What I achieved in 2013 with MFP! (pics included)

I had plantar fasciitis for 3 years and gained almost 70 lbs. I was fat, didn't feel well most of the time and I couldn't even do my elliptical for more than 5 minutes. Last year I made a New Year's Resolution to lose weight. Like many others, I joined MFP, lost about 5 lbs and quit. Then sometime in Feb. we booked a cruise for spring break. I knew I would be too embarrassed to wear a swimsuit the way I looked so I started back again. This time I was good about logging on MFP. I started reading the forum posts and adding friends that had experienced success. The first couple of months I ate very little (1,000-1200 calories) and did cardio like crazy. I was losing weight but I wasn't "seeing" the results and I still didn't feel well. I continued reading the stories of women on here losing weight by lifting heavy. I thought they were crazy so I began Power 90. I did start seeing better results with that than just doing cardio. However, I would see picture after picture of women lifting heavy and ending up with amazing bodies. I thought I might as well give it a try. Taking the advice of a friend that is a fitness model and personal trainer, I started upping my calories, first around 1400...I eventually ended up at 1736 and started losing faster. I had no idea where to start with weight training so I in July I sought the advice of Sara and SideSteel, They suggested I try the All Pro routine and gave me a link to the AP group on here, where others helped me get started. Within the first cycle I could my body changing. I started dropping pant sizes quickly. I'm 5' 9". I started in an 18 and now wear a 10. I just hit my initial goal, which was to lose 68 lbs. and I now weigh what I did before my injury. My BMI is normal and I'm in the acceptable range for body fat percentage. However, I still look flabby without clothes on and have so many women on my FL that have achieved amazing results with lifting, so I can't say the following pictures are my "after pictures" because I still have work to do. I'm still a beginner and haven't even progressed to "heavy weights", but they are heavy for me. I'm working on it and continue to get stronger. Let's just call them my Goal 1 pictures. I'm not sure what my final goal is but I'm guessing another 10-20 lbs. I'm going to focus more on lowering my BF% than a number on the scale now.



This is from one of our cruises before I began dieting:


Aug. 2012


Current pictures:





You're never too old or too big to achieve your goals!!