23lbs lost! Sharing my progress... Shout out to the moms, I want to see your pictures too!

SW: 182.8lbs | CW: 160.2lbs | GW: 130lbs

Hey everyone I am the mommy of a beautiful 9 months old baby girl.

I've always been into fitness and nutrition. Before I got pregnant I was a runner, I loved weight lifting and I was in the best shape of my life. I used to weight 130lbs and I had 20% body fat. At my heaviest at the end of my pregnancy I weighted 195lbs. 6 weeks later I started my ''journey'' at 172lbs. Ouch! I tried and failed many times. Packed on an additional 10lbs! which brought me to 182.8lbs and almost 50% body fat.

At that point my daughter was almost 7 months old and I decided that it was getting out of hand and that I had to do something about it before it got any worse. I had already used MFP in the past when I was trying to create menus for myself (told you, I love fitness and nutrition), but never had the need (or the will) to really use it to log everyday. So I started by logging everyday to track my calories. My calorie goal was 1200cals and it made me insane to count. After a while, I would get stressed out about it and binge; then it would take me a few days to work up the will to start over again. I was getting frustrated and depressed... Wasn't health and fitness my passion? I wasn't able to lose the weight. WORSE! I was gaining weight and a scary ED. I don't know what happened, but one day I just had enough. I decided that it was going to take a lot of work, and that I was ready to work hard a it. I was done with being fat, at my heaviest weight I had ever been, I had no confidence and I didn't want to go out in public anymore. I had been in a dark place for so long, and all of a sudden I simply chose to be happy instead of worrying constantly.

One of the things I did was to change my calorie goal to my TDEE. That way, I would NEVER see the damn red number. It wouldn't matter if I had 1190cals or 1210cals. I could also chose to eat more some days; but the green number would remain, and would remind me of how many calories closer to my goal I was getting everyday. Also, when I would check the weekly nutrition tab on my phone, it would show me how many calories I had saved for the week. Knowing that 1lbs is 3500cals (but don't let it fool you, weight loss is far from linear) I would get really motivated by seeing the big numbers. Some friend on here asked me if I was using reverse psychology on myself... Maybe? I don't really know, but whatever works! Right!?

After I lost 12lbs, I had enough energy and I was confident in myself enough to start exercising again. I started with body weight exercises, and I would sometimes use a huge bottle of detergent if I wanted to do some upper body work. After a while, I bought an exercise mat and a pair of 12lbs dumbbells so that I could use and enjoy this equipment and motivate myself to exercise regularly. I also tried yoga, which I was scared to try again since the first time (that was after my pregnancy) I wasn't able to. I was so proud of myself! I have been playing around in my workouts and I have found how to be comfortable being uncomfortable again and that is a great feeling!

Anyway, this weight loss represents so much to me because I had lost myself. I didn't know who I was anymore. I haven't found my old self really... I have learned to create a new me. I will never have the body I once had, but I can still be the best version of myself. Why would I live at less then 100%? Why would I settle for less then I can achieve. Some days I like what I see. Some days I don't, but it doesn't matter anymore. I accept myself as I am, flaws and all!

I have lost 23lbs, but the difference is drastic. I have a waist again, and my stomach doesn't hang anymore. I have 30lbs to go before I reached my goal, my pre-pregnancy weight of 130lbs. I am excited to share with you these pictures, and even more when I try to imagine where I will be in 3 more months. Everyone loves a good before and after, or in this case, before and during! Thank you for reading ♥

At 130lbs and 20%bf


At around 182.8lbs and almost 50%bf


At 160lbs and 37%bf