72lbs lost! 20-25 more to go! With pictures. =)

Well, my journey is sort of unique. I started in January of 2012. I decided it was time for a change and as cliche as it was, it was a new year and it was my year to do great things. I set myself to eat 1300 calories, plus 200 because my then almost 2 year old was still breastfeeding. I also had spike days about once a week, where I just ate what I wanted within reason. I exercised most of that time but usually ate back my exercise calories. I lost roughly 30lbs in about 3 months time, getting down into the 190s, and then we got pregnant with my daughter, Eden. During the pregnancy I ate at maintenance (or tried through horrible morning sickness), and lost more weight before I finally started gaining. Halfway through the pregnancy we got news at an ultrasound that my daughter was not going to live long after she was born. I completely stopped tracking at that point because it seemed small compared to everything that was going on. Somehow, I only got up to 203lbs by the very end of my pregnancy. I gave birth November 26th and Eden passed away November 27th. I didn't track for 2-3 weeks, but decided that I needed control over something in my life, so started up back on track pretty quickly. I was actually lighter after giving birth than I was before getting pregnant and despite eating comfort foods for weeks afterward, I didn't gain.

December 26th I went gluten free and finally stopped having IBS symptoms and other digestive issues that I've dealt with for years. When I slip up and eat gluten, I get horribly sick, so it "helps" at family functions when I have to say no to a brownie....though most of the time I'm ticked because I'd rather have that brownie! lol

January 2013 I was 179lbs, so since January, I've only lost 30lbs, but it's still progress and I'm happy to have it, obviously! I've been stalling out a lot, but I'm still Breastfeeding my 2.5 year old, plus I've been pumping breast milk to donate since having Eden, and I plan to continue at least to her would-be first birthday, so it's a pretty delicate balance to lose weight without losing my supply. I've more recently purchased an UP band (just a month or two ago), and I like that it tracks all my steps and adjusts my calories based on how active I am each day. My normal mode of exercise is walking/running each day, but I used to do things like 30 Day Shred with decent results. Anyways, my goal weight is about 125ish, so I'm hoping to get there within the next year, but we are also trying to conceive again, so if I get pregnant again obviously that would be put on hold for a bit.

Anyways, I put my diary on public so you can see how my calories vary each day, and how my UP band adjusts it based on activity level.