Lost 50lbs~Now I'm a Success Story, Too :) *VERY Pic Heavy*

Hi! My name is Amber and I joined MFP one year ago last Sunday. My story is a long one, but I will keep it as short as possible I will warn you, I am not camera shy and I am not one of those people who can say, "I don't have many pictures at my heaviest weight, I avoided the camera" because I'm not sure I really realized how big I was!

About me: I'm turning 27 next month and I'm 5'4.75" (yes, the 3/4 inch counts!)

UHW: 199 (this time around)
SW (MFP): 190
CW: 147
GW: Undetermined

I've always struggled with my weight, starting the yo-yo dieting at just 12 years old. I was a very chunky kid and my parents never taught me portion control or that some foods were more nutritious than others. I starved myself my last year in High School, losing 30 lbs in one month and weighing in at 140 lbs. Even at this weight, I wasn't happy with myself, which didn't much matter because I became pregnant just 4 months after graduating. I put on 60 lbs and continued to gain weight after my son was born until I topped out at 206 :embarassed: When I saw that number on the scale, I thought, "Enough is enough!" and began losing weight the right way. I ate when I was hungry, stopped when I was satisfied and hit the gym several times a week for "light exercise." I worked my way down to 160 lbs where I semi-happily stayed for several years.

Fast forward a few years~ When my once little guy turned 6, my hubby and I decided to try for another. In October of 2012, we found out we were pregnant with our second baby. I gained weight very slowly (craved salad, of all things!) the second time around and was pretty happy with my 40 lb gain, but since I still had on an additional 20lbs from my first pregnancy, the end result was the same. Yes, I am the crazy person who weighed herself the morning she went into labor :laugh: and I was 199 lbs :frown:

Here's my baby belly (can't help but share!!!)



Here is me 1 week post-partum:



And 2 months later:



I'm in the black shirt:



Of course, after giving birth to an 8lb baby, you lose some weight, but I was stuck at around 190 lbs for nearly 10 months and nursing was not helping. Instead of losing weight easily as most breast feeding mothers do, I was hungry ALL of the time and just couldn't lose any weight (even though I didn't always give in to my hunger). That April, my sister came to visit from out of state, took pictures... and uploaded them to Facebook. I was horrified. For your enjoyment, here's that picture: :sad:



Okay, enough crying As my sister returned to her home state, I purchased my new iPhone and discovered the My Fitness Pal app *insert angelic music here* and life has never been the same since! I started logging my food on 4/28/12 and have not missed a single day! My original goal was to just lose the baby weight and get back down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 160 lbs (a size 14). I knew I was done having kids, but I never thought it was possible to get back down to my high school weight or to even go further than that. I used to think exercise was something I'd just do while I lost weight and then I could just maintain my weight by eating the right portions (which is what I'd done when I'd lost weight before). I never thought to push myself with exercise, to train my body. I never knew I could be strong, go further, go faster. MFP taught me I could. Over the last year, I have browsed the success forums and have seen such amazing transformations and they showed me that I could go as far as I was willing to push myself! When I hit my prepregnancy weight, I just kept pushing on...

I have lost 50 lbs and I feel amazing! I begin c25k last September and running has changed my life. I go to the gym every day after work (5 days a week) and do 30DS followed by a 2 mile run. I do not usually work out over the weekend because I'm already pretty active with my two boys- now 8 and 2! I went from a size 18 jeans (I think, I lived in sweat pants and a couple of pairs of VERY stretched out size 16 jeans), XL pants and XL shirts to a size 10/12 jeans (depending), M pants and S/M top!

Here are a few of my recent photos:









And I finished my first 5k, the Color Me Rad, just a few weeks ago!







No matter where you are in your journey, you can get wherever you want to be! I'd like to dedicate this post to my aunt Glenda, who was always the first to notice any signs of weight loss in me. My jeans would get a little baggy and you'd think I'd just saved the world for all the praise she'd give me! I'll never forget what she told me when I was pregnant with my youngest, "Amber, I do believe you may end up even smaller than you were when you got pregnant!" And she was right! If she could see me now! *I will always love and miss you, Glenda!*