[Pics] What a long, strange 7 months it's been

I've lost 15 pounds over the past 7 months, but I feel that is a little misleading. I started out with no idea what I was doing, and I quickly learned that my diet was going to play a major role in my physical success. So, I started counting calories. At first, I was eating around 1500 calories a day. This went on for months, from August up until November. Then, I started slowly lowering my calories closer to 1200 a day, in an attempt to increase my weight loss a little more.

However, by the time I got to 152 (down 23 pounds) right before Thanksgiving, I felt small. Too small. So, I decided to try my hand at bulking i.e. gaining muscle. Of course, the timing couldn't be worse. I started the week of Thanksgiving Break, and I was finally home from college for a few days. Contrary to popular belief, you need to be on some type of diet when planning to gain weight as well, at least to an extent. Nevertheless, home cooked food was calling my name, and I couldn't resist. I shamelessly gained 13 pounds that week. Three words: Mini Pumpkin Muffins. Oh god, they were so delicious. I don't even want to think about attempting to count how many of them I ate.

Well, long story short, I clean bulked (counting calories while eating at a calorie surplus) for about two weeks, but with Spring Break only a few months away, I knew I needed to start coming back down. So here I am, 160 pounds and honestly I couldn't be happier. I feel stronger, bigger, and more defined than when I was at 150. That doesn't mean I'm not going to continue cutting, but I think that going a little (okay, a lot) overboard was probably one of the best things to happen because it reinvigorated my drive and passion for losing (and gaining) weight.

On a side note, I have also been lifting weights (5+ days a week) consistently for 7 months. Also, I ran 4 days a week for the first 6 months, and I've been doing intense, recumbent bike interval training for this past month and a half.

Finally, my Food Diary is public. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas to meet your own goals.