Don't Ever Give Up! My Success Story! (LOTS of pics!)

I decided to post this in honor of yesterday. And for all of you, to encourage anyone that may be encouraged by my story and by my journey. My journey is a long one of very SLOW weight loss. It's long, but consistent; slow, but steady. So, here's my story of being a former chubby girl, of losing almost 50 lbs, and going from a size 14/16 to a size 4/6:

I was ALWAYS chubby growing up, always, even in elementary school. For as long as I can remember (from the age of 4) I hated myself and my body because I thought I was too fat and ugly. I was bullied growing up for being "fat and ugly." The only time in my life where I was at my lowest weight I was only at the very high end of a normal BMI. The lowest weight I had ever been (since I was a kid, obviously) was right around 140 lbs and that was when I was 14. And because I'm pretty short (I'm only 5'4") extra weight doesn't good on me at all.

I gained even more weight in college and reached my highest weight of 178 lbs and size 14/16. I hated myself and what I had become. I was very unhappy. I wanted to change, but I felt like I just couldn't, like it wasn't possible. I tried eating healthier and even counting calories a little bit but I could never keep up with it long enough and I never saw results. I tried exercising but I got winded so darn easily and could barely burn any calories at all. (I couldn't even jog slowly for 5 minutes without dying.) It seemed like every other day I'd have a huge fail that would ruin everything, so I just gave up. I didn't think I could lose the weight. I was 21 and this was supposed to be the prime of my life. I figured that that was the best I was gonna look, that this was the best my life was gonna get, and that I might as well settle for being the fat, ugly, invisible girl.

The summer I was 22, which was the summer of 2010, I worked as a camp counselor for my city's kids' day camp. I was outside playing with those kids all day. Near the end of the summer, I started to notice that my new jeans I had bought in May were kind of loose, but I just figured that I had worn them out or something. But then a week or so later, my dad made a comment that I was looking skinnier and asked if I had lost weight. I checked the scale and low and behold, I had lost about 7-8 lbs!!! And I hadn't even been trying! That gave me the motivation I needed because I saw that I clearly could lose weight. And that summer I made a promise to myself: that I would finally do everything in my power and give my all so that I could finally look the way I've always wanted to look. And I made a goal: 130 lbs and a size 6 jeans.

Over the next almost 3 years, I slowly (VERY slowly) started cutting out lots of bad food from my diet: soda (I was a HUGE Coca-Cola drinker), fries, sweets, etc. I also worked on portion control. I tried to exercise as much as I could. Usually that ended up being only 3 or so times a week and just walking, but that was better than nothing! I tried portion control. And finally, I tried counting calories with another app. Then I got a Fitbit for Christmas last December and switched to MFP (because it syncs with my Fitbit) but now I like MFP so much better lol than that other app I was using! Little by little, I tried to make as many healthy choices as I could in each day, taking it one day at a time. I lost weight REAL SLOWLY (it took me almost 3 years LOL!) and I had several plateaus in the last 3 years too. I failed probably A MILLION TIMES. But I believe that what made me so successful this time is 2 things. First, that I never "dieted;" I didn't do anything too extreme or too difficult because I wanted every change I made to be a permanent lifestyle change, not just a temporary change. And second, I never gave up. Even when I failed over and over and over, I still tried again and kept going.

As I started getting scarily close to my goal in the last several months, I became more and more motivated. I started making NEW goals for myself. First, I decided to challenge myself even further and make a dream goal to weigh 120 lbs and fit into a size 4 perfectly. I decided that one day, I was going to compete in a triathlon (something I've always wanted to do since I used to be a swimmer when I was growing up). But in order to even attempt a triathlon, I needed to become a runner. :noway: I'd always failed MISERABLY at running. I could never even JOG a MILE without stopping to walk. I made it my goal to run a mile...and then I did! And then I pushed myself further and decided to run 3 MILES in a 5k so I signed up for The Color Vibe and I ACTUALLY DID IT! I jogged the whole thing without walking at all! And now...well I NEVER thought I'd say this....but I think I've actually caught some of the "running bug." I actually LIKE running now! :laugh: I seriously cannot believe I'm even saying this! (I was always very vocal about how much I HATED running LOL!) :laugh: One of my new goals is to run a half marathon! Specifically the Princess one at Disney! :bigsmile:

I was seeing results, but still I often thought that all of that was just a dream that would never really come true. Even though I was so close, I still never thought I'd see the day where I would weigh close to 130 lbs. But ladies and gents of MFP, I wrote all of this for you all today because THAT DAY CAME! As of yesterday, I have officially reached my original of 130 lbs (and a size 6, though I can even fit into some major vanity 4s too lol!) I stood on the scale yesterday at the gym for the first time in a couple weeks and the scale read: 129.2!!!



So, as promised, I have lots of pictures! Here is the OLD me. This is the girl I used to be. I'm only 21 in these pictures, but all the extra weight makes me look so much older.










My mom and I. She's stayed about the same weight and size in the last 3 years, so take note of my size compared to hers:






And now...here's the NEW me! The new young woman I've become (and am still getting used to). Many people who used to know me before don't even recognize me anymore! :laugh: So here I am after losing almost 50 lbs! All of these pics were taken in the last few weeks.
















And here is a progression of pictures showing my weight loss over time. Here I am again at my highest weight of 178 lbs:


The very beginning of my journey! Here it's fall of 2010. I'm with my mom and I'm around 168 lbs:


In these next two pictures, I'm somewhere in the 155-163 range:



Here, I was in the low 150s, probably somewhere around 152-153:


This pic is from my trip to Spain last March (March 2012, that is). I was right around 150 lbs here:


I'm already starting to look a lot better and feel a LOT more confident! Here I'm close to 145 lbs:


Early last fall, right after starting law school. I'm 138 lbs in these next two pics. Before this, the last time I had ever weighed this little was when I was 14 and a freshman in high school:



Trying on another dress (that I can't afford LOL!) in a department store. I'm around 135:


Another pic of around 135, but NOW look at me when I stand next to my mom:


Last month. I'm around 133 lbs here and at my VERY FIRST 5k!!! (And I ran the entire thing too, didn't walk at all!) I was so proud of myself that day because I never thought I could run 3 miles!


At a formal event for my school a couple weeks ago. I'm 131 lbs:


And finally, taken just yesterday...129 lbs:




Just recently, I started working with a personal trainer. My new weight goal of 120 lbs is really only an approximate. I'm more focused on toning, strength training, and losing some body fat right now. But still, I have never been so proud of myself as I am now! I just wanted to share my story with all of you to remind you that not only can you REACH AND LIVE your dreams...but YOU CAN DO SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT! Your body is capable of so much more than you can even imagine in your wildest dreams! I never even IMAGINED that I would work towards running a half marathon and now I am! I never IMAGINED that I'd be in a gym with a trainer lifting weights! I never IMAGINED I'd be 25 and at the lowest weight I've ever been in my adult life! It's POSSIBLE! But only if you NEVER GIVE UP! Even if you go slow and even if it's taking FOREVER to see even the slightest results, that's OKAY! KEEP TRYING! All of those little efforts will add up over time! I went so ridiculously slow, but you know what?

Slow and steady wins the race. After all, it was the tortoise that won the race in the end and not the hare, remember? :bigsmile:

So good luck, MFPers! God bless your weight loss journey and don't ever give up!

Love,
PrettyPearl (also known as Rose)