One year of progress. No gimmicks or quick fixes.

Timorous_Beastie wrote: »

Basic stats, 43 years old, 5'5, around 130 pounds.

I lost weight through MFP a few years ago, then between depression after a death in the family, apathy and injury, gained some (ok, most of it) back. Summer of 2014, I had a nasty lower back injury (SI joint) and could barely even walk without severe pain.

Anyway... it was about one year ago that I was recovered enough from my back injury to start running again (the doctor's advice was, "it'll probably still hurt, but you won't make things worse by running"), and around that time I took some "before" pictures. I've had some stumbles along the way. I fell off the wagon in the middle of November and through December. I'm an artist and had a major Christmas rush take up every free second, plus I was beyond frustrated that the steroid injection I got for my back made me gain ten pounds in about a week.

I started up again in January, logging my food, running, lifting, etc. Then I had shin splints put me on the sideline for a few weeks in April & May. Then seven weeks ago, I had an Achilles problem (heel spur that aggravates the tendon), and just started running again two weeks ago. I haven't been lifting as often as I should, but when I do, it's full body compound moves (deadlift, squats, bench, row, overhead press). Not as heavy as I did before my back injury, but between "novice" and "intermediate" in strength standards. I suppose you'd still call that heavy lifting.

With the one year anniversary of my return to running, I thought it would be a good time to get out the bikini again and take new photos. All in all, I'm down about 20 lbs from those photos, and from a snug size 8 to a size 4. I'm really happy with what one year of dedication and good food could do. No gimmicks, no quick fixes, no Beach Body products, no organic (unless it happened to be the same price as regular), no green smoothies or kale anything. Just the regular food I love in the right portions. Still had pizza, bagels, garlic bread, pasta, potatoes, ice cream, chocolate, mixed in with loads of veggies and (mostly, but not exclusively) lean meats.