1 year and 30 lbs. later. Pics!

As of 3/22, I have been logging on MFP for 1 year!

Here's my (ongoing) story:

I am one of those people who had worn the same size for YEARS, even with weight fluctuations. I was starting to believe I was born to be a size 14. If this feels like you, do not give up!

2 years ago in April, my mom got breast cancer and I decided it was time to lower my risk. I weighed about 185-189 and am 5'6". I started a Couch to 5K program. I could barely run 30 seconds. I hid out on a secret treadmill in the far reaches of the gym so no one would see me.

My first 5k was around 35 minutes.

Fast forward to March of last year. Despite running a handful of 5Ks and even a 10K, I hadn't lost any real weight. How frustrating!!! It occurred to me that food might play a bigger role in weight loss than I had thought.

To be honest, I was never a big eater. I think I actually wasn't eating ENOUGH most of the time. A food scale has been my best friend in teaching me how to eat. If you don't have one, get one! As an added bonus, I am way better at estimating calories now when I am out because I use that thing religiously at home.

This entire time, I have kept a similar calorie goal. I eat. A lot. Usually around 1800-2000 calories a day. I have gone from eating just above my BMR plus eating back exercise calories to eating at TDEE-20% without eating back exercise calories. Honestly, both ways gave me a similar calorie total on average. I feel like eating back exercise calories helped me make it to the gym when that was a tough thing for me to stick to. Now, I know I'll work out, regardless of whether it earns me more food for the day:).

I love sweets. I am the crazy person who weighs the grams in her slice of pie.

I do cardio 3-4 times a week and strength/yoga 1 time a week (not including little stuff in front of the TV and my homework from PT). I'm currently fighting a running injury so my cardio has gotten pretty inventive (water jogging anyone?).

I've been stuck at my current weight for about 5 months, but inches are shifting all the time. I have 10ish more pounds to lose. Hello, strength training!

The "before" pics are from about 1 year ago.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a picture from the infamous Vegas Hard Rock Rehab party. What the @#$! made me think this was the appropriate thing to wear? Only that $20 drink in my hand knows:



In this picture, I am wearing Spanx so tight, I can't bend over because they will roll down:



Last April, I got married at about 178 lbs.



September, things are looking better!



November, I ran my second half marathon:



And now, I don't weigh any less than in November, but things have shifted around a little. Sorry, no bikini pictures here. I'm too pale to subject you all to that yet. These are my old work pants:



My jeans today are a 6. And I am, at most, a solid 8 in all brands I've tried. This continues to blow my mind. I still get excited when I see a 14 on sale and then I remember it won't fit!

3 weeks ago I ran a hilly 5K in 27 minutes. My training runs are usually 10.5-11 min miles, but that speed sneaks up on you!

It took me a LONG time to lose the weight this time. But it's better this way. I never feel deprived of any food that I want. I don't beat myself up about not working out on a particular day. I don't get depressed when I have a "bad" food day. I had Costco cake for lunch the other day. I just keep going.

Age: 30
Height: 5'6"
Highest Weight: 195ish
Starting Weight/Size: 185ish, 12-14
Current Weight/Size: 154, 6-8
Goal Weight/Size: 145, 6

Happy logging, everyone!