2012-2015 My Success So Far

The start of my journey was catching pneumonia and weighing in at 170lbs. Since I am 5'2 this made me overweight and close to obese according to my doctor. That was the moment I decided I needed to start taking better care of myself. The previous two years being a blur of me being a full time college student, working full time, and being a single Mother had taken their toll on me. Late night, almost no sleep, and never enough time led to easy, but bad, food choices and energy drinks to stay awake. I easily put on 20lbs or more. This pic was taken Easter 2012 at 170lbs




I started MFP November of 2012 and looking back at my pas entries I had zero clue about eating healthy. Back then my idea of healthy looked like this:

Breakfast: Jimmy Dean Delights sandwich
Lunch: Lean Cuisine meal
Dinner: small veggie portion with a lean meat.

Not a lot of fruits and vegetables and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to much processed "diet" foods. Now my entries look a lot better since I learned a few things. I quit soda, cut out fake sweeteners, I rarely eat red meat, and hardly any processed foods. I also learned that, for me, moderation is key. I can eat what I want but in moderation and in proper portion sizes because when I cut them out I binge and gain back the weight. I also increased my exercise exponentionally by walking when weather permitted and I began the search for a good DVD program. I tried Jillian Michael's DVD's but my bad shoulder (2 surgeries, lots of hardware) wouldn't permit a lot of her moves in plank. So I walked a lot, up to 5 miles a day, and found other ways to workout around the house. Then in March 2014 I started DDP Yoga and man do I love it!



Before: March 2014 After: March 2015

It wasn't easy. There were so many setbacks like when I broke my foot and was in a walking boot for 6 weeks or the 4 bouts of pneumonia over 3 years. I lost weight and I gained it back. I got knocked down and I got back up again. Because I knew it would be worth it in the long run!

Today I weighed in at 146 lbs. I lost plenty of inches everywhere too and gained a lot of muscles, strength, endurance, and pride in my accomplishments. I'm back at it tomorrow after clearance from the doctor (was hospitalized last Wed-Fri for chronic GI issues I have) plus with some more diet changes Here is a recent pic of me in sweats that used to be to small on me now they hang off my hips and are a lot more comfy!!



I can't wait to see what I will accomplish the rest of this year!