My Success Story... 216 pounds down to 156! 5'3F, Age 23

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to finally be sharing my weight loss story with the My Fitness Pal community! To give a little bit of background, I was never overweight as a kid or in my teens. I danced for 13 years, 7 of those on a competitive team that practiced 6 times/week, and played tennis all through high school. These activities kept me in great physical shape without ever working out in a gym and I never gave much thought to my weight. However, that changed when I got to college. I suddenly didn't have daily dance and tennis practices to keep me active and fit, but I was still eating the things I'd always eaten. Slowly but surely, the pounds got packed on. At my heaviest, I got up to around 220 pounds.

After seeing some pretty awful pictures of myself on Facebook from Christmas and New Years Eve 2010 (see below), I decided it was time for a change. I signed up for My Fitness Pal in January 2011 and I can truly say that it changed my life. I'd never paid attention to calories and I was truly shocked by how many calories some of my favorite foods contained. I started tracking my calories and slowly started going to the gym - and I do mean slowly. I was extremely out of shape at that point, so I would go to the gym, do 10 minutes on the elliptical and be pouring sweat, barely able to catch my breath. I was determined to stick with it though, and eventually I built up my endurance, spent a little longer in the gym each day and mixed in other exercise. I did the couch to 5K program and learned to love running. I did Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and did lights weights at the gym.

Long story short, I lost about 45 pounds over the course of the year of 2011 just through watching my calories and exercising 4-5 days a week for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. I lost another 15 pounds by spring of 2012 and since then, I've been able to maintain my weight loss. I've never backslide and put the weight back on, but I have plateaued. I'm extremely proud of myself and I'm happy with all of the progress I've made. I feel comfortable in my own skin again and I love my body, but I would like to get down to my ultimate goal weight of 135 and get more tone and definition in my stomach and arms. Therefore, I'm re-committing myself to tracking my calories in MFP and switching up my workouts, and I hope to reach my goal by this summer!

I do not consider myself to be a fitness or nutrition expert by any means. I just wanted to share my story and what worked for ME. For me, a 'diet' would have never worked. I educated myself on healthier food options, but still splurged on my weaknesses (Mexican food, craft beer, SWEETS). I'm a social girl and love going out for drinks, so I would just work out harder on days where I knew I was going out for dinner or drinks with friends. I never used any supplements, shakes, etc. - I just paid more attention to what I was putting in my body and started exercising again. My best advice is to believe in yourself, surround yourself by supportive family and friends, celebrate the small victories and DO NOT QUIT.

Now for the fun part: Pictures! This is my first post, so I hope it works!