Excited and amazed to share! With pics!

I was hesitant to share since I haven't really posted much at all on these boards, though I have read through millions and millions of posts and have been encouraged and helped through many of them. And, so I thought perhaps I can help add to the encouragement for someone else!

June 20, 2012 started out like any other day. There wasn't anything special about it, but it was the day that changed my life forever! In the middle of a very normal afternoon, I had a random thought hit me. It was just this: "We need to do something." And then, surely there is an app for that? ;-)

And so, I searched and found MyFitnessPal and began reading all the success stories and I said to myself, "we can do this." I've never been a fad diet person, in fact I've never dieted in my life. I know that diets don't work. I've seen enough people try and fail, or try and succeed only to go back to where they started. I knew it had to be a lifestyle change, I had just never bothered to change.

I found a quote that perfectly reflects what happened that day on June 20th, and it's this: "She woke up one day and through away all her excuses."

That's exactly what happened to me. I have not always had a weight problem. I was relatively thin or average until sometime after I got married, and the weight gradually snuck up on me. It took me a long time to realize that I needed to change. I made excuses and convinced myself that I was fine as I was, but in reality, I was obese.

And, so on that random, ordinary day in June, I decided to change. When my husband came home that night I told him what we were doing, and he quickly agreed...on one condition...that we could order a pizza and wings for dinner that night and then start! I told him okay, but only if we start logging right then and there and include that pizza and wings!

That pizza and wings was an eye-opener to both of us! And, from that moment forward, we have logged faithfully. As a result, we have made much healthier food choices, and became much more active.

And, now a year later, we feel like completely different people! I am so unbelievably proud to say that I've lost a total of 91 pounds, and my husband has lost 71. I can't begin to describe how this experience has changed my life...our lives. This journey has changed who we are, how we think, what we do. It's brought us closer together as a couple and it's made us happier, healthier people!

Here are some before photos;







And, some after!!













And, here is a side by side mini-golf before/after!



I still have some toning I want to do, and a couple more pounds to lose, but I feel incredible! A huge thank you to everyone on here who has shared something that encouraged or inspired me over this past year! May I be an inspiration to others as you all have been to me!