95 Pounds Lost!

After some pretty severe setbacks where I lost all motivation, I'm back on track! My weekly weigh-in put me at 165 this morning, which is 95 pounds down from my highest weight!

SW: 260
CW: 165
GW: 135-150
Height 5'5"

Up until puberty, I was a rail-thin, active child. I biked or rollerbladed during all of my free time. I loved being outside and exploring. Once puberty hit, I gained weight steadily until my senior year of high school, topping out at about 220. I started developing chronic pain and depression, and ate more as a coping mechanism.

At that time, I developed anorectic behaviors and lost weight rapidly (I was only eating maybe 1/3-1/2 of my dinner and that was all I was eating daily). I got down to about 140 at my lowest, and all I received from my family and friends was praise on my "success." Something clicked when I got to college, and I started eating again. This time, however, I developed Binge Eating Disorder (BED). I overate to the point where I was physically uncomfortable on a regular basis. I would sneak food, often eating in the bathroom, or eating quickly when no one was looking. I would eat a moderate amount of food around others, then binge when I got home. At my worst, I would eat two Heath candy bars a day, along with only soda to drink, and other candy throughout, in addition to a fast food breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I was almost always snacking. I would eat dinner until I was uncomfortably full, then binge on candy afterwards. I joked that "dessert is a separate stomach," if anyone asked.

I gained all of the weight I lost and then some. I topped out at 260, and stayed there for years. During this time, my chronic pain became worse, to the point where I regularly cried myself to sleep from the pain. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong, and the only thing that helped a little was taking prescription-strength anti-inflammatories. All they ever told me was to lose weight and that "sometimes people have inflammation and we don't know why." I gave up. I walked with a cane for about 6 months and was very seriously considering a rolling walker or wheelchair. The pain was unbearable. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the worst pain imaginable), I was sitting at a 7 daily, with spikes up to a 9. I was miserable. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, but none of the medicines helped, aside from steroids, which I took for about a week and the pain was immediately gone. That was the best week of my life!

In 2014, I came across an article of someone who had similar symptoms to myself who gave up dairy and her symptoms disappeared. Apparently, food allergies can manifest in joint and muscle pain, fatigue, and other symptoms. I had nothing to lose and decided to try it out. If, at the end of the 2 weeks, the pain was still there, I would know for sure. After TWO DAYS, the pain was 100% eliminated. TWO DAYS!

From eliminating dairy alone, I dropped 30 pounds without making any further dietary changes. From that point on, I decided to make other changes. I quit smoking. I started watching my calories. I no longer needed my coping mechanism for the pain. I became vegan, which had always been a goal of mine, but always felt impossible.

I won't say it's been easy, but it's been worth it. I still have 15-30 more pounds that I would like to lose, but I feel amazing. I now have a ridiculous amount of energy (I have the most energy out of all of my friends; which is saying a lot considering I used to go home at the end of the day working at a desk job and even thinking about making dinner was enough to make me tear up). I rarely take the elevator. I walk to and from work (about 1/2 mile each way). I can run a 5k (I haven't gotten back into running due to a busy semester and an accident a year ago where I broke my foot and injured my knee, but I plan to get back into it soon!). I can hike for hours in the mountains. I drink water (I only ever drank it when there were no other choices). I don't eat added sugar. I can tie my shoes or cut my toenails without having to take breaks or hold my breath (I couldn't breathe and do those things at the same time before!). I'm a completely different person, and I'm loving life for the first time ever.

Now, for what you came for! Pictures!