18 weeks in, 43.4lbs down. Loving the changes! (with pics)

Since I am getting so many replies, I figured I could give a little more info about what I've been doing, and stuff like that. Also, I'm 5'8" since I've been asked several times.

First off, I am SO glad I am able to help out When I first started I was looking for success stories to keep me motivated. I couldn't do it without them, I was CONSTANTLY looking at them. so i just wanted to share my progress. I am beyond happy that I'm able to encourage so many of y'all.

It has been a mixture of diet AND exercise. So for starters,as far as workouts, I've tried lots of different stuff. But the thing I think is most important, is that you can't take other people's workouts and say "well it worked for them so it's gotta work for me too". I've realized that every body is different. When I first started, I was doing lots of cardio and barely any lifting. IThe last few weeks I've started spending more time doing "heavy lifting" and then finishing out with maybe 30 minutes or so of intense cardio (drenched in sweat, and my hear rate in my target goal the whole time) and then some ab exercises (which I credit to my lower tummy going away!) which include reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, and oblique twists with a kettlebell or some sort of heavy weight.

For diet, mine is different from most people's. I'm broke, and honestly cannot afford a lot of food, healthy or not. I don't usually hit my calorie goal ... Recently I've been trying to find calorie dense foods to help up my calorie intake because I do NOT want to be malnourished. (NO my body is not going into starvation mode. I am lowering my body fat and increasing lean muscle mass - per my doctor. I just had a checkup recently). I generally eat the same foods every day (because I am okay with that) and also because i have severe GERD which limits when, and what foods I can eat. I'll be having surgery soon to correct this and I'm sure my diet will be changing yet again. Right now tuna in water is a staple in my diet though, I'll say that. I've mainly learned that I can still eat the things I love, but just in moderation. I can have a slice of cheese pizza on occasion...but I don't need 3-4 slices with greasy toppings on it. Allow yourself to have what you want, IN MODERATION, or you'll fail. Gotta learn self control.

EX: I bought a pack of starbursts cause I've been craving them. One regular pack of starbursts... but I told myself, I can only have 2 per day. It's lasted me 6 days. Before, I would've eaten them all within 30 minutes I'm sure!

Also, as far as learning how YOUR body works... a lot of people say "don't weigh every day" ... In MY opinion, I DO weigh every day...because then I can see how certain changes to my diet or workout affect me day to day. I don't get discouraged if it goes up. (And yes, I DO log it when it goes up, cause it keeps me accountable.) My body seems to be different than the vast majority of people's though, as my body barely fluctuates weight. The most I've seen it fluctuate thus far as a 1.5lb gain after changing up my workout after a week long plateau. and it was still gone by the end of the week.

Basically, what i'm saying is that you need to figure out what works for you. might have to try a few things before you find what you like..but i DEFINITELY recommend taking measurements.. I didn't and I thoroughly regret it.

I'm sure you will make great progress!