Before & After: 25 years and 30 lbs later (w/pics)

Thank you all for the wonderfully kind words! They mean a lot.

I've received a few messages asking what I did to lose the weight and get back in to shape. Let me start by saying that this was not a race... it was a journey which took 1 year, 6 months and continues to this day. I wasn't looking to drop as much weight as I could in a short period of time. I didn't look for miracle pills, diet fads or any other quick fixes. I knew it would take a change in my lifestyle to shed the weight and know that I could keep it off once I reached my goal.

The first thing I did was decide what my goal weight needed to be. I set that number at 124.0 because it was achievable for my height, age and lifestyle. That meant I would have to lose 33 pounds from my starting weight of 157.0. That sounded so daunting! Instead of looking at the big picture and the end result, I spread the goal out in to mini-goals per week. I selected a goal date and then divided the pounds out evenly with larger losses in the early weeks and smaller losses in the later weeks. I knew it would get harder to lose weight the closer I got to my goal. Spreading the goals out in to mini-goals gave me anywhere between 2 pounds to .5 pounds to lose each week. By focusing on just 2 pounds per week, I didn't feel stressed out over the 33 pounds anymore and celebrated each time I reached a 5 pound milestone by buying something just for me (jewelry, shoes, article of clothing, etc.).

I am lucky to have an elliptical machine in our home, so I started by going as long as I could on just the default manual setting at the lowest resistance. After about 3 minutes, my legs were burning and I felt like I couldn't keep going. It took a few days to build up to 5-10 minutes. But each time I would try to go one minute longer than the last time. Then it became a game. If I can go just 5 more minutes... that would be awesome! I won't die, right? After those 5 minutes were over, I'd shoot for another 5. Pretty soon I was up to 30 minutes and decided it was time to start adding resistance to it. It was almost like starting over, but over time it got easier again. I kept a food and exercise journal to keep me on track. (This was long before I found MFP!)

Taking data from my journal, the progress looked like this (and I've included the ups, downs and plateaus):

Jan 31, 2010: 146.5
Feb 9, 2010: 145.0
Feb 23, 2010: 146.5
Mar 1, 2010: 144.0
Mar 8, 2010: 143.0
Mar 14, 2010: 142.0
Mar 21, 2010: 143.0
Mar 28, 2010: 139.5
Apr 6, 2010: 136.5
Apr 14, 2010: 136.0
Apr 27, 2010: 136.0
May 5, 2010: 135.0
May 17, 2010: 131.5 (This was my target date to be at 129.0 for a reunion)
May 30, 2010: 133.0 (After my reunion and I started to slack off)
Jun 7, 2010: 134.5
Jun 22, 137.0 (Then I quit altogether until the end of August)
Aug 30, 2010: 139.0
Oct 9, 2010: 136.5
Oct 18, 2010: 137.0
Nov 5, 2010: 135.0
Nov 14, 2010: 132.2 (Bought a new scale)
Jan 4, 2011: 137.2 (Holidays are over and made up my mind to finish what I started)
Feb 5, 2011: 138.8
Feb 26, 2011: 136.4
Mar 4, 2011: 132.8
Mar 15, 2011: 132.2
Mar 27, 2011: 130.8
Apr 2, 2011: 129.0
Apr 21, 2011: 128.4
May 1, 2011: 127.8
May 12, 2011: 128.8
May 26, 2011: 128.0
June 3, 2011: 127.6
June 9, 2011: 127.0

Obviously, I skipped a lot of entries... but you get the idea. Along with the cardio on the elliptical, I was also attending Taekwondo classes twice per week with my family. I also changed my eating habits. I wasn't counting calories, but I went by 1,200 calories consumed each day. I didn't know about eating back exercise calories, so I stuck with the 1,200 as closely as I could. I ate more fruits and vegetables, cooked at home more and stopped eating fast food. I also stopped drinking any form of beverage with carbonation with the exception of a few beers here and there.

When I hit about 135.0, I ramped up my exercise by including P90X in to my routine and cut the elliptical to every other day. I was still doing Taekwondo too. Then WHAM... an old gymnastics injury reared its ugly head and it brought my exercise to a halt. I have a bad knee and hip. The P90X was aggravating my snapping hip syndrome which was making it difficult to even walk without it popping. The elliptical also flared up my bad knee and it was giving out frequently. Forget Taekwondo, that would be too hard on both. Now what??? I was losing weight slowly with all that exercise... now I would gain for sure, right?

I researched ways to control my diet without exercise and stumbled on an article about eating a hearty breakfast and all of the benefits of eating a solid meal to start your day. I started making a big breakfast the next day and included a lot of protein. I love any kind of egg anyway, so this would be great... if it worked! You will never guess what happened! I lost nearly 10 pounds in just 3 short weeks. My body was telling me I was exercising too much and not eating enough. When my friends would ask me what I was doing, I loved to tell them that it was by "not exercising and eating more". I wouldn't have believed me either.

But it's true. It's all a delicate balance. Everyone is different and you will need to experiment with diet and exercise to find out what your body is needing for a change. I felt like giving up many times, but when I look back at my journal now... I can't believe how far I've come! The main thing is that I NEVER gave up. I stalled a few times, but I got my head back in the game and kept plugging away.

Here are some random thoughts and suggestions from my our journey...

1. Breakfast really IS the most important meal of the day. I now enjoy at least 1/3 of my daily caloric intake at breakfast. Lunch is the second largest meal of the day and dinner is my lightest. I also fit in snacks during the morning, afternoon and evening.

2. Eat back at least 75% of your exercise calories. You may need to adjust this up or down to work with what is right for your body. Some do not eat back their calories. That is their choice and if it is working for them, who am I to argue?

3. Do not assume that you can eat whatever you want to meet your caloric intake for the day. Only having a couple of big meals each day, but still come in at your calorie count, will NOT do your body any favors. You cannot eat fast food (any of it) and still expect to lose weight. You may meet your calories, but you will be severely lacking or going over in other nutrients. Use your common sense here folks... a Big Mac will not offer your body any fuel to keep you energized.

4. Practice the 80/20 rule. 80% diet and 20% exercise. I had it turned the other way and you can tell how well that worked for me by looking at my progress above. It doesn't work... period.

5, Don't think that you can get the vitamins you need by taking supplements alone. Make fruits and vegetables your friends.

6. Try not to "treat" your milestones with food. I shudder to think how much sodium is in a meal at Red Lobster now! Instead, treat yourself to something just for you... a piece of jewelry, a massage, a pedi/mani, beauty products, a pair of shoes, etc. Those are things that are going to make you feel great! A big greasy meal will only make your stomach hurt, set you back and make you feel guilty. No one wants that.

Good luck to all of you! Let me know if you have any questions about something I may have forgotten to cover.

bump

Thanks everyone! I'm hoping by next spring, I'll be able to update my before/after photos with a pic in a STRING BIKINI. LOL