How I lost 50+ in 7ish months (And still maintaining! )

I posted this yesterday, but had horrible typos in my title and was very embarrassed. I thought I'd post it again.

I really wanted to post my story on here with all my progress pictures, but I don't have access to photobucket at work. All my pictures on my profile, so please feel free to look at them there.

I started my weight loss/journey to a new me back in May. I weighed in on May 7th at 188lbs. I knew if I didn't do something I was going to hit 200lbs. I'm almost 5'6" and 28 years old. I was so ashamed of myself. I barely had any clothes that fit. I stayed home on my weekends and just watched TV. Never did any working out. I actually ran into someone I knew when I was thin and hid from them because I was so embarrassed of how I looked. My high school reunion was approaching and one day something just snapped. I realized I didn't want to look or feel this way anymore. I took a hard look at my life and what I was doing and decided to make a change. From May 7th until today, December 11th, I have lost a total of 54.2lbs.

Here's what I did.

FOOD:
I STOPPED drinking soda. This was a huge deal to me as I drank multiple fountain sodas a day. I'd try to quit before, by reducing them amount I would drink, but this time I just stoppped. I QUIT eating chips, candy, and cookies. I have a desk job and would just sit at my desk and eat bags of chips, etc. I would eat when I was bored, depressed, just whenever, I STOPPED eating fast food. I would eat Rally's, McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway, etc for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Not every day or every meal, but too much. I STARTED drinking only water (some with Crystal light or MIO), STARTED packing my lunch, eating HEALTHY breakfasts, adding fruits, veggies, yogurt, nuts, etc as snacks instead of those bad things, and began to cut my portions for dinner.

WORK OUT:
I began running.Usually 6 days a week on my treadmill in the basement. Each week I would focus on doing another mile than the previous week. Never worried about speed, just miles. The weight starting coming off. I then decided to take a hug step and did a round of INSANITY. I was super scared and didn't know if I'd be able to do it, but I did and LOVED IT. I love Shaun T and all the Shaun Bots. I love how real they all are. The one complaint I had was the lack of modifications, but it's still doable. I finished the program and was pleased with the results (pics on my site). I plan to do another round in about a week. I ran my first 5K in 41 minutes and a month and a half later did a 10K in a little over an hour and eight minutes. I'm currently finishing up 30 Day Shred (not loving it, but oh well) and hope to one day take on P90X and T25 (love Beachbody).

I did it all through making smart food choices, eating healthy, but not clean, cutting my portions, drinking water, and being active! I eventually allowed myself cheat day and stopped being a strict as I had been. I began to understand that one bad choice or unhealthy meal wasn't going to make me put all the weight back on.

I went from a 14-16 in pants, to a 7 in Juniors (I'm probably an 8 in women's, but Juniors pants can be cheaper). I can also fit into a small top, where I used to have to wear L-XL. I have more energy and feel so much better about myself. I smile more, have better posture, and don't hide from people! It wasn't an easy. It still isn't. I'm working on possibly getting down to 130, but my goal is to stay between 130-140.

I currently weigh 134.6lbs. It flucuates, but I am okay with it. I still try to take progress pictures and remember that just because the scale is up, my single digit pants still fit. I owe a lot of my sucess to my friends here on MFP. I couldn't be happier.