30 lbs lost... some more to go (pics!)

Hey all,

My name is Christina. I'm sharing my story even though my journey is not over yet, maybe it will be helpful!) I have been pretty slim most of my life until after I got married. I really stopped caring, ate out a lot with my husband (Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Applebee's, Fast Food) and let's not even get started with how much Starbucks latte's and frappucinos I' had. Well over 3 years I put on about 40 pounds. When I got up to 170 I knew I should stop overeating so much so I just tried to maintain that for awhile, a couple weak attempts at a diet later, and after the death of my mother Jan. 2012 I was up around 177 in May 2012. I think approaching 180 kinda put a scare into me, especially with my mom passing away partially blamed on her obesity. So I decided I would actually really go ahead and lose the extra weight. I really didn't want to start because I had an eating disorder from 15-16 years old so I thought calorie counting again would be a trigger.

I started in May by eating 1200-1400 calories a day. A few weeks passed. I lost nothing! Maybe a pound. So I started going to the gym in June (I knew nothing about eating calories back, learned about that later). I used this app Tap & Track to keep track of eating and exercising. I was exercising 5X a week ~500 calories a day and eating 1200-1400 calories so about netting ~800 calories a day. Between June and July I lost 15 pounds, wow! Then I joined MFP in July. I started reading the forums and about healthy eating and about what netting too low could do for you. The last thing I wanted to do was wreck my metabolism. So I calmed down on the cardio, and kept my calories at ~1300-1400 making sure to have a weekly net over 1200 just to be safe.

August rolled around and the weight loss slowed. Which makes sense because I stopped cardio 5X a week. I went back to school in the fall and couldn't exercise much besides walking around school but I made sure I was making good food choices for the most part. I kept my net around ~1300 throughout the entire Sept.-Dec. and took off another 15 pounds.

So here I am in January, 2013 30 pounds down... I still have more to go but I'm finally back in some of my smaller clothes. I invested in a fitbit for Xmas, joined a family walking challenge, and am trying to make 10,000 steps a day. I have a very demanding schedule at the University but I prepare food in advance to keep my diet under control and just make sure to move a lot. I have done the squats and sit-ups challenges on here, and have spent a couple months lifting but I know I need to do more.

Here are my progress pics:

June 2011 (feeble attempt to lose weight, was 171) (I'm the blonde with the khaki pants and sombrero looking adventure hat!)


December 2011 (Family Christmas party, rolls upon rolls, I couldn't stand looking at this set of pictures)


May 2012 (getting serious, taking initial pictures)


Beg. June 2012


August 2012 (15 pounds down...)




December 2012 (30 pounds down...)





I still have confidence issues, especially with my thighs (damn cellulite, had it with lunges squats, and 100 lbs and part of the reason on my obsessiveness when I was 15/16 since I had it then... ) but I know I'm not perfect and don't expect to ever be and just want to be a healthy woman for my future family. I'm gonna keep working hard and my next goal is to hit ~135 around this summer .