Come to the end of faze 1 (pics)

I have finished the first leg of my journey and want to share my story thus far.

I began April 3rd 2013 weighing 188#. This was only 1# shy of my full term pregnancy weight. Unfortunately my baby was 15 months old. I felt tired and unhappy, I didn't have the energy to play with my boys and, I am ashamed to admit, was constantly irritated by the demands of motherhood. I felt like there was no way my husband could desire me, and many times turned him down because of my insecurities.

April 2013 @188#



I took this photo the day I started on MFP. My original plan was to eat 1300cal mon-fri 2600 on sat and fast on Sunday. This was a weekly total of 9100cal intake, and aprox 4800cal deficit. I was completely inactive or so I thought. I followed this way of eating for the first month. I should have lost just a bit under 1.5#'s a week but at the end of the first month I lost 14#'s. His was great progress but I found that 1300 cals was too little and 2600 cals was more than I could enjoy. My fast on Sunday was not horrible but I also didn't enjoy it. By this time I had been reading and participating on the forums. I was finally ready to believe dieting didn't have to be brutal to work.

May I changed my cal goals to 1600 a day and also added in strength training. I chose strong lifts 5x5 because it was a simple program I felt I could follow on my own. I committed to 3 days a week I the gym and it never took more than 45-60min. I was beginning to feel good! I was surprised at the power hidden inside me. The scale slowed a bit but I was still seeing 1#+ a week loss. The most exciting thing is I was seeing beautiful muscle curves beginning to peek out from under the fat.

July 1st 2013 (3months in to lifting, 4months since I began MFP)



I stayed between 16-1700 cals through the fall and winter. I took thanksgiving off and ate 4200cals, I went to a Christmas party and ate 5100cals, and Christmas Day I ate 3800cals. I enjoyed these days and didn't restrict before or after to make up for the indulgences. Each of these weeks I still had small losses on the scale.

I finally reached my goal of 145 at the beginning of this month. I chose 145 because in the end I wanted to be 150 and knew that when I began to eat to maintain I would gain around 5# in water and glycogen weight.

February 2 1214 145.2#



I am happy with my weight but still want to change the composition of my body. I still have fat I want to lose and muscle I want to gain, but at 5'10" I don't want to go lower in weight. It is now time to maintain my weigh and begin a slow recomp! This has been a wonderful learning experience and I am excited to see what I learn in the coming months!

Edit for pic sizing issues.