My Success Story!

cinnabondelights
cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
edited July 2016 in Success Stories
Hello! This is my first time posting in this community and I wanted to share my weight loss journey~

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Starting weight: 161 lbs.
Current weight: 108 lbs.
Total lost: 74 lbs. (lost 31 lbs, gained 20, lost 43 lbs)
Height: 5′1′’
Goal weight: 100-105 lbs.

Top left picture is from almost 2 years ago, weighing at 151 lbs.- almost the heaviest I’ve ever been. At my heaviest, I was 161 lbs. around 2010-2011 (sorry I don’t have any of those pictures but top left was close enough), but when I moved back home from an abusive relationship, I lost 31 lbs. by literally starving myself out of depression. I almost gained it all back 2 years later when my husband and I met, dated, married, and got stationed in Guam. We ate out at a lot of restaurants and didn't really care what we ate, haha.

Though one day while my husband was on gone on deployment, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and said, “I don’t want to go back to being heavy again,” so I did a lot of nutrition study and exercising and I lost weight the right way. I cut out soda and junk food almost COMPLETELY (fast food, sit down restaurants, candy, chips, burgers, everything) and I went vegetarian for a little while. It didn’t last long though as I noticed my hair was thinning, so I just added lean meat and fish to my diet, as well as a biotin supplement to help with my hair. I’m still recovering from hair loss, but I eat in smaller portions with more fruits and green veggies as much as I can. I will have an ice cream, go to a restaurant, or eat some type of junk food once in awhile, but I’ve learned to live without it for the most part. To help maintain my calorie intake, I used MFP! :D I love it so much and I've gotten back into using it now!

I exercised by running with my dog around the neighborhood (usually takes about 30 minutes on my route) and doing home exercises (with an exercise ball, or exercise videos on YouTube) and weight lifting. I recently started taking up Zumba at home and it's a lot of fun!

Second pics are from July 5, 2016 after buying some new clothes now that all of my old clothes are too big for me! the skirt is actually a little too big for me at a size 3… >_< But now I can proudly say that I wear a size 0/2 jeans and a size X-Small to Small shirt from a size 18 jeans and Medium-Large shirt! I would still like to lose possibly 3-8 more pounds. c: Right now my weight loss is slowing down/plateauing, but that just means I have to work even harder now!

Replies

  • Rebekah_89
    Rebekah_89 Posts: 61 Member
    @joicedelle Idk if it's my computer or not (since I'm at work lol) I don't see any pics! :-)
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    Rebekah_89 wrote: »
    @joicedelle Idk if it's my computer or not (since I'm at work lol) I don't see any pics! :-)

    weird, I just copy/pasted URLS in BBCode, I'll try and fix them!
  • Rebekah_89
    Rebekah_89 Posts: 61 Member
    joicedelle wrote: »
    Rebekah_89 wrote: »
    @joicedelle Idk if it's my computer or not (since I'm at work lol) I don't see any pics! :-)

    weird, I just copy/pasted URLS in BBCode, I'll try and fix them!

    Okay I see them now! :-) Good job on the success! Hopefully I'll have a success story shortly!
  • Rebekah_89
    Rebekah_89 Posts: 61 Member
    You look fantastic! Saw the July 5th pics! Def motivation! <3
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    @rebekah_89 I'm glad they work now! And thank you so much! <3 I'll be looking forward to reading about your success story as well :D
  • guinevere96
    guinevere96 Posts: 1,445 Member
    You look great! Im glad things are working out for you :)
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    You look great!!

    If I total my weight loss (including all of that which I gained back) I think I am at around 1500 pounds total lost! B)
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    You look great! Im glad things are working out for you :)

    Thanks so much! <3
    Wolfena wrote: »
    You look great!!

    If I total my weight loss (including all of that which I gained back) I think I am at around 1500 pounds total lost! B)

    Whoa, 1500lbs.?! That's incredible, outstanding job! O:
  • branbuds
    branbuds Posts: 624 Member
    Congratulations on your success! You look awesome :smile:
  • marinashakeel
    marinashakeel Posts: 263 Member
    Hi. Great job! Your stats are near to mine. Please enlighten me how you lost your weight. I cant seem to go down below 126lbs. How much did u exercise and how much was ur cal intake. Also i am friending you. Please accept and help this fellow mfp
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    Hi. Great job! Your stats are near to mine. Please enlighten me how you lost your weight. I cant seem to go down below 126lbs. How much did u exercise and how much was ur cal intake. Also i am friending you. Please accept and help this fellow mfp

    what i did was manage around 1000-1200 calories a day and exercised by jogging for at least 30 minutes followed by weight lifting for 30 minutes about 3-4 times a week and i also recently took up zumba at home and did that for 30 minutes as well. i always try to work off calories as much as i can.

    i also listened to my body and ate when i felt hungry and stopped as soon as i stopped feeling hungry (eating in portions and saving the rest for later). c:
  • marinashakeel
    marinashakeel Posts: 263 Member
    Thanks for the advice. How long did it take you to lose 43 lbs?
  • marinashakeel
    marinashakeel Posts: 263 Member
    My journey started in 2013 and i am still at it. I have slacked off alot so there is that but i am thankful i didnt gain back that much
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    Thanks for the advice. How long did it take you to lose 43 lbs?

    about 2 years off and on, but i got serious about losing weight last year.

