. After a few months, I lost 1, then 2, then 4, then 10. It was happening. I discovered Zumba and bought myself a heart rate monitor to track my calories. In May 2011, without any training, I ran a 5K in 45 minutes. At first, I hated running. I always felt like I was going to bust a lung, but then I started to read about breathing techniques, strides, how to better strategize for a run. I got fitted for proper running shoes and it made a huge difference. Now I love to run -- I run to break up the stress, to have "me" time and to get my thoughts in order. With my arthritis, it's hard to do super long runs and I don't run specifically for time. I run to run. In January 2012, I had the crazy notion to run the Broad Street 10-miler. I signed up and got a spot for the May 6th race. In February, my dreams of running this race were nearly sidelined. I fell incredibly ill, being hospitalized the last week of February for most of the month of March. I was suffering from stomach ulcers and then had my gall bladder removed. Upon asking my surgeon if I could run the race, he said he didn't recommend it. Two weeks after my surgery, I jumped back into training. My first run was awful - a 5K in 50 minutes. It hurt, the stomach pain was unbearable, but I wasn't giving up. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. On May 6, 2012, I finished the Broad Street Run in 1:55:12, beating my goal and making me realize I could do anything I set my mind to. That night, I signed up for two half marathons -- the Philly Rock and Roll in September and the Wine and Dine in Disney in November.

I've gone from a size 20/22 - 1X/2X Women's to a size 10/12 - Medium Misses clothing in a year. I've lost an incredible amount of inches (though I haven't really kept a log of it). I have gained strength, confidence, and a love of exercise and learning new things. I've taken up biking and though I've fallen twice, I get right back up and keep at it. Total from March 18, 2011, I've lost a grand total of 85 lbs. Since beginning MyFitnessPal a year ago August 1, 2011, I've lost 61 lbs. It is because of the support of friends I've made on this site and my family, their constant encouragement, their pushing me to go forward and not look back that I feel that I honestly made it a full year and will continue to go forward to lose my last 35 lbs, to be in that healthy BMI range and to take back ownership of my life. I'm a fighter.

This year has definitely been a roller coaster ride. On June 7th, I lost my job. I had started to hit the highest high and then was dropped to the most dramatic low. I slept for two days straight after. I withdrew from the world. It really could've been disasterous, to withdraw and start going back to my old habits. Many of my friends started to retreat - nowhere to be found. I was stuck in the house 7 hours a day, on a computer, no one to socialize with. I couldn't take it anymore - I got up, got my gear on and went out. At least every other day, for a run or a ride. I started to remember why I was losing the weight and going backwards was not an option. I'm happy to report that I've secured employment -- actually, I have two options possibly so that is a huge plus and something that takes a bit of weight off of my shoulders. I have 42 days until my first half-marathon, was talked into doing another one in October on top of the one in November. So that's 3 races in 3 months -- I can do it.

I just wanted to take this time to thank my friends and my family for constantly having my back and supporting me in these endeavors. Without your help and assistance, I know I'd be struggling, but you have taught me that this doesn't happen over night, that you actually DO need to eat in order to lose weight, that even when I feel awful I have to get up and moving and that excuses do NOT make things happen.

Here are some photos of my journey:

At 265 lbs in February 2011



This was the photo that sent me over the edge --



At 245 lbs in June 2011



At 236 in September 2011



At 220 in October 2011



At 198lbs in January 2012



At 185lbs in April 2012 (I started to plateau here after my surgery and my boosting my runs to meet my 10 mile training)



At 183lbs in May 2012 --- Kicked that 10-milers *kitten*!!



At 180 lbs in July 2012 -- this was taken just two weekends ago (I'm in the middle)



Taken just a few days ago, before a 31.73 mile bike ride. If you had asked me if I would EVER have been able to ride that far or run 10 miles, I would've laughed in your face a year ago. Today, I can't wait to get out and be active.




Thank you for reading my story. I also wanted to thank all of YOU who inspire ME to become a better, stronger woman. You all are amazing. Just remember... don't just say it. DO IT!! Because YOU are WORTH IT!!