85 Pounds Lost - Before and After with Pictures

I am not quite done with losing weight, but seeing as I only have 15 pounds to go I thought why not post some pics and my story and maybe inspire someone like all of your before and after stories have inspired me!

So I started this weight loss journey back in June 2012. I had just come from my grandparents house, and decided I had had enough of all of the fat jokes, so I thought "this week I'm going to eat only smoothies and hopefully lose a couple pounds". Well, I did just that. I had a smoothie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for seven days straight. It was brutal, as obviously I wasn't eating enough. But on the eighth day I weighed myself, and saw that I lost 5 pounds.

I then thought, well let's see if I can make it 10. That is when I joined MFP, and the calorie counting began. I replaced my dinner smoothie with chicken and broccoli, and added in snacks of apples and almonds in between. At that point I was already feeling so much better about myself.

The next week is when I decided to add exercise into the mix. I have a tread mil, so I started walking 30 minutes every single night. My friend then suggested I try going for a run with her. I laughed at the idea, because at the time I got out of breath just from walking too fast. Anyways, we went out for a run one day, I could only do two minutes and then had to walk the rest of the way. But I didn't die, so I told her I'd try again next time. Well now 6 months later, I can out run my friend. I can go 30 minutes straight outside without stopping. (About 3 kilometers). I run about 4 nights a week, as well as lifting my 10 pound weights and doing yoga style work outs.

When I started in June, I weighed in at 245 pounds, wore a size 18 pants, and XXL shirt. I now weigh 160 pounds, wear a size 8 pants, and a S-M shirt, depending on the brand. I've even gone down a shoe size! I am 5"6.

I feel so much healthier and happier now. I am so thankful for all of the support from my friends and family in real life and here on MFP.

I still deal with negative self image issues, as I believe most people do when they lose a large amount of weight. Some days are great, but other days I still see the "fat slob" in the mirror. I am confident that feeling will go away with time, and more work.

Anyways, here are some of my before pictures. They're all at 245, maybe even heavier?




And here is me today...


Thanks for reading, and feel free to add me for support!