  • aimsmae
    aimsmae Posts: 8 Member
    This is amazing! It is all about taking your time and making it a lifestyle :)
  • Kelll12123
    Kelll12123 Posts: 212 Member
    You look great. I'm very motivated after reading that you lost weight, gained some back, and then lost even more. That's sort of what I'm going through now. Keep up the great work!
  • Nightmare_Queen88
    Nightmare_Queen88 Posts: 304 Member
    Congratulations. You look amazing.
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    aimsmae wrote: »
    This is amazing! It is all about taking your time and making it a lifestyle :)

    That's right! I lose weight pretty slowly, but that's okay for me haha
    Kelll12123 wrote: »
    You look great. I'm very motivated after reading that you lost weight, gained some back, and then lost even more. That's sort of what I'm going through now. Keep up the great work!

    Thanks so much, I'm glad to motivate you! You can do it :D
    Congratulations. You look amazing.

    Thanks so much!
  • petrianna_21
    petrianna_21 Posts: 1 Member
    This is really motivating!!! I am 5'2' and weighing 160lbs. My desired weight is 135lbs. I have been trying to lose weight for a while now but nothing! I guess I have to work extra hard...I dont drink soda, no sugar in my diet, I exercise almost 3 times a week and use my fitness pal for calorie counting. Any advice???
  • jaimee0524
    jaimee0524 Posts: 9 Member
    grrrrrL!!!' u look awesome!!! way to go!!!! B)
  • conniehealthygirl
    conniehealthygirl Posts: 156 Member
    Thanks for sharing your story. You look great!!! Also thanks for telling us timeframe of slow and steady
    I was at 158 in November I am 5'1"
    Today I am at 137
    21 pounds in 7 months is much slower then expected
    I am logging ALL food
    I go gym class 3 x week and supplement with 2 additional workout days
    I swim
    I am hitting 10,000 steps daily
    Process is just slow
    At times scale does not move
    Very frustrating
  • conniehealthygirl
    conniehealthygirl Posts: 156 Member
    Pertainna. Are you logging food accurately for correct calorie counts?? I am thinking that even though I log food I am not being good about weighing it so what if I am taking in more calories since I am not good about using food scale
    I guess I getting food scale out so I can be accurate with calorie count
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    This is really motivating!!! I am 5'2' and weighing 160lbs. My desired weight is 135lbs. I have been trying to lose weight for a while now but nothing! I guess I have to work extra hard...I dont drink soda, no sugar in my diet, I exercise almost 3 times a week and use my fitness pal for calorie counting. Any advice???

    How many calories are you managing a day? All I can really say is work off every calorie that you take in, do exercises that are fun for you! And no processed sugars is a great start, water and tea are definitely my recommendations~ Just keep working harder and eating at your calorie goal and you will definitely see results. Don't worry that it might take a while, I lose weight pretty slowly as well, but that means you gotta work extra hard! Don't give up, you can definitely do it and I can't wait when you finally reach your goal! ;D
    jaimee0524 wrote: »
    grrrrrL!!!' u look awesome!!! way to go!!!! B)

    Thank you so much, haha! ;D
    Thanks for sharing your story. You look great!!! Also thanks for telling us timeframe of slow and steady
    I was at 158 in November I am 5'1"
    Today I am at 137
    21 pounds in 7 months is much slower then expected
    I am logging ALL food
    I go gym class 3 x week and supplement with 2 additional workout days
    I swim
    I am hitting 10,000 steps daily
    Process is just slow
    At times scale does not move
    Very frustrating

    I know that feeling, I lose weight really slowly (mostly because I was plateauing for the LONGEST time...). This just means that you have to keep increasing the intensity of your workouts and keep eating and logging your meals as well. Keep going, it's better to lose weight slowly than too fast!
  • cinnabondelights
    cinnabondelights Posts: 121 Member
    Hey long time no post!

    After a few months of plateauing, I have finally reached my UGW! I am now 100 lbs with a 23 inch waist- I've lost about another inch off my waist and reached my goal waist measurement as well :D I also lost about a half inch from my upper arms which is good because I had huge flabby arms when I was fat lol. I have a little loose skin around the armpit area (which is kind of annoying) but I plan to start building muscle now!

    More before & after's from when I first started MFP at 151 lbs with a 38 inch waist and then the second one from a few days ago at 100 lbs, 23 inch waist. I now have to buy almost an entirely new wardrobe since most of my clothes are too big... :(

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