111 pounds down, 10 months later

Awesome Job!!! So what have you done that has helped the most? What has been the most difficult part of this process and the most rewarding? I am just starting and would love to hear you story!!! Thanks for sharing. You are truly inspirational. I have 200 pounds to lose, well actually around 190 now

I have some information on my profile page (just click my name or picture) at:

www.myfitnesspal.com/lilbeesmommy

or my blog at:

www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/lilbeesmommy

I will try to make a long story short and share some information here though... I was 300 pounds when I started, I had become a full time SAHM after working 60-80 hours/week for about the last 9 years. At 18 I was underweight, at 21 I was about 10-20 pounds overweight and (it seemed like) all the sudden at 30 I was obese. On June 13th 2012 I had the "AH HA" light bulb over my head moment and realized I needed to change my life. My husband married a different woman than I had become, and I definitely didn't want my son to see me overweight as he grew up and would begin to understand. I started walking every day with him in his stroller, we started walking one mile at a time, sometimes we would make a couple of trips per day, just around our neighborhood. We were slowwwwwwww. I just kept at it, no matter what. I drastically changed my diet. I don't restrict anything except eating when I'm not hungry (I am mostly successful with this). Yes you read that right: I don't restrict anything from my diet, I eat pizza, ice cream, chocolate, chips, etc. Now do I eat them every day or whenever I want? No! Do I eat 5 servings in one sitting? No! Portion control is your friend!! I bought an inexpensive food scale and slowly learned what my body actually needed for fuel. It's amazing that after a month or two of honest portioning and tracking your body really does learn to fuel itself on adequate calories. I did start my journey on 1200 calories/day. I know there are a lot of arguments against doing this, but it was what the online calculator told me to do and so that's what I did. I wasn't a fitness expert and I didn't know any better. I'm also not saying I would have done it differently either. I'm simply saying one program or routine doesn't work for everyone. Make an informed educated choice for yourself. Give any change at least six weeks to learn whether or not it's working for your body. This is a marathon not a sprint! So back to exercising... I continued walking, 1 mile at a time, then two miles, then finally 5k (3.1 miles) which was taking 52 minutes! I also started doing body weight workouts (strength training simply with my own body weight). You can find tons of home workouts and you'll have to decide which ones work best for you. I do recommend the iBootcamp and Nike Trainer apps available on the App Store. I wasn't a member of a gym because I had tried that route before, even had a trainer and wasn't successful. Later I found that it was because I really needed to make some dietary changes (I used to eat probably close to 4000-5000 calories per day sometimes or I'd go all day without eating and then eat one huge meal). I also realize in hindsight that I obviously really wasn't ready to make the commitment. Fast forward to today, I run 3 days per week; (long run) Sundays, (short run) Tuesdays & (moderate run) Thursdays. I do strength training 3 days per week; (one hour full body sculpting classes) Mondays & Wednesdays, (intense lifting day) Saturdays. I also walk and do yoga as often as possible. Rest on Fridays. There were LOTS of stages of growth and fitness improvement in between. I push myself AS HARD AS I CAN! I really want to be healthy and fit! Body fat % already healthy! BMI and weight are 16 pounds from being in the healthy range. I've dropped 6 clothing sizes and my current skinny jeans aren't very skinny anymore so it's probably time to go look at the next size down! (Yay!) Short term I want to lose another 20 pounds to get a few pounds under the healthy weight/BMI cut off point. Long term goals: work exclusively on BF% and inches lost to hopefully equate to losing another 20 pounds slowly however long it takes. I want my body to improve in shape, tone & lean muscle mass. PLEASE NOTE: your value and progress should not live and die on the scale, please take measurements and observe how your clothes fit! If possible have your body fat % taken! Even more proud of the 110 (gained 1/2 pound last week, darn, lol) pounds that I've lost I am even more proud of the 69.25" I have lost throughout my body, the 22% I have dropped in BF% and the self esteem that I have now becoming a healthier and more fit wife and mom. SIDE NOTE: If you feel like your spouse or significant other is not supportive enough, try to be patient, this will be a big change for them too. Day one hubby says, and I quote "Just because you're going to eat healthier and exercise doesn't mean that I have to!" I just politely agreed. Fast forward to today: Hubby is down 64 pounds and only about 5 pounds from his ideal weight, he's dropped 4" in clothing sizes (from a baggy 40" to a baggy 36" waist)! He's even making healthier choices on his own and watching his portions without prompting. Don't nag them, they'll catch up! ????

Thanks friends! One day at s time! ????