More than 150 LB Lost Combined, With Lots of Pictures!

We had an important event in our household a couple weeks ago--both my husband and I reached 75 pounds lost! We have been doing this for a little less than 10 months and we still have quite a ways to go, but I figured I'd post a new topic because I have restrained myself from doing so every time I have a tiny NSV.

A little backstory:

I grew up as the youngest in a chunky family of seven kids and two parents, who all but two have been obese at least once in their lives. We were very poor growing up, and food was a cheap and easy way to reward and entertain the whole family together. Plus all my older brothers and sisters worked in fast food as teens. Food has always been the way I grieved, celebrated, had fun, passed the time, anything. I have always been obese, since I was a small child. Over the years, most of us have lost the weight, but there were three of us who as of last year still needed to change.

My husband (Dane) on the other hand was a scrappy little beach kid who had no eating problems until, when he was a young teen, moved in with his grandparents after realizing that his mother could not take care of him. His grandparents, meaning well, used food to show love and he became a chunky youth, if not fat.

When we married, however, we both began to enable each other's bad eating habits, enjoying our common love of food in a city (Portland, OR) brimming with wonderful culinary possibilities. We were both at our heaviest about a year ago.

On to the good stuff:

Last year my sister, who was about 40 lbs heavier than me (and has now lost nearly 150), decided to get gastric surgery to aid her in losing the weight. Not wanting to end up the "last fat sister" and knowing Dane and I needed to change, we joined MyFitnessPal with my sister and started on her pre-surgery diet. We quickly figured out that MFP was going to work quite well for us, but my sister's diet was too restrictive.

We wanted something that we knew could do forever, so we adjusted our macros and calories, and decided to not eat 'diet foods'. So I have lost 78 lbs and my husband has lost 76, and we eat what we want. We try to stay away from refined sugar most of the time, but we don't deprive ourselves of the occasional treat. We walk and bike everywhere (which is easy in an urban environment) and since we have kept our diet change within reason, I have found my urge to binge almost completely gone. I know that if I over eat, I will feel sick, so I almost never do it. We no longer crave fast food.

Ten months have completely changed our tastes and our behaviors. We have quite a ways to go, but we are very thankful to MFP and to my sister for all the support and guidance we have received.

Okay, now pictures! These were taken almost exactly one year apart, In March 2012 then March 2013. The same photographer did both photo shoots--Anna Caitlin Photography, who does an AMZAING job every time. annacaitlinpohtography.com

Before: March 2012






During! (about 40 lbs away from goal) March 2013