Before and After: 83 lbs lost in 15 months

excellent work! You really do look fantastic. If I could be so bold as to suggest - you might start a heavy lifting routine. After seeing the results of so many women on this site who started with body types similar to what you are right now, I'm even more convinced that heavy lifting is a great way for women to progress. Good luck with whatever you choose!

P.S. get a better potato to take your progress photos

Thanks for the advice I'm still a little wary of going to the gym - I know it's stupid, but...

I was thinking of going when I hit 160 or so. I do see what heavy lifting has done for some of the women on this site, and it's definitely inspiring. Right now I do a Jillian Michaels abs dvd, and squats with a weight bar (no weight on it), 5-6 days a week.

And yeah, I know the pics aren't the best, but as long as you can see I was a bigass girl and now I'm just a chubby girl, that's good enough

Your story is inspiring my current weight is so high which is why I always fail cause I tell myself I am too fat to try.
I will start today again and log everything. It's going to take time but I need to do it I am already in pain because my feet and knees can no longer handle the weight!

There is a quote that helped me a LOT during the beginning:

"A year from now, you'll wish you started today."

Print it out and tape it to your mirror, or your fridge. It's SO true. Although one good thing about being really big (I like to look at the bright side, lol), is that at first, the weight should come off pretty fast - it did for me anyway, because my normal diet was so high-calorie, that when I started eating normal portions and calorie amounts, I dropped 20 lbs really fast. That made me see I could do this.

But yes. There were times when I'd be like "I've dropped 45 pounds, and I'm STILL FAT". It can be disheartening.. But I just kept at it.

I just used to tell myself - this year is going to go by, whether you're dieting/eating healthy or not. Do you want to be in the same place a year from now, or do you want to have made progress? When I put it like that to myself, it was obvious what to do.

Good luck!

Thanks so much to everyone who replied!

A few more things that I do to lose weight. As always, YMMV, this is what worked for ME.

One "free day" a week. Yes, I did this and still lost weight. I don't call it a cheat day because I'm not "cheating" on anything - I just have a day with no restrictions. Interestingly, the further I got into my new way of eating, the less I wanted to pig out on sunday. For a long time now, on sundays I've been having just a normal breakfast, maybe one snack or a Sbux in the afternoon, and then a nice dinner. I dont even have a big dessert, I usually have my "diet" dessert, which is a Jello Pudding cup (Oreo flavor, so good) topped with fat free whipped cream. About 160 calories. So my compulsion to overeat has vastly diminished. Free days were important for me. I've been thinking of cutting them down to twice a month, but I'm not sure yet. Knowing I just had to wait a few days if I really was craving something, helped me stay on track during the week.

I eat fat. When I fry I cook exclusively in duck fat. One day I was reading the back of a spray oil can and it said zero calories for a 1/4 second spray. Who in the - in -tarnation- sprays spray oil for 1/4 a second? I googled, and they say for the amount of time most people spray, it's 20-30 calories.

You know what else has 20 calories? Half a teaspoon of most fats. Then the light went on - why the hell am I cooking in nasty *kitten* spray oil when I could be using real, wholesome fat? At first I used (NON-hydrogenated - it's hard to find, I had to mail order it) lard, which is great, but as I said, it's hard to find. Whole Foods stocks duck fat, so I tried it and actually like it better because it browns food more.

I usually have eggbeaters, chicken breast strips (fresh and plain, not breaded), and veggies for breakfast (with some salsa and light quac or light sour cream on the side) for breakfast/lunch, and I always coat the strips iin Weber's Beer Can Chicken seasoning (I'm addicted to that stuff, it's so good), and fry it in a half teaspoon of duck fat. They come out golden brown and SO good. I dont feel like I'm eating "diet food" at all.

I combine breakfast and lunch. This is just what works for me. I dont like eating three tiny meals, I like eating two decent sized ones. I usually eat breakfast around 10. 4 oz of chicken (or turkey sausage, or soy chorizo), a big helping of low cal veggies, a half a cup of eggbeaters, and a generous amount of salsa & light sour cream or guac. Oh - and I drink a latte everyday. I like to feel human, so sue me I just fit it into my calories.

Veggies - pad every meal with them! In the beginning especially, my stomach was so stretched that regular sized meals felt tiny to me. Veggies (Broccoli is awesome cos it's filling & low cal) helped me feel full while my stomach shrank. And it WILL shrink. I eat normal portions now & feel full with them. But yes, it took a while. 3-4 months. But it DID happen.

exercise.

change your mindset. Before, if I messed up in the morning & said the hell with it and got a croissant and a large sbux, messing up my calories for the day, I'd be like "to hell with it. I"ll just use this day to eat whatever I want, as much as I want, and start over tomorrow". Now, I'm like "well I'll have a little smaller dinner, and exercise a little longer. One mess up isn't going to kill me. You need tto eat 3500 calories above your regular amount to gain a pound". Attitude. Mindset.

And lastly... I was just tired of being fat. It affected everything I did. It was keeping me from doing things I wanted to do and making changes I wanted to make. I've done so many cool things recently, that wouldn't have been possible last year. It's been so, so worth it.

Besides, we all know the food doesn't make you happy. Not really. It only works while you're eating it, and maybe for a half hour afterwards. Then you're back to feeling how you were before. It doesn't WORK. Losing weight and gaining the confidence to attack your problems, and go after what you want. That's what works