OVER 50lbs from my highest (pics) new lifter! Finally feeling good with my body

I've made attempts to lose weight in the past, but was never really dedicated to it. I was overweight as a child, lost some weight in college only to gain it back plus some. After seeing a few pictures of myself at my highest (below), I couldn't believe how big I was.

My a-ha moment was stepping on the scale at the doctor, and topping out around 200 pounds. I ate fast food every day, rarely got exercise, and felt awful.

I started myfitnesspal in 2013 at 194, and am now at 146. I started jogging at a track near my house, and then signed up for a gym membership. At the gym, I started with the elliptical and then felt confident enough to go to some workout classes.

In the middle of my journey, I had serious back problems that kept me from working out for weeks at a time. I quit going to the gym for fear of injury. I started doing low-impact exercises, I went for walks and did my walk with Leslie dvd. I started doing yoga at home and looked up videos for yoga for back pain.

I got stronger, and just 5 weeks ago I got serious at the gym again. I've worked up to 30 minutes on the stair-climber, and 10 minutes on the rowing machine for my cardio warm ups. I bought books and researched online about weight lifting, and finally got up the courage to do it at the gym. People at my gym are so friendly, and one person took the time out to show me all of the "big boy" machines and I have been doing those with confidence. I'm very proud of myself.

I eat between 1,100 and 1,500 calories per day. I have been concentrating more on hitting my macros and I've noticed a difference in my body.

I should add that throughout this entire journey, I've been on several medications with weight gain as a side effect. Because of this, the weight has come off slowly over the past two years, but I've kept it off and I feel so good. I can't wait to go to the gym and I love meal planning and finding new healthy recipes to cook.



This is when I started my journey, I was around 194 pounds.
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This is a photo taken the other day
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This is a side by side of my highest (200+) and my current weight (146)
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I've been lifting 3-4 days a week for 5 weeks now, and am starting to see some progress on my arms, abs, and legs.
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