50+ lbs gone - before/after

Stats:
Height: 5'3.5"
SW: ~171.8 lbs(I was too afraid of the scale to weigh myself at the very beginning)
CW: 120.0 lbs
GW: 120 lbs


Today, I reached my goal weight. Right on the dot.

It's been a long road and there have been more than a few bumps, but in many ways it's been easier than I thought. Healthy food can be delicious and satiating. Working out can be a thing to look forward to (but let's face it, not always). Before last January, I was totally sedentary, overeating most days, and borderline obese. I won't lie and say I've been 100% committed to my lifestyle change since I made the decision to live differently over a year ago, but learning to take setbacks in stride was one of many important lessons I learned. I'll share a few things that helped me. Scroll to the end if you just wanna see the before/after ;-)

* It's true you don't need to exercise to lose weight, but I found it immensely helpful. It curbed my cravings almost right away when I started doing cardio daily. Not to mention, time spent working out is time that can't be spent eating ;-)
* Preparing your own food and using a food scale is truly the only way to log accurately. You can make all kinds of assumptions about what's in your meal when you dine out, but odds are you're probably underestimating. Dining out is killer when it comes to staying within a calorie goal (not that it can't be done), and it's just so much easier to make low-calorie, healthy meals at home.
* Healthy meals don't have to be bland or unappetizing! I was not a cook at ALL when I started out; I'd never made anything more advanced than mac n cheese. I still don't make anything fancy, but I did make an effort to find some recipes using healthy ingredients I knew I liked. I'm a picky eater which makes it more difficult, but it's still totally doable.
* You don't need to cut out any one thing to lose weight, or eat anything you don't want to eat. Personally, I hate leafy greens. I know they're good for me. I know they have almost no calories. I hate them. Salads are only good to me if they're drenched in dressing, and that completely defeats the purpose ;-) If I had to describe my diet in terms of macros I'd say it was roughly 60% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein, but I didn't really pay attention to that. I ate what I liked, which meant a lot of bread, pasta, fish, and avocados. I heckin' love avocados.
* Small, incremental changes can make all the difference. Snack on strawberries instead of chips. Throw some extra vegetables in that stir fry. Walk a little farther with your dog this evening (maybe even jog for a short bit!). These changes can build on each other and before you know it, you're getting stronger, faster, healthier, and likely experiencing that delightful side effect of shedding pounds.
* Your mistakes do not define your journey. This is probably my most important takeaway from my experience over the last year. For months at the beginning, I was diligent. Never had a cheat meal, never skipped a workout. I remember distinctly the first time I broke from my routine and went on a weekend-long binge, eating everything I had missed from the past several months. It snowballed; it was one of those things where we tell ourselves "Well I already had a greasy burger, might as well EAT EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF BECAUSE WHAT'S THE POINT?!" These slip-ups will happen. Very few people can be perfect all the time (especially people who love food as much as I do). As I've started to accept that, I've gotten better about bouncing back.

I hope some of this is helpful to others; I have found this community to be incredibly valuable as I tried to navigate the overly-noisy and seemingly complicated (but not really) world of weight loss and health. Having hit my goal weight, I'm excited for the next step. I really want to get even more physically fit, and work on my strength for recomp. Good luck, all my fitness pals!

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