80 Pounds Lost

EDITED TO ADD - No, I have not had ANY surgery for my loose skin. In the pictures of me on stage, you can see the loose skin especially around my stomach. In the black and white picture, I am posing to hide it better and that's also a photo shoot picture which has been edited as most photo shoot pictures are. I still have loose skin and always will from losing weight.

Hello!

I wanted to share my success story with all of you, in hopes of hopefully motivating and inspiring those that need it the most. I am a 25 year old female who has successfully lost 80 pounds and kept it off.

Growing up, I was the chubby kid. The fat friend. The girl who got picked on for her weight. The girl who wore jeans and hoodies in the summertime because I was so embarrassed of my body. I love food. Who doesn't? Still to this day, I am a huge foodie. It's just something I enjoy.

Throughout high school, I tried the Slim Fast diet, Atkins, South Beach, etc. Around the age of 18 I decided to try Weight Watchers. For those of you who are familiar with WW, it was when they had the old program and I loved it! I lost 40 pounds, but ended up gaining it back. I was your typical yo-yo dieter. Always losing and gaining, losing and gaining. I started to really pack on the pounds after high school and at the age of 21 I weighed in at a whopping 198 pounds. That's the highest number I can ever physically remember seeing on the scale. I knew I had to do something...and it needed to be a permanent change.

I started watching what I ate a little bit closer, going to the gym a little more, and eventually noticed the scale going down. Mind you, I wasn't eating "clean" necessarily - but monitoring my overall caloric intake. I paired that with too much cardio and ended up losing weight but not really having any muscle tone. Definitely the wrong approach which I have had to work on reversing.

Fast forward from October 2009-July 2012, I had lost roughly 60 pounds. I moved to Florida last July and joined a gym as soon as I got here so I wouldn't fall back into old habits. I had started working with one of the trainers there who was also a competitive bodybuilder. My boyfriend and I went to one of his shows and I saw the girls on stage in the bikini division and immediately thought, "I want to be able to do that someday!" Well, I put my plan into action and this past January I hired a competition coach to get my ready for the stage.

I have been with my coach since January and it has been a very long and intense process. Very rigid dieting, very rigid training, but all so worth it. I stepped on stage for my first time just over 2 weeks ago, on August 24th, and took first place overall in the bikini division. It was an amazing experience. I am actually 3 weeks out from my second show which will be October 5th. After that, I will go into what competitors call an "off season" and work on improving my weak points, eating a larger amount of food to support my intense training, and keeping my head in the game for next year's season.

Has it been easy? NO WAY. Have I wanted to quit? YES. Results keep me going. It take 3...and ONLY 3 things to be successful in getting healthier and losing weight. Hard work, dedication, and consistency.

I still have a long way to go on this journey and goals that I am working towards, but that is all a part of the process. I can't wait to improve and get better!

Also, I have entered a contest for fun on facebook win a prize package. If you could vote for my picture, I would appreciate it! Just follow this link and click LIKE underneath my photo
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=579253778799710&set=a.579253712133050.1073741829.454124151312674&type=1&theater&notif_t=comment_mention


And for some pictures..I will add I have no before pictures of me at my heaviest that show my stomach. I hate having my picture taken, overweight or not... but here you go!