Five Years... (long)

Today marks 5 years since I began this weight loss “journey”. Many of you have been with me so I wanted to share my ups and downs as well as share with others that setbacks can happen but the habits and routines that you’ll establish can help you turn things around.

On 1/19/15 I weighed 267.1 lbs at 5’5” - obese category 3. I was 56. Using MFP, increasing my activity and changing my mindset, the first year flew by and I had lost 61 lbs! By 7/1/17, I was down 98 lbs to 169 - 20 lbs from my goal. I went up and down 10 -15 lbs through 2018 but never managed to get below 169.

1/19/19 I was back up to 185.7. I could pretty much still wear all my new clothes but they started to not look so great. It seemed manageable to lose those 15 lbs plus the 20 more I needed to goal.
Instead, I started each week weighing and measuring but not consistently at all. My weekend 3 - 5 miles walks stopped. I let other disappointments be an excuse to stuff my face and even though I wouldn’t have admitted it then, I just didn’t care.

Today, I’m now 61 and I weighed 205. Yes, back in the 200’s. I truly didn’t think it would happen - ha!

However, I am 62 lbs less than 5 years ago. In the past, losing 40-50-60 lbs, I usually gained everything back within 2 years. Small victory, right?

I originally started in 2015 because of a health challenge at work. Today starts an 8 week challenge at my Orangetheory that will help get me back doing what I need to do.
TL:DR
My MFP biggest learning:
There is no on and off a diet - each day is a day to decide how many calories I’m going to have and how it will affect my ultimate goal - not just of how much I want to weigh but how I want to live the rest of my life.
And as Dr Now says, if you’re not losing, you’re gaining.

Thanks everyone for all I have learned these past 5 years and here’s to the next 5!!