115 pounds...gone...WORD!

I've been practicing this way of life for a while now, starting back in 2008. It did take me some time to get all of my bad habits out of the way, but I was able to lose along the way and 115 pounds gone is a good deal for me! I have hit plateaus along the way and did maintain a weight-loss with about a 5-8 pound gain/loss for about a year. I will admit that was TOTALLY frustrating, but was a part of my path. I have used NSV (non-scale victories) to help me along the way:

Going from a very tight size 26 pant, probably should have been a size 28, to a 14/16 which varies by company and cut.
A size 2X shirt to size large and workout pants size 3X to large

These numbers may be a bit off as I used to "squeeze" into to smaller sizes if I could, just so I didn't have to face the fact that I was in a larger size. I wore a lot of guys shirts and workout clothes, but today I can shop at normal stores for those items and wear clothing for women. It has been very nice to go into a store and buy something without the fear of "will it fit" racing into my mind.

Over 70+ inches GONE!
No more heartburn medicine!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee...I used to have to take 2-4 Prilosec everyday just to eat!
My knees and feet no longer ache and throb...I lost weight in my feet...SCORE!

Sitting in a seat on an airplane or movie theater without “spilling” over into the next seat. I used to be so uncomfortable doing both of those things for that reason, but not today! I also avoid movie popcorn...a small is about 1100 calories, no wonder it tastes so good!

Also, fast food is OUT!

The bottom line is this…this I did NOT go on a diet, I worked towards a lifestyle change. Once I realized that, things changed and I do not believe that I would have achieved and maintained the loss that I have today without that. I do workout 3-6 days a week depending on the week. Other things I’ve learned is to not beat myself up if I only end up working out 1 day or no days for that week. It doesn’t undo everything that I’ve worked so hard to do…I might have just really needed a break!

The best advice that I can give is to NOT give up no matter what, even when the scale doesn’t move down OR goes up, or you have a day or several days or weeks of not eating well. This does take time. Our bodies have to get used to all of this too! If you can get through those tough, frustrating times and not give up and come out on the other side of them you will see how much progress you really made through those times. My growth comes from making it through those times!

My eating went from horrible, to awful, to really bad, to bad, to not so bad, to okay, to good, to really good, but the bottom line is that it took time. I am not perfect and I will never be, but it is the progress and the action of continuing to MOVE FORWARD NO MATTER WHAT that has helped me the most through all of this. I know that eventually I’ll hit my goal or somewhere around it…I’m just gonna go with the flow…