50 pounds gone in nine months!

dettiot · February 2014

Hi, everyone. I last posted in November to show off my 90 Day Photo Challenge results: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1141993-90-day-photo-challenge-results . It's been another three months and I wanted to talk about/show off my progress!

I started on May 21, 2013, to improve my health and my life. Now, after just over nine months, I've lost over 50 pounds, I'm in training for a half marathon, and I feel so much stronger and healthier than I ever have before. It's not just about the number on the scale, although it's pretty awesome to now be at my lowest adult weight. It's not just about the size of my jeans, although it's fantastic to be able to wear a size 6, even if they're a little tight right now. No, this is about everything I've gained, not what I've lost.

I didn't start taking pictures until after I had lost 20 pounds, but this is plenty to show how far I've come! I don't think my most recent pictures show as much progress, but I don't mind with how my measurements have really decreased in the last three months!

Age: 36
Height: 5 foot 3
Weight: 175 pounds -> 156 pounds ->143 pounds (-32 total)
Bust: 42 -> 40 -> 38 (-4)
Waist: 39.5 -> 37 -> 35 (-4.5)
Hips: 41 -> 39.5 -> 38 (-3)
BMI: 31.0 -> 27.6 -> 25.5 (-4.5)
BF%: 42.3 -> 35.5 -> 33.2 (-9.1)

Thank you for reading! Keep working hard and we'll meet our goals together!

sararay509 · February 2014

Wow, great job. You really look great! I have the same body shape type as you when you were starting out except that I started at 240 lbs. I am down 25 lbs after 3 months and really cannot tell a difference when I look in the mirror, I am thinking that I need to start taking progress pics every month like you - you can really see the difference that way. Once again great job!

stevesilk · February 2014

That is amazing progress. Congratulations on your steady progress. And great job over the holidays when many people often move backwards! When's the half marathon?

CulturedCowgurl · February 2014

Thank you for the images..Great PROGRESS!!!!...and I must say we are twins.... Your start was my start and I am trying to reach 144 by August.....;)

holasha · February 2014

Congratulations. That is amazing progress. My goal is 50-60lbs so reading your success story is very motivating.

Any tips for those of us just starting out?

chaparra71 · February 2014

Awesome job, you are doing fantastic! Thank you for inspiring others by posting this

sassyjae21 · February 2014

ahhh! You're shrinking!! Great job! :flowerforyou:

Merlin813 · February 2014

Great job...very motivating!

FabulousStarr · February 2014

What a wonderful transformation! your progress pictures are very inspiring and motivational! Kudos to you!!

katimama · February 2014

fantastic job!!! I just hit the 50lb mark as well (although it took me about 14 months). Congratulations on your accomplishments and good luck on your half marathon!!

arenad · February 2014

Congrats!! Keep up the good work...

lh1626 · February 2014

Congratulations!! That is amazing!

dettiot · February 2014

Thank you for all the lovely compliments, everyone! Being told that I can be an inspiration for someone makes me feel really good. :-)

In answer to some questions, my half marathon is on April 6. I'll be doing the Rock 'n' Roll Half in San Francisco. Thank goodness I'm doing it with a friend, who will pull me up the hills and vice versa!

As far as tips for anyone who's starting out . . .
--A workout you'll actually do is the best workout. I mostly do cardio right now, partly because of training for my half marathon and partly because that's what I like. I'm starting to add in some barre3 online workouts (combo of ballet, Pilates and yoga) that give me a bit of strength training as well as flexibility and stretching. Should I do real strength training? Sure. But I've got too much on my plate right now and it's not my favorite, so for now I'm not worrying about it.

--Don't just log and never look at your diary. Recently I was having a problem with the scale going up, even though my calories and exercise were fairly consistent with before. What wasn't consistent? My sodium intake! Realizing that I was going way over on sodium let me know that the weight was mostly water and to adjust my food intake.

--Learn how to not beat yourself up. This is something I really struggle with and probably always will. Figuring out how to reward myself when I feel down, that isn't automatically food, has been one of my greatest accomplishments over this journey. And sometimes you'll have to change what you're doing in order to deal with the mental side of weight loss. With the problem I detailed above, I had to give up weighing myself every day, even though as a numbers junkie I hated to do so. But my head was getting so messed up that I had to go to weigh-ins every three days for a while.

That was probably a bit tl;dr, but thank you to everyone for your support along the way!