Progress: 6 months, 50 pounds

Hey all - hit a big milestone today (50 pounds!!!!) and thought I would share my little success (so far!) story. Long story short, I started really dieting (and using MFP and hitting the gym religiously) mid February 2013 at around 258 pounds and I weighed in today at 207.8! I have lost:
3 inches from my bust → lol
7 inches from my waist
7 inches from my hips
4 inches from my thigh
and even 1.75 inches from my stubborn upper arm.
I started at a 22/24 pants and am not wearing 16/18.
I have a long way to go still (another 70ish pounds, depending on how I feel when I get closer to goal) but I am so proud of the progress I have made so far. My husband is losing weight too and he's down about 55ish pounds and lookin' good!

I have always been heavy. Even my nursery school pictures I wasn't really overweight but I definitely had a pudgier face than the other kiddos. I did sports in middle school and high school so I never got too out of control, but I got up to about 185 the summer before my junior year, couldn't fit into the biggest size at Old Navy and started using the Weight Watchers points system and lost 30 pounds. After the prom (which was my motivation) I stopped dieting and put all the weight back on very shortly. I have yo-yo'ed ever since then. College was bad...freshman 15? Ha! Try freshman 30.

Anyhoo, February was the heaviest I have ever been and I was totally disgusted with myself. I felt like crap, I looked like crap, none of my clothes fit me (even my fat clothes were really snug) my blood pressure was a little high, and I had some other health worries. I'm only 27 and I know I'm way too young to be worrying about all these health issues that are completely controllable (for me). That's what finally kicked me in the pants, the idea that I was needlessly making myself sick.

Unfortunately I haven't done before and after pictures, but here are pics of me at my wedding in October 2012 (around 240, 18 pounds less than my highest in February...I wouldn't let anyone photo-document my downfall) and the “after” (or during) pics are from a couple weeks ago when I was three pounds heavier, but I think the difference is still pretty clear.

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive on this weight loss journey so far. My husband gets a lot of credit for doing this along side me – it's way easier to skip the potatoes when your other half is, too! Reading the forums and getting comments from MFP friends has been great for added motivation!

Hopefully before too long I'll be doing another post for 100 pounds lost!

Before - October 2012





During - August 2013