Success Story

thecanface
thecanface Posts: 1,180 Member
edited September 29 in Success Stories
Hey so a friend of mine was asking for sucess stories for a project she is doing, and i realized that all this time, i had never actually written mine out with pictures showing progress, so i decided to write mine up for her, and once i put it together and read it..... i cried. for the first time ever, i looked at my progress from day one to now, and it's pretty crazy that that person was me... so here it goes..

Hi, I am thecanface and this is my success story:

Growing up, My mother was a single mom, with 3 daughters, no education and mediocre job that didn’t pay nearly enough money to raise 3 daughters, so we didn’t have a wide variety of food choices, and we sort of had to just eat what was available and what my mom could afford, I'm not saying we didn’t eat enough - because we are Mexican, we can make a whole lot with just a little money LOL. but that was just the problem, it was a whole lot of rice, and a whole lot of cheap meat, and a whole lot of beans and a whole lot of tortillas ALL THE TIME! it was just so cheap and could feed 4 mouths- so that’s what we did. My mother wasn’t educated enough on nutrition to know that there are some healthier choices out there she could have made. It was all she knew. and really weight was never an issue in my house hold. My mom, my sisters and I were always "average".

....... OR SO I THOUGHT........

All this time I thought I was average, I knew I wasn’t skinny, or sexy, or had a perfect body, but i NEVER thought i was overweight, unhealthy, or even FAT. Knowing it wouldn’t hurt to lose a "few" pounds I would go on these fad diets with my mom - she had a new crazy diet every week - I would be like okay, I lost 3 lbs, I’m good.. then I’d gain it back. well 3 years ago I heard of this medicine a friend of mine was taking called Phentermine. I had to go to a doctor in order to get it, and they had to do test on me to make sure I was in the range to take it. well the whole time in the waiting room I was thinking "ugh, they aren’t going to give it to me, I’m not fat enough, they are going to put me on some diet, they won’t give it to me" well when I went in they did the tests, and weighed me.... I weight a whopping 140 lbs!! and on top of that they gave it to me with no hesitation, I was so shocked!! then they told me the news... they used that one word I had never heard or thought of in my whole 19 years of living......they said I was…… OVERWEIGHT....................... WHAT?!?! ME??!!! OVERWEIGHT??? BUT I AM ONLY 19!!! THATS IMPOSSIBLE!!! WHY DIDNT ANY ONE TELL ME? WHY DIDNT I NOTICE?? HOW I DID I THINK I WAS "AVERAGE"????? THIS HAS TO BE A MISTAKE RIGHT????

WRONG......

this was me before, when I thought I was at a good weight, and completely oblivious that I was a fat hog at 140 lbs.


FATTTT.jpg
FAT2009.jpg

after 4 months i lost 35 lbs, i was at a tiny 105 lbs in January 2009:


SKINNY2005.jpg

That’s when i started getting "wow you're too thin" and "you need to eat", and "oh my gosh where did you go?" I had to keep a picture handy on my phone just so I could remind them what I used to look like Then i would get "oh... yeah... you were kind of chunky.." and "whoa! I didn’t even notice you were that big!" and "you weight HOW MUCH???" The saddest part, is that I didn’t notice it either, and it’s because I was overweight my whole life... all this time I was supposed to be this cute petite girl, and I was just accepting that I was "big boned". I regret it. I should have been at my prime in my teen years and I had the body of a 45 year old mother of 5.

In January 2011, I was going through pictures and saw one where my stomach was completely flat.. when I looked down, I realized I had a huge fat roll hanging over my pants! I jumped on the scale and saw that in over a year and some time I gained almost 20 lbs! I knew exactly why - didn’t maintain my weight loss, I didn’t even try. I ate what I wanted when I wanted didn’t touch the gym, or my tennis shoes for that matter. I knew I had to make some changes, and I refused to go back on pills, I was going to do this the right way, because I wasn’t going to let myself go back to being overweight. I got a gym membership, I googled how I could track my exercise and found My Fitness Pal. There hasn’t been one day since January of this year that I haven’t logged in. I log everything i eat, good or bad, and I make sure I get my work outs in at least 5 times a week. Since January I’ve lost 10 of the 20 lbs. I am okay with the weight just as long as I lose the fat, and let my mucles show, and I think it may be working :smile:

January 2010 at 123 lbs


fat2010.jpg



Now at 111 lbs – July 2011


NOW2011.jpg



I can’t imagine my life without My Fitness Pal, and I can't imagine myself ever being overweight again. I will not be overweight again. i promise.



