1 Year, 87 lbs., and getting close!

I can hardly believe that I have been using MFP for a year! I used to troll the message boards "success stories", and was constantly amazed at what people had accomplished. It was a huge inspiration to me, so even though I am not at goal, although I am getting very close to goal (actually, I am starting to re-evaluate what "goal" should be), I felt that my 1st Anniversary warranted a post, and my story. My weight loss has started to slow down, but still moving in a downward direction. So here is my story... :blushing:

I am 47 yrs. old, and have been married for 23 years. I have raised 2 young men (18 and almost 20), work full-time, and am a PartyLite consultant. I have not been fat my whole life, but was always bigger than all my friends, so therefore, I was fat. I get sad thinking of all those years I wasted feeling fat, when in reality, I really wasn't... like in high school when my cheer skirt was a size 9, and everyone else wore a 5 or 7.... but I digress. :ohwell:

I met my husband in 1982... I was a child, I know, but we didn't start dating until I went away to college. Over the last 25-30 years, my weight has yo yo'd like crazy, with a low of 133lbs. and a high of 239 (although my Dr. said that she has me at 242, but that is with clothes on, so I am sticking with 239). Also... my BP was 143/95 and I was Pre-Hypertensive.:noway: Never have I ever had an issue with my blood pressure, so my Dr. didn't immediately put me on medication, but instead, told me that I needed to make some changes, or medication is where I was headed.

Last July I went to a PartyLite conference, and that picture (see below), is what prompted me to do something... ANYTHING! That and the fact that a couple of co-workers had started WW earlier in the year, and they had made amazing progress. I told myself not to focus on how much weight I had to lose, or how long it would take, because that would discourage me before I even got started. Instead I thought back to where I was a year ago, and how quickly that year had passed, and how if I had started a year ago, how much better off I could have been. Side note observation - Isn't it funny how the future seems so far away, and the past seems like it was just yesterday?

For the record... I am not on a DIET. I eat everything. But I have found that Knowledge really is POWER. Being aware of what is going in really does help you make better choices, and if I choose to eat the french fries, or a Sprinkles Cupcake, it is a decision that I make with full awareness of what the consequences are, and what I need to do to as a result. So, I got started on August 1st. Like I said, it couldn't be a "diet". It had to be something that I could sustain, a lifestyle change. Learning to eat in moderation, and make better choices. I found MFP, and began my logging everything I ate... The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. Looking back to the first day that I "logged", I am amazed at how "crappy" I ate. Coffee for breakfast, skipped lunch, then around 3pm I'd get hungry, so I'd eat junk like Cheetos or Ding Dongs, cuz it was "too late to eat lunch". Then I'd get home starving, eat a huge dinner, and sit on my *kitten* all night watching TV, after spending all day at work sitting on my huge *kitten*. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Mid September I started going to the little fitness center in my office complex... 2x a week at first, and for 20 mins. on the elliptical/treadmill. Then 3x a week for 30 mins., and 4x for 45min. By October, I had lost 20 lbs., and decided that I wanted to try something new, so I went to my first Zumba class. After Zumba, being on the elliptical/treadmill was like torture - watching the minutes click off, and thinking the whole time, "when is this going to be over!". I also noticed that when I was in Zumba, that the hour would just fly by, and it was so much more fun, so I started looking for more classes, and by December/January was going to Zumba 5-7 days a week. For the first time ever, I have incorporated "exercise" in to my life, and am loving it - although I need to start strength training.

At the end of October, I got a BodyMedia Fit armband, which I absolutely LOVE! It helps me pin down my daily calorie expenditure, which in turn helps me adjust my calories intake on a daily basis. It is also amazing to see how sedentary my life is when I can't make a class, or work-out. I am able to record my workouts, and have noticed that some Instructors/Classes are more intense than others... which is clearly captured using my Armband. On a normal day that I exercise, I used to burn between 2500 and 2800 calories, which meant I would consume between 1500-1800 and still maintain a deficit of 1000 calories per day. However, on a day that I did not exercise, I would only expend 2100-2200 calories, which meant I would keep my intake down to 1200 for the day. Now that I am not as heavy, I have noticed that I am burning less during the day, and during workouts. A class where I used to burn 600 calories, is now down to 450-540. This is just more evidence that I need to start strength training to increase muscle and elevate my metabolism.

Sorry for the long drawn out story, but here are some of my progress pictures. For referrence, I am 5' 3", and started at 239 lbs. and was a 22 pant/1x top. I am currently 152 lbs., and am wearing size 8/10 in pants, and a medium top. Haven't checked my BP in a while, but last time I checked it, in April, it was down to 127/82! My measurements as of 10/13/2011 were 46 - 40.5 - 51, and as of today are 37.5 - 32 - 40.5. I was hoping to hit 90 lbs., but I guess 87 will have to do.

Me at my biggest - At least 239 lbs.


At "One"derland!


1st MFP Anniversary


Face Comparison:


With my boys on Mother's Day


Going Out with Hubby!


A Sampling of things that I can do now that I couldn't do before:
1) After 23 years of marriage, I finally got into my husband's pants!
2) Wrap a regular bath towel around my body after a shower.
3) Can buy clothes based on how they fit instead of "IF" they fit!
4) Wear heals and not have my feet hurt after 20 minutes.
5) Finally weigh less than my husband!
6) Sit in a "cafe" chair without my hips bulging through the arm rest, or sitting on one hip kinda sideways so that I can fit in the chair.