5'2" Ladies who have gone from 140-115lbs

I was at 140 around 5 years ago after a foot injury. I got to 120 lbs. in about 6 months using Phase II of South Beach Diet. I've been on MFP for the past 6 months after a vacation weight gain that got me to 126, but now I'm plateau'd at 120. I haven't been at 115 in at least 10 years.

I LOVED reading through all these posts. I'm very inspired by all of you. Feel free to add me for support and motivation.

SW - 159 (that was my scary number, I did not want to hit 160)
CW- 150ish
GW - 125

Im 5'2" and have gotten serious again after a winter hiatus left me 5lbs heavier.

I just started PiYo I love to walk and jog and I have an elliptical that I like to use at home for cardio. I Try to fit exercise in when I can. I started wearing my fitbit again and am trying to hit 10k daily steps.

My daily calorie allowance is 1200 its RARE that I stop there. I need to be better. I try to eat clean and organic. very minimal processed foods and sugar, however when im not logging my food it's crazy how much i'm going over without realizing it.

Anyway congrats to everyone who's killing it!

You look fabulous!

Saw I posted to this from a while back...and it seems you figured it out what works for you..so KUDOS!

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I'm a little bit taller than 5'2, but not by much. I feel like all of us 5'1 to 5'4" ladies are roughly similar. I am 5'3.5" and I currently weigh 103 lbs.

In 2013, I had some really bad things happen to me that I won't go into details. It was a very personal matter. I was roughly around 122-123 lbs at the beginning of 2013. I was about that weight in 2012 for most of the year and got down to 117 at one point in 2012 ( in may of 2012 ). Anyway, I hit some rocky patches in my life in Spring of 2013 and the weight began piling on. I remember being 125 lbs in March of 2013 when I had a dr's appointment and by Christmas of 2013 I was already at 135 lbs. It was a combination of eating out too much and not moving around enough. I was depressed; I went to the mall and spent a lot of money and ate out to cope. But I've found better ways to cope these days.

The day after Christmas I saw some pics I didn't like and I finally weighed myself and didn't like that. I had recently graduated from college a few weeks prior to that and hated the way I looked in my pictures. So I decided to lose weight. I got a gym membership and began counting calories and watching portion sizes. Really, the biggest thing I did was reduce eating out. When I was eating at a deficit ( I am maintaining now ) I only ate out once a month. And it was at a place I knew the calories and did my research beforehand.

In January and Febuary of 2013 I lost the bulk of my weight. I was eating 1200-1500 calories per day ( I varied depending on how much time I spent at the gym ) and didn't want body to get used to one calorie amount. But I would say I averaged about 1350 those days.

In March I did a slight increase in calories but was still at a deficit. I would say I was eating in between 1300-1600. At that point I didn't see a need to reduce down to 1200 anymore as I was already almost done.

In April I reached my final goal weight of 110 lbs. I realize I am 103 and under my goal weight, but that kinda just happened while trying to transition into maintenance. In April I was averaging about 1600-1700 per day with an occasional splurge day and still losing.

In May I decided I would maintain, but again didn't work out too well because I still lost. Averaging about 1700-1800 in May and I lost about 3.5 lbs that month. Additionally I lost another 3 lbs in June and was averaging about 1800-1900 calories per day, with occasional days under and over.

I want to point out that I've been running since March. And have been building my mileage. That is probably why I continued to lose in June despite eating 1800-1900 calories most days. Now I'm doing 50+ miles a week and maintaining. I have to check to see what I'm averaging calorie wise, but my calories are varying between 1850 to 2400 kcal depending on how many miles I run and what else I do in the day. I'm training for a November marathon.

So yep the best advice I have for people is: It sucks to count calories but I've had the best luck doing so. I also suggest slowly increasing your calories and when you get closer to your goal weight, then begin transitioning into maitenance. Because obviously you guys aren't going to be on 1200 or 1500 calorie diets forever. I agree with weighing and measuring food. I just bought a food scale not too long ago. Be mindful of daily water fluctuations and we all have plateaus. Just keep going and don't give up. A cheat meal once in a while is okay, but be sure to record it.

Bump to get through this later - thanks in advance for sharing advice and tips Ladies ! :):)

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