anyone around 5'4 and 229lbs have a success story ?

I haven't posted pictures of myself, but I used to weigh 230 lbs and I am 5'6. I got down to 136 lbs by tracking my calories on MFP. I also go to the gym to exercise. What I like about MFP is that if I feel like having a chocolate or cookies, I do, I just made sure I didn't go over my calories.

Over Thanksgiving and Christmas I stopped tracking and I'm back up to 145 lbs. But I'm still a size 6, and after being an 18, I"m pretty happy with that. I consider this my success story because I've been fat all my life, I have an under-active thyroid and diabetes, and I STILL managed to lose all the weight.

Good luck. It works!

If I could figure out how to log pictures, I'd do so, but here is my story.

In June 2011, at 49 years old, I weighed about 250 pounds. I decided I was sick of my weight. Starting with 30 minute classes and a personal trainer, the weight came off s.l.o.w.l.y, very slowly.

Fast forward to January 2013. I now weight right at 160 pounds, off all my medications, and strong as an ox.

Can you do it? YES! But know it will be hard, and ACCEPT that it will be hard, embrace the fact that it won't be easy and use that as motivation to never go back.

Here is a link to my story, as told by the local hospital ( I used their gym )

http://www.fauquierhealth.org/services-wellnesscenter

Seriously, though, it's ONE DAY AT A TIME. No tricks, no gimmicks, no short cuts.

I am 5'2 weight in 1/2012 was 213 after baby #2. I am now 46lbs lighter in a year. This app has been great for me. Pics are in my profile. You can do it!

Hi, im'5'4" 45years old. i started July 18, 2012 at 236 and today 6 months later i am 164. I dont know how to post pictures here, but if you want to add me i have a picture on my profile of me at 236 and halfway to my goal at 185. Im gonna post another picture when i get 3/4 of the way at 160. Hopefully that will be in a couple weeks! I watch every bite i eat, super clean and healthy 1500 calories, and i have a gym trainer 5 days a week.

This is exactly me! I am 5'4" and at my highest, I weighed 230 lbs. I was very depressed to be at that size. I was embarrassed to go anywhere, I let friendships slip away because I was so embarrassed for anyone to see me that way. I felt so bad for my husband, that I had let that happen to my body and that I was not the same woman he had married. I felt uncomfortable everywhere I went - driving my car, sitting in a chair, walking around the grocery store. It was awful. I had no energy, I would get winded just walking down the block. My daughter was 3 years old, and I had no energy to play with her or take her to the park. I felt awful, both physically and mentally. I had tried numerous times to lose weight, but nothing ever stuck. I never lost any real weight. I felt like I was doomed to be that size for the rest of my life. I really had no hope I would ever get my old self back, and I was so angry at myself for letting my body get so out of control.

It’s now 4 years later, and I've lost 70 pounds. At one point, I was actually down 90 pounds, but I've put some of the weight back on, which is why I'm here now. The way I feel today is completely different than 4 years ago, and I never want to forget what it felt like to be 230 pounds, because I don't want to ever be back at that place again. I have so much more energy, I sleep so much better, and I feel so much better about myself mentally now. I'm not embarrassed anymore. And I've done things since losing the weight that I never thought possible. I think sometimes that I wish I could go back to that 230 pound girl and give her a big hug and tell her I'm so proud of her - to stick with it, because it's so hard to be at that weight and to know you have so much to lose and to feel so completely overwhelmed at that number and to feel it's impossible. But that girl did it. And my life is so much better now than it was because she did.

So how did I do it? I could give you a long story, but here are the highlights:
- I picked a specific day to start my new life. Having that specific day in mind to start was a big deal - it wasn't a "someday", it was Monday! I prepared by researching and buying healthy foods, so on Monday morning I was ready to go.

- I started taking the OTC weight loss drug, Alli. I normally don't advocate weight loss drugs, and I really do NOT think they are necessary or normally very helpful. In my case, though, Alli was a big part of getting me on the right track with my eating - because I was scared of the side effects if I didn't eat right! If you eat more fat than you're supposed to, Alli can give you pretty bad gas and, there's no nice way to say this - cause you to poop your pants! Because I was scared of this happening, I was forced to follow the diet guidelines. This was exactly what I needed - consequences if I didn't follow the plan! Alli was perfect for me because it gave me structure by telling me how many calories/fat to eat at each meal, but it gave me flexibility to choose what to eat, and most importantly, consequences if I didn't follow the plan.

- I surrounded myself with weight loss & healthy living information - I read Self & Allure magazines, visited message boards, and listened to weight loss/nutrition podcasts. The best podcast for me was Inside Out Weight Loss, which focused on why we overeat and the mental/emotional aspects. The lady was a little "new agey" and hippie chick for me, but she did have some podcasts that really helped me figure out why I ate the way I did, when I knew what I was doing was wrong for me. Four years later and I still think about some of the things she discussed, they still help me keep on track. By surrounding myself with healthy information, it really helped keep me motivated and my mind in the right place to lose weight.

