Morbidly Obese to HEALTHY! 277 to 149 lbs PICS

WoW. Never in a thousand years would i think i would ever get to where I am. I'll share my story but feel free to just skip to the pics if that's what you would rather

I've always been overweight. I dont think ive ever been at a "normal healthy" BMI, even as a kid. As an adult i'd never been under 220 lbs. I'm only 5'5. Then i got married, more lbs piled on. Had 2 kids within 15 months, more lbs piled on. When my kids were 1 and 2, I was at 277 lbs. That was it, I had enough. I was so depressed at night but i had no idea how to change it. Im not one of those people who were constant dieters. I'd never really tried to lose weight. I didn't know how to cook healthy, I didnt know what healthy foods were. My 2 year old daughter saw me drinking 5-6 cups of pepsi a day and was starting to ask for it. I would tell her no, it's not good for her but then she would see me drink it. Same with junk food. I didnt want her to eat it but i still ate it myself. Well, that's not fair nor a good example i thought to myself. I never wanted her to be overweight, I wanted her to be healthy, enjoy treats on occasion but eat healthy. So, with that, my journey began. I didn't even know where to start. I was on my phone one day and found an app called My Fitness Pal. My life was changed. I followed the calories it gave me and the weight was just falling off. I was so excited. Could it really have been this simple all along? Not easy, but simple, yes. Eat less, move more. That was it. I went for walks with the kids often. We live in upstate NY where it is cold often so when we couldnt walk outside we would walk around the mall. When it got warm we ran around the park together. I didnt have time or money for a gym. I just made my health a priority and incorporated my kids. I used my 1 year old as weights (He's almost 3 now and quite heavy to continue using as a weight LOL!). I started looking up new recipes. I found ways to make our favorite meals healthier. Our entire life was changed. My husband does not count calories and eats whatever he wants on the weekends but during the week he eats my healthy dinners and then takes the left overs to work for lunch. He's lost 40 lbs.

I just want to say that its really really overwhelming when you have a large amount of weight to lose. It really is. I took it small goals by small goals. Pre baby weights, pre wedding weight, college weight, high school weight, etc. Yesterday I stepped on the scale and I weight 149! My BMI flashed "NORMAL" on my phone when i tracked it. NORMAL?! I've never been "normal". I was walking on the clouds yesterday. I wouldn't say im at my goal but i'm ecstatic where I am. My goal is to lose another 10 lbs. I got my body fat tested and I carry quite a bit of muscle so i know that i shouldn't strive for much lower. But as long as I stay in the healthy range i'm happy with that. I started at a tight size 22, now i'm a 6. A SIZE 6! I owe it all to MFP and my awesome friends on here. Heres hoping that this can inspire someone because I know that the past 2 years the Success forum has been my inspiration! And now for the pictures...

A couple befores (There aren't many, and these were the "good" pics as the bad ones always got deleted









And now

My size 6 jeans







We visit the inlaws every thanksgiving so this is this year, exactly 2 yrs apart.



And then just a picture of my (Healthier) Family Merry Christmas from our family to yours :flowerforyou: