5"2', 31lbs lost... 24 more to go 'til goal!

Sorry that the pictures aren't great... I don't have a lot of "fat" pictures because I avoided the camera like the plague when I was bigger. I'll try to dig some more up so that when I reach my goal I have more to show you all.

Anyway, a little about myself... I'm Jeanine and I'm 20 years young. Since beginning high school, I've battled with my weight. Nobody in my family ever had a weight problem and ate whatever they wanted all the time without really gaining anything. Grocery shopping for my house was done at Walmart and consisted of nearly all processed foods high in calories, fat, sodium and sugar... While everyone else seemed to be okay eating this junk, I finally ballooned up to 180lbs my senior year and stayed that way. I would always say that I couldn't lose weight because healthy food was expensive. Or I couldn't exercise because I'm not an "in shape" person.

Every day was a new excuse until a few months ago I had the most devastating thing happen to me in my entire life. My longtime boyfriend of seven years cheated on me. My very best friend, the one person I thought would always be there completely through everything was gone. Because we started dating at such a young age I never had the chance to be an independent person. I always had him to lean on when I needed something or things went wrong. I started having anxiety attacks, every day I would cry multiple times, I couldn't sleep, I could hardly eat... I just didn't want to be here anymore, plain and simple.

But in that time period I started thinking about myself for the first time in a long time. I started eating again, but this time healthier. I cut out fast food and soda completely which were very frequently consumed. I started working out to relieve stress and anxiety. And slowly but surely, I began to prove to myself that I didn't need anyone in my life to fall back on because I have myself, and I'm strong.

So, here I am today... 31 pounds lighter than I was before. I feel alive, I feel confident, and I feel strong. I can take on anything. There was a time in my life where I would pass up things I really wanted to do because I felt that I couldn't. Now, if there's a new challenge I'm the first person to pursue it. I want to live life to the fullest and make up for all of the days I lost sitting in front of the computer or on the couch. I will never revert back to my old habits again. I can only get better from here. :drinker:




LEFT: 180lbs. Carb face, back fat, belly...
RIGHT: 149lbs. No double chin!! No back fat!!! Omg, where did my belly go?!?!
GOAL: 125lbs... I will get there!

For anyone interested, I eat a minimum of 1400 calories per day, go to the gym 4-5x per week, and I eat back usually half of my exercise calories, sometimes all of them. At the gym I like to stretch, use the elliptical with resistance/incline, Zumba, and use the treadmill. Oh, and squats, squats, squats... I also just started taking up strength training as well which I really like. It pushes you to really be better and I think it will really help in my journey.

Thanks for reading and looking, and if anyone needs a friend, please feel free to add me.