- I would visualize what it would be like if I wasn’t so overweight. I thought about how good it would feel and what I would wear. When I would lay in bed at night visualizing my new life, I would remind myself that 6 months or 1 year might seem like a long time to wait to be thinner BUT – that day 1 year from now was going to come, whether I changed my life or not. Did I still want to be 230 pounds and depressed when that day came? Or did I want to be thinner and healthier? Because if I didn’t want to still be feeling miserable next year, I had to start the changes now! And only I could do it!!

- I set mini-goals (5 pounds by my birthday, 8 pounds by vacation, etc.) that were reasonable. The mini-goals helped keep me on track and not feel so overwhelmed by the “big” weight loss number. And I wrote my goals down on paper! Which made them seem more real. I still do this, and it works.

- I started walking. It was slowly and for only 20 minutes at first. I was very out of shape and couldn’t do more. But each week I added a little bit of time. Eventually I had worked up to walking for an hour most days of the week. My weight loss really accelerated when I added exercise. After I hit the hour mark, I wanted to push myself more, but walking for longer than an hour wasn’t feasible. So I started running – barely! I would walk for 5 minutes and then run for 30 seconds. 30 seconds! And it felt like forever, I could barely do it! I started following the Couch to 5k program, which gradually builds the amount of time you run. 6 months after I had started this journey, I ran a 5k with my husband. I couldn’t believe I had done it! What a long way I had come since I started. I’d lost 60 pounds at that point and could run 3 miles! This past October, 4 years after I started, I ran the Chicago Marathon. Which in my wildest dreams, I would never have thought was possible. Not for me. That was something “other” people did. People that I admired, but that I could never be like. But I actually did it. Me. And I never could have done it if 4 years ago I hadn’t taken those incredibly hard first steps to change my life and lose the weight.

Anyone can lose weight and change their life. You can do it. You can. You just have to know that YOU are the only person who can make it happen. GOOD LUCK!

I'm 5'4 1/2", highest weight was around 270lb, current weight 200lb, my goal weight 160lb. I started slowly, basically moving everyday and watching what I ate, as I got more serious, I started doing DVDs, Jillian Michaels at first, now I'm doing Turbo Fire. My only advice is to be patient. Do not expect the weight to come off in a few weeks, don't get discouraged, just keep chugging along, you will be rewarded.

I'm 5'4 and started at 253, today I am 196 and still working on it

How many calories per day are you eating? I started yesterday and am clocking in at about 1350/day.

I'm not saying I'm a total success just yet. But I'm 5'4 and started at 230 lbs at my highest. I started here at 225 and I'm currently down to 177. Two more pounds and I'll be at 50 lbs lost!! I'm excited to see it My advice: don't let the hard parts keep you down. There have been days when I was depressed and didn't have any energy. I've lost count of how many times I've fallen while running and kept going with bloody knees. You have to get up and keep going. In the end, you are responsible for yourself. No one else--husband, boyfriend, personal trainer---no one else can change you. Only you have that power.

This is me at 225 in the top (I'm in the purple-pink long sleeve shirt), and me at nearly 40 lbs down in the bottom picture (pinkish-red dress)

omg that is so awesom!

Hello, I'm 5'4" and weigh 225 and I'm beginning again. I had lost weight but due a death in my family I gained the weight back. When I was tracking my food and exercising 3-4 times a week I was losing between 1 1/2 - 2 pounds a week. I wish you all the best.

Hi! I'm 5' 3.5", and started Jan, 2012 at 240 pounds. I'm at 156 today. I'm in a size 8 (some 10), and a M in tops/coats.

The funny thing is that I'm smaller at this weight than I was 20 years ago when I weighed the same. That's because I started working out immediately when I started my new healthy lifestyle. I started the food part with Weight Watchers, then MFP in August. I'm now Paleo, and it works for me.

My weight loss has been slow and steady, and I'm so much healthier! I'm not sure what my goal weight will be, as I didn't expect to be this small at this weight.

You can do it! Just don't give up, no matter how many times you go off your plan, just get right back to it.

Bringing this back up

Seems you ladies posted few months ago.

Hoping anyone current around this weight and height

Let's support each other!

22 yr/ 5'4/228 pounds

I'm 5'5" and started mfp at 232. Now I'm down to 174! I stil have another 30 lbs to go but I feel so much better. I went from size 16/18 down to size 12, XXL shirts down to size M/L.

Over 10 years ago, I was 258 lbs(I am 5'4) and wearing a size 26/28 pants. I used WW back then and lost down to 125(too low for me) and was most comfortable at 145lbs and a size 10. I maintained that weight loss through diet and a lot of exercise. I got into running/cycling etc... I eventually had to ease up on the running due to bad knees and also started eating more 2 years ago:( I regained probably 25+ lbs. Then, I found mfp and have had a lot of success using it as a tool to control my diet. Not only do a I count calories but I have found eating lower carb(not no carb) has helped me. I try to eat "clean" most of the time. I also was able to pick back up with exercise but am not doing too much running, just aerobics and strength training. I knew I would be successful this go around because I had done it before. The hardest part for me this go around was admitting that I had regained and did need to lose. 10 years ago when I lost weight, the hardest part was I didn't think it would work or I would be able to do it as I had never had success before. Looking back, my attempts before that were either not sustainable or I did not persevere and stick with them. You can do it. There are tons of success stories out there. You will be so happy you did, trust me!