-C

Replies

  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
    Congratulations on you success.
  • paramedic52
    paramedic52 Posts: 63 Member
    Great job! You look fantastic :) Thanks for sharing your story.
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
    Way to kick *kitten* chica!
  • ChitownFoodie
    ChitownFoodie Posts: 1,562 Member
    :happy: You look great! Keep up the good work!
  • witchyboots
    witchyboots Posts: 154 Member
    First of all..you were never a "fat hog"
    I would love to be at your 'before' size :laugh:

    You look beautiful at both sizes but CONGRATS on getting healthy. You look great and that back shot? Wow!! xx
  • Good job!! Rice and beans will always be part of our life!!
  • Dootzy1
    Dootzy1 Posts: 2,357 Member
    What an impressive journey.----You have gained such wisdom. Stay healthy and you look so GREAT! And I agree, you really were not ever a "fat hog"!!! Just looked like you like to eat well! :wink:
  • stephnsuarez
    stephnsuarez Posts: 68 Member
    What a journey!!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations on your success! I am at 135 now and I hope to get to 110 where you're at right now!!!
  • Thank-you for sharing you are giving me inspriation.
  • Texas501
    Texas501 Posts: 274
    Wow!
  • Awesome!! Thank you for sharing your story. You look amazing! :)
  • cindaboo1
    cindaboo1 Posts: 150 Member
    Awesome, Awesome job girlfriend!!! Be proud!!!! Ur beautiful either way, but love being healthy better than anything! =)
  • ehs5mw
    ehs5mw Posts: 65
    I know some 45 year old mothers that would beg to differ with what you thought of yourself. Still, congrats!
  • KourtneyP83
    KourtneyP83 Posts: 319
    Congrats on your success, but if you think 140lbs is a "fat hog" I think that's a problem. I see what you are talking about and why you might would have wanted to lose a few pounds for your self esteem, but I think most people on this site are well over 140 and some are twice and 3 times that size. I am not in denial about the weight I need to lose, but I would never refer to myself as a fat hog.
  • thecanface
    thecanface Posts: 1,180 Member
    I know some 45 year old mothers that would beg to differ with what you thought of yourself. Still, congrats!

    lol i thought someone would say that, but for a then 19 year old... it just aint right lol
  • PinUpMommy
    PinUpMommy Posts: 94
    I know some 45 year old mothers that would beg to differ with what you thought of yourself. Still, congrats!

    lol i thought someone would say that, but for a then 19 year old... it just aint right lol

    I think that while you've done an amazing job, saying that you were a fat hog at 140 lbs isn't right. It makes those of us who are still struggling to lose weight, and who are well over 200 lbs, feel like crap about ourselves. I honestly thought you were joking, but I can see that you're serious. At 19, I was also overweight, but I wouldn't have called myself a fat hog. You may want to think about your wording in the future.
  • Jaradel
    Jaradel Posts: 143 Member
    Congratulations on your success, you look great! That being said, your starting weight is my "dream" goal weight. That's where I was my freshman year of high school and I was thin, and I don't know if I'll ever see that again. Too bad that I thought I was "fat" at that weight...
  • thecanface
    thecanface Posts: 1,180 Member
    I know some 45 year old mothers that would beg to differ with what you thought of yourself. Still, congrats!

    lol i thought someone would say that, but for a then 19 year old... it just aint right lol

    I think that while you've done an amazing job, saying that you were a fat hog at 140 lbs isn't right. It makes those of us who are still struggling to lose weight, and who are well over 200 lbs, feel like crap about ourselves. I honestly thought you were joking, but I can see that you're serious. At 19, I was also overweight, but I wouldn't have called myself a fat hog. You may want to think about your wording in the future.

    mmk. Didn't mean to call you any names. was talking about myself. You probably shouldn't let what someone says about themselves bother you.
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