My story so far, 80 pounds down in a little less than a year

My name is Tricia, and I'm 30 years old. Here's my story so far, thank you for reading it.

I've always been a bigger girl. My parents were bigger people. Most of my family is overweight, actually that's probably a generous word for it. I never knew any different. My parents were always dieting, weight watchers or Atkins or whatever. Even I went on the slim fast diet when I was only 12 years old. My weight kept increasing as I grew older. I was always the chubby girl in high school. Always the overweight girl in college. I never thought much of it because that was just how I was. Then I found out I was pregnant, and let me tell you that did not do any favors to my body at all! I never paid much attention to it. I ate like crap but didn't really care. I don't know any differently.

In June 2016 I went to the doctor for a routine check up. The number on the scale shock to me. It was 237 pounds. Holy crap, that's a pretty big number. I knew I was above 200 pounds, but for some reason that number just hit me. It's not healthy. My son need me to be healthy. I need myself to be healthy. So I decided I would change.

Before, when I went on one of my many diet binges, I found out about my fitness pal. I decided to try it again. So that day, I made an account. And I never looked back.

I started to log everything I was eating. And the thing is, I wasn't really eating that much. The things I were eating though, they were all wrong. There was hardly any nutritional value. And I was definitely eating way too much junk food, way too many chips and cookies. But still, I wasn't really eating terribly, just mindlessly eating. Slowly I started to make changes. I started cooking more. Are used ground turkey instead of ground beef. I made sure vegetables were in almost every meal I ate. I stopped drinking anything other than water.

I also became more active. I never really was a person who did exercise or sports. Most of that was due to the fact that my parents were so afraid to have me in sports or gym class. I am visually impaired, and they were afraid that if I hit my head a certain way that I could lose the little vision I had left. I decided that my health is more important then a small chance I could lose my vision. So I started walking. I walked a lot. Then I slowly started introducing different exercises. I did Leslie Samsone's walk at home, which was great in the beginning. Then I did, and continue to do, a lot of Jessica Smith YouTube videos. I never got a gym membership. All my workouts are done at home. I started doing strength training videos. I eventually got into yoga which I absolutely love! I also did a 5K in March, which I never ever thought would be possible. The one thing I did buy was my Fitbit, which has been amazing. It has been so motivating for me. I now get around 20,000 steps a day.

I have learned a lot along the way. I've learned that the number on the scale is only one way to measure health. I've learned not to look at things as a diet, but as a lifestyle change. I've learned that all food is OK in moderation. And I want to help others. If I can lose 80 pounds in a little less than a year, with no gym membership or personal trainer or anything like that, but anyone can do it. I mostly blind, so I understand how it is to adapt things to fit your needs. I want to help others reach their goals. I'm not licensed or anything, but if anyone wants encouragement and support, please feel free to add me. I would love to help those who are just starting out or in the middle of their journey. My journey is not finished. I'm at 157 pounds as I write this. I would like to get to about 130 and see what happens from there. So please feel free to add me as a friend and/or send me a message. You can do this! We can do this together.
By the way, sorry for any typos. I use a screen reader to do all my typing and it can be hard to catch misspelled words and small typos.