365 Days, 60 Pounds (with pics!)

Hey guys! Yesterday was my anniversary of joining MFP and day 365 of counting my calories and logging my food accurately, so I thought maybe I should create my own thread to share my progress. I know how much the success stories motivated me in the beginning, so hopefully this will do the same for someone else. This is not so much a Before/After post, because I'm not done yet! But I've come a long way from where I started, and I've accomplished so many things that I never thought I could.

There's no particular reason why I decided last January to make a change. Strangely enough, I was never one of those people who had low self-esteem because I was overweight. I actually really liked myself and felt attractive when I looked in the mirror. I've always been a larger person, and my mom's side of the family consists of large women, so I guess I just figured it was my genetic fate and that I would never be small. Sometimes I wished my body was slim, strong, and more capable... and sometimes, yeah, I just wanted to feel like I looked good in a bikini. But most of the time I was happy with myself, and I grew up being told I was beautiful.

I was a size 12 for all of high school, and except for a brief stint in a couple of required gym classes, I never exercised. I also really like food. So after I graduated and didn't have to work out for a grade, I slowly began to put on weight, but I didn't really realize it because I never weighed myself. Between ages 18 and 26, I put on about 50 pounds, and little things started adding up.

Last Christmas, my mom bought a new scale for her bathroom, and I decided to weigh myself out of curiosity. 235 pounds. I had a minor freak-out moment, because that number was much higher than I was expecting it to be. My knees were starting to hurt all the time, and I was noticing that my belly was beginning to hang in places it hadn't before. I felt bloated, and shopping for clothes was becoming increasingly more difficult. And then I saw my nightmare picture: a photo my in-laws had taken that Christmas day. I didn't look like the person I saw when I looked in the mirror.



Here are some other before pictures:







And some embarrassing ones, which were actually taken after I'd already lost 10 pounds.







Then, at the beginning of January 2013, I stumbled upon MFP, and the rest is history. I didn't know anything about diet or exercise when I signed up, and I got lucky enough to find some educated and successful people to take advice from. Many of them often get called out for being "mean" and "unsupportive" on the forums, but they have a wealth of knowledge if you are willing to listen. Some of them are on my FL and some of them aren't (yet!), but I never would have made it this far without them! Thank you for teaching me that although weight loss isn't always easy, it IS simple. I managed to stick with it because I learned that I didn't have to starve myself, exercise excessively, or eliminate anything from my diet. My belief is that you should eat as much as possible in order to reach your goals.

I've lost all of my weight eating around 1700-1800 calories a day. I try to eat a balanced diet, but I also eat what I like, which includes pizza, beer, and dessert. I've bounced around quite a bit with my exercise, but I've done lots of Jillian Michaels videos (circuit training) because I really don't enjoy working out for more than 45 minutes at a time unless I'm bike riding or out for a walk. I've recently started lifting heavy, and I've discovered Ashtanga Yoga, which I'm kind of in love with.

Now for some recent photos:









And Christmas this year:






I still have at least 20 pounds to lose, but I've discovered a moderate way of eating and moving that I know I can stick to for life, and I only wish I had done this sooner!