24 lbs down and feeling great about my progress. With pics!

I didn't really have a specific goal weight for when I wanted to take/share before and during pictures, but yesterday a pair of slacks I bought a month ago were falling off of me at work, so I figured it was time. :happy:

I don't know if a 24 lb weight loss warrants me writing about my history, but here it is anyway. Feel free to friend me if you've been on a similar journey or could otherwise use a friend!

Throughout most of my childhood and teen years, I never really considered myself "fat". I was never a stick and always had some meat on my bones, but I don't think I was ever considered overweight. When I went to college in 2003, I lost some weight and was down to around 120 lbs (I'm 5'1"). This happened because I was on a big campus without a car, and I was living on the 4th floor of a dorm without elevators. At the end of freshman year I could run a mile without stopping, which has always been a huge feat for me.

I stayed pretty thin throughout undergrad but my weight did slowly creep up. I worked at the university for 2-3 years after undergrad, and my weight continued to creep up. At one point I was around 180, and I went to Curves and used MFP for a few months, which got me down to 170-ish.

Enter grad school. I started grad school part-time in 2010 while still working my university job, then from 2011-2012 I became a full-time grad student. And this is when I feel like I really let my health go by the wayside. I never felt like I had the time to eat healthy and exercise (even though there were people in my grad program who managed to do so). I was so busy and stressed that I just didn't care that I ate crappy and wasn't very active. My weight got up to 200 lbs.

After I finished grad school in 2012, I thought that now that I had a 9-5 job, I'd have the time and motivation to lose the weight and be healthier. But I just kept going on with my inactivity and unhealthy eating habits. Not necessarily a lot of fast food, but lots of carbs and processed foods. By the beginning of 2014, I was up to around 215-220 lbs.

I don't know what snapped in me, but I found a quote that was something along the lines of "A year from now you'll wish you would have started today," and that really struck a note with me. I was really unhappy with how I felt in clothes, how I looked in pictures, and how I felt after I binge ate (which became an everyday occurrence).

I ordered a Cardinals shirt in a size XL, and when it came and I tried it on, it was super tight on me. And I immediately thought, "This would make a great 'before' picture." And it did!

My success comes from taking it one day at a time, counting my calories and trying to get more bang for my buck, yoga once/week, running/walking (interval training), and support from my wife, family, and friends.

My first goal was 199 (yay one-derland!), and I think my next goal is 170. I've been focusing on cardio and cutting down on calories and carbs, but I think that soon I would like to add in some strength training as well, because I'd like to be stronger and more toned. I'm sure yoga is already helping with this.

(A note for ladies with PCOS, and sorry to everyone else for the TMI-- Through my lifestyle change, I've managed to lose some hard-to-lose inches around my waist and I can finally see my hourglass shape. I also have had 2 periods in the last 3 months, after going 10+ years without having any period except a few that I induced with progesterone. I definitely attribute it to being more active and shedding some pounds.)

So, after all of this blabbering, here are some before and during pictures!