So much success in one post! (5K time & pics!)

Sorry in advance for me being in my underwear of half these photos!!
I have always struggled with my weight. I remember writing in my diary in 4th grade about how the other girls thought I was fat. My weight fluctuated as I grew up. Some years of my teens were thinner than others, most bigger than the last.
In 2010, when I was 20, I finally broke the 200lb mark. I stopped weighing myself when I got to 200 lbs. I know I put on more weight. I'm not sure how much.


This is probably me at my biggest. I was pretty good at hiding it, especially in photos, but I think these show it off. Especially in my chubby baby face.
I decided to turn everything around and over the summer of 2011, I lost about 40 lbs in about 3 months! I was down to 160. I looked great. But I had done it aggressively- eating very little, exercising for 2 hours every day, on top of working a some what physically demanding job. I didn't realize how unsustainable it was until I had gotten into a car accident at the end of that summer. I broke my neck in 4 places, and my leg in 2. I was in a wheel chair for 2 months, then walking with a walker, then a cane. Months and months of physical therapy- and the worst part is my best friend passed away in that accident.
My life had been turned upside in so many ways.
A year after the accident, I moved 2000 miles from home, went through a bad break up and continued to struggle with grief, guilt and homesickness. I just couldn't focus on weight loss or apparently maintenance.
By the summer of 2013, I put on most of the weight I had lost, weighing in around 183 lbs.
I was miserable.
I decided it was time to turn things around.
I got to to 177 on my own.


Then in February, I turned to MFP, followed some advice from some awesome people & kicked the low calorie diet to the curb, started eating eating 1700ish calories and weight training.
I'm currently down to 164.5 lbs!



After being in wheel chair, learning how to walk again, going through physical therapy, and then gaining weight- I never thought I'd be a runner. I never had been and I started to think I never could be.
But I've always been to one to rise to a challenge and today I accomplished something I never thought I would- I ran a 5k! I ran the Color Run!

The sexy aftermath.
Not only did I run the whole thing, but I exceeded my expectations and beat my own personal goal (to run it under 30 mins).
I ran it in 26 minutes and 40 seconds!

I'm feeling healthy, happy, strong and accomplished. I should also mention, I'm not hungry all the time!
I feel like a whole new person. And I can't wait to continue living my life as a much more confident young woman
Good luck to everyone!