8 weeks & over 26 lbs lost

kirstiey · July 2011

You are going to be a gorgeous weeny little thing when you are done. Go girl!!!!!!

AshDHart · July 2011

You are looking fantastic! Keep up all the hard work!!! :flowerforyou:

dcbella · July 2011

Awesome job!!

PandaFit450 · July 2011

Congratulations - you look amazing !!

:happy:

sailorsbabydoll · July 2011

Great pictures - you can totally tell a difference! Keep up the great work! Will send you a friend request for some motivation and encouragement - which we all can use:)

Julijulz · July 2011

Keep up the good work. I can definitely see a difference in your face and slightly in your stomach area. You're doing great!!! Can't wait to see more pictures in the future. You can do it!!!

FluffyLadii · July 2011

I'm proud of you!!! I know how hard this all is and I'm glad you are keeping track.....as for me I need to get a scale and a tape measure to keep better track. Anything you are eating differently?

pinkandstars09 · July 2011

how did you do it?

KnottyJen · July 2011

Thank you all for your support and kind words!!! I never expected to get this kind of response. :blushing:

I really don't have any secrets to share. I wish I had some magic trick to make it easier/faster, but I don't.

I started out with a small change - I stopped eating out, I reduced my portion sizes and really began to pay attention to the calories that I was putting in. I initially used the calorie suggestion that MFP gave me, based on height & weight to lose per week. I eat less processed foods and try to stick with fresh foods as much as possible.

Next, I started paying attention to carbs (because I'm a diabetic and really needed to be monitoring this to begin with) and sodium, as well. As I started to monitor these, the caloric intake became less & less. I feel like I generally eat what I want (within reason) and don't even come close to the calorie goals established by MFP. I eventually changed my calorie goal because it wasn't remotely realistic. So, I manually set it at 1500. I actually have the opposite problem now...Most days, I struggle to get all 1200 calories, which is the number my dietician told me I *need* to be getting, in order to get all my nutrients in.

The last thing I added was exercise. I hate it. lol Ask anyone that I've told about my journey thus far and I will freely admit to hating physical activity. BUT I knew that I needed to add it in order to get the weight to come off. At first, it was the bare minimum. I'd go for a short walk around the block, burn 200 calories and be okay with that. Then I got a couple workout DVDs, and was burning 300-500 calories per workout. And then I joined a couple challenges here on MFP. And that really prompted me to do more. The girls on my "rowing" team really inspire me to push myself harder and further. Being on this team really makes me feel like I'm being held accountable. As though they depend on me to burn as many calories as I can.

Again, thanks to all of you for your kind words!