A work in progress. 23 lbs down

Hey all!

This is my first post on here and I figured I'd start with some before/during pictures. I started my journey about 4 months ago. I'm 23, 5'2 & I've always struggled with my weight. The weird thing about me is even though I'm short-somehow I have never looked the weight that I actually was. WELL. I couldn't pull that off for long. At my highest weight of 229 I could no longer get by with people STILL guessing I was only about 180. Nope. It was obvious my weight shot up. I tried phentermine last year and lost 30 lbs in about 3 months. Well, needless to say, the "rumors" are true, and my quick fix actually made my weight come back AND THEN SOME! Now, here I am trying to reach my goals once and for all. I am currently living in Japan with my husband and besides realizing how unhealthy I feel-I realized how unhealthy I look. What better time to work on becoming a healthier/more in shape person, than when I'm a "stay at home wife" while we're stationed overseas?! Thank God my husband is awesome and puts up with my antics. He has motivated me so much and holds me accountable. Therefore, I can never get away with skipping the gym or having more than one cheat treat a week lol.

I'm trying a different approach this time and have finally fallen in love with working out instead of dreading going to the gym. I've been weight lifting! I am addicted. I do about 45-60 minutes of strength training 5-6 times a week and I will jump rope for about 10-15 min. before and after each weight lifting session. On top of that we ride our bikes and are working on increasing our mileage and speed (slowly but surely because that bike seat is no fluffy cloud. yikes. lol)

AND! I'm NOT STARVING MYSELF! I allow myself to eat the things I enjoy but in moderation. No, I do not eat fast food, drink soda or juice on a daily basis, but if I wanted to-I would have it. I'm not depriving myself, I'm not caught up in the whole "Clean eating" thing, and no I do not care if my vegetable just so happens to be genetically modified because I've done enough research & I will not lose sleep if I happen to have a GMO . I've realized that it's not the number on the scale that defines my weight loss success it's how I feel, how I look, and how my clothes are fitting. To me the non scale victories are by far the most rewarding. What has kept me going is knowing that one slip up or day of bad eating is not going to ruin all of my work that I've done so far. I just use that as fuel for my next workout.

Keep up the good work everyone! I constantly am motivated by this site and I couldn't be more grateful for it :smile:


28lrxvd.jpg


SW: 229
CW: 206
GW: 125-130

Replies

  • Fuuko
    Fuuko Posts: 9
    Congratulations! That's a huge difference on your stomach, well done :)

    How are you finding food and exercise and all in Japan? I'm moving there next week (study abroad for college) and while I only have 3lbs left to my goal, I'm a bit worried about approaching a whole new range of food and all that! Would love to hear any advice you have since you're clearly getting on grand over there!
  • Thank you! I'm trying :) Where will you be studying? I'm on mainland Japan in a "suburb" of Tokyo and you will come to find that here people walk or bike EVERYWHERE. I now see why the Japanese can get away with eating lots of rice and junk food yet still be so tiny lol. We're stationed on a military base so I am just 1.5 mile bike ride away from the gym that they have on base. The food here is great but obviously you have to be careful. I've never had sushi before until I moved here and I've been 3 times in a week! LOL. I figured hey that's better than McDonalds, right? (Which they have a lot of here.) I'd say try new things, eat new foods, just remember to keep it in moderation and get your exercise in and you will be just fine!
  • christou84
    christou84 Posts: 79 Member
    Great Job!!
  • Fuuko
    Fuuko Posts: 9
    Thank you! I'm trying :) Where will you be studying? I'm on mainland Japan in a "suburb" of Tokyo and you will come to find that here people walk or bike EVERYWHERE. I now see why the Japanese can get away with eating lots of rice and junk food yet still be so tiny lol. We're stationed on a military base so I am just 1.5 mile bike ride away from the gym that they have on base. The food here is great but obviously you have to be careful. I've never had sushi before until I moved here and I've been 3 times in a week! LOL. I figured hey that's better than McDonalds, right? (Which they have a lot of here.) I'd say try new things, eat new foods, just remember to keep it in moderation and get your exercise in and you will be just fine!

    Thanks for the advice, sounds sensible! I'm planning to give myself a little bit of lee-way weight-wise for the first few weeks while I settle into a new routine and figure out what's what. I'll be studying in a Tokyo university and will be walking to and from college every day so that's some exercise at least! I do more than that now but I'll have to look into gyms and stuff when I get there.

    Thanks again and good luck with the rest of your journey :)
  • Going great!
  • Anna_Joys_Journey
    Anna_Joys_Journey Posts: 253 Member
    Good job! You're looking great!

    I'm also a military wife living in Japan. :-)
  • Ladina1990
    Ladina1990 Posts: 137 Member
    WOW! you look amazing there is a big difference, keep up the great work :)
  • Great job girl:-) that is awesome! The results are definitely noticeable! Keep it up!
  • Cre8veLifeR
    Cre8veLifeR Posts: 1,062 Member
    You look hot! Great work! Keep it up!
  • Thank you so much everyone!
  • msjames1999
    msjames1999 Posts: 528 Member
    Congratulations on your progress thus far!
  • 22pirtle
    22pirtle Posts: 34
    You look great. Congratulations on the hard work and dedication. Keep it up!
  • Thank you! :happy:
  • SexyLovinmeCook
    SexyLovinmeCook Posts: 1,393 Member
    The difference is huge...I know you are proud and just the mindset you have will give you encouragement and accomplish anything you want! You have done great....Keep going One Day at a time!
  • tavinsmom
    tavinsmom Posts: 101
    What a difference!
  • marcvandenberg
    marcvandenberg Posts: 190 Member
    nice start, keep on going.. :)
  • cmurphy252
    cmurphy252 Posts: 279 Member
    WOW! Thats a BIG difference for only 23lbs!! Looks like you lost much more. Great job girl :-)
  • landodewd
    landodewd Posts: 43 Member
    Congratulations! I have lost 29 and my stomach has moved about an inch :/
  • awesome!!!
  • Thank you all! I can honestly say I feel like there's such a huge difference because I've been doing mostly strength training. I've never seen such a drastic change in my stomach during all of my failed weightloss attempts before lol so that's all I can think of as to why it "shrunk" so fast. I have a long way to go but thanks again you're all super encouraging :):)
  • mimi337
    mimi337 Posts: 107 Member
    Another person I can put in my Inspiration Folder -- I love everything that you're saying and am so proud and excited for you. that is a HUGE DIFFERENCE! great great job. thank you for sharing!
  • :happy: Wow thank you so much! I never thought I would ever inspire anyone! That made my day
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