125 pounds lost withe pics!!!

A lot of you have asked for a before and after picture of me and this is for some of my new pals so you can see my story. I did not have many before pictures, as I never liked having my picture taken for obvious reasons.

Here is my story. I had issues mostly due to high blood pressure, As a lot of people, i didn’t even realize it was high, but it was about 260/140 when i had my stroke. I am very lucky I survived, although there was some damage to my left side which made even walking difficult and was in the hospital for about 35 days and went thru physical, occupational, and speech therapy, which continued for about 2 months after I left the hospital. I was paralyzed on the left side of my body, and gained about 50 pounds or so. One day a friend told me about My Fitness Pal and Fitbit, and just started 1 day and haven't stopped.

Like i tell most people, I didn’t look at how far I had to go, as it seemed unobtainable being about 120 pounds. so I started looking at what I accomplished and being happy if I lost 1 pound, or when i got to 10 pounds and saw what i was doing was working. To me that has always been the key. Getting on the scale and seeing any loss inspired me to do even more. Even if the scale didn't do what I expected, that also inspired me by making me do even more to get a result.

I started jan 4, 2013 at 282 pounds and now i am at 156.5. I began at a 48 inch waist and a xxl shirt, and now I am a 32 waist and a small shirt.

Just make sure your good days far outweigh your bad ones. The thing that helps me the most and what I learned, is how easy it is to gain weight and how hard it is to lose. not fair, is it? I know I can be bad a day and maybe gain a pound or so, but I also know it can take a week or two to lose that pound, and I hate going backwards. The other thing that helped me a lot was to pre log what i eat. So many times, I would go to eat something, and think, is it worth using that many calories eating this. And a lot of times, I would find myself saying no, and either not eating it or finding something less in calories. it would be like I don’t want to be left with that many few calories for the rest of the day so by pre logging, you can make that choice. I am at the point where i would rather lose that pound than eat a piece of pizza or cake. Just don’t worry about how far you have to go, look at your accomplishments and don’t worry about the scale. If you eat it and then log it, its to late, there s nothing you can do about it. That i think helped me the most along with being inspired with every little thing from losing any weight, even 1/4 of a pound, or going down in waist size, of someone just noticing you have got smaller, or just positive comments from people on here. I don’t think I could ever have done this without all the support i get from mfp and my fitbit. both very inspiring...I also now get in 12,000 steps a day almost everyday. To me it is like a job, I very rarely have a cheat day, as that just slows me down from reaching my goal. Also, I found short term goals help a lot as well. Like now I am at 171, so my next short term goal is to reach the 160's.

Anyway, here are the pics which I never thought that I would put on here.

This first one is from about when I started, Jan 4, 2013 with a 48 waist and weighing 282 pounds.

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And this was taken April 13,2014 with a 34 waist and weighing 172 pounds with 12 pounds to my goal

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And this was taken today, July 12, 2014, after going from 282 to 157.5 and reaching my goal. From a 48 inch waist to a 32

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Anyone that would like to be friends, feel free to email me and have a great weekend!!!!

P.S. - the reason it shows I have 7 pounds to my goal, is I decided to go down a little more so I have some room to enjoy myself and not have to worry about gaining weight, then having to lose it. By going lower now, even if I gain, I will still be under my goal weight. Kind of like a reserve of pounds I can gain without feeling bad if I want to splurge...