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MyFitnessPal Community

I started one year ago today...

selawson729

I gained 80 lbs over the 10 years after college. It happened so slowly that I never even saw that I had changed so much, but now I see it. Honestly i avoided having my body seen by a camera for a few years so I don't have many comparison photos to "showcase" my progress.
I started MFP 365 days ago, 36 years old, 5'4 and 212 lbs. I told nobody that I was going to attempt to lose weight. I think I expected to fail or I was embarrassed. I stayed consistent and accountable for the entire year, tracked every calorie of food and drink, wore my fitbit daily (although my diet was #1 priority honestly, exercise is something I'm getting more into lately)...and 1 year later, I weigh 132. Down 80 lbs. Didn't expect this. Don't give up, have patience, this works! 😀

Replies

jamesha100

Inspirational! - I would be really interested to see the one year progress graph of your weight loss. It would be very useful to see how your rate of loss changes across that period.
Well done again - you look fabulous in your after pictures.

brenn24179

wow you did great. I am 5'4 and was happy to go from 208 to 159.

Yukon_Jack

Great job, sticking to a plan, especially over 12 months, is a major accomplishment. I noticed you said you were "suspicious" of the Fibit added "earned" calories. Do you think they are good or bad to count towards my calorie limit each day? I have my calorie limit set to 1,960 but I also count my "earned calories" from my Fitbit towards that limit.

happimess01

Amazing! Well done

tronjo2002

You Rock!

carro585

You look amazing! I'm so impressed that you went a whole year with no cheat days. I'm your same age and height and have 130 as my goal, so your success is extra motivational!

tradercourt1

Such a good reminder of how important it is to be patient and determined. Congratulations!

hunnahs26

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

selawson729

Yukon_Jack wrote: »

Great job, sticking to a plan, especially over 12 months, is a major accomplishment. I noticed you said you were "suspicious" of the Fibit added "earned" calories. Do you think they are good or bad to count towards my calorie limit each day? I have my calorie limit set to 1,960 but I also count my "earned calories" from my Fitbit towards that limit.

I thought it added more than i actually "earned"

renydo2

selawson729 wrote: »

I gained 80 lbs over the 10 years after college. It happened so slowly that I never even saw that I had changed so much, but now I see it. Honestly i avoided having my body seen by a camera for a few years so I don't have many comparison photos to "showcase" my progress.
I started MFP 365 days ago, 36 years old, 5'4 and 212 lbs. I told nobody that I was going to attempt to lose weight. I think I expected to fail or I was embarrassed. I stayed consistent and accountable for the entire year, tracked every calorie of food and drink, wore my fitbit daily (although my diet was #1 priority honestly, exercise is something I'm getting more into lately)...and 1 year later, I weigh 132. Down 80 lbs. Didn't expect this. Don't give up, have patience, this works! 😀

That is quite a transformation! You should be so proud! Bravo!

selawson729

brenn24179 wrote: »

wow you did great. I am 5'4 and was happy to go from 208 to 159.

Oh, I understand! I think i was around 170 when I realized it was time for new clothes, and that was a confidence boost/motivational itself. I honestly felt like I was looking slim and trim when I could wear a 12 petite and get rid of my size 16 pants, and I hadn't even lost half the weight yet. Every time I saw the scale go down to a new number like 169, 159, 149...that is a good feeling, even if it seemed to take FOREVER to get to those numbers! 😀

selawson729

saltysparkle wrote: »

My new hero(ine)!

You are too kind! Thank ya!

selawson729

VA_Lifter wrote: »

WOW!!!! You look just fabulous and I'm betting you feel great too. I am inspired. The 30 pounds I lost several years ago have all crept back on and I am miserable about it. I am going to just work at it day by day too -- good to hear that for you logging and consistency (REALLY paid off. Congratulations!

You can do it!

selawson729

olive1511 wrote: »

How many calories did you consume on a daily basis? You look great...congratulations!

My setting is at 1200 without the fitbit extra calories. Typically 1200-1400 a day

selawson729

jamesha100 wrote: »

Inspirational! - I would be really interested to see the one year progress graph of your weight loss. It would be very useful to see how your rate of loss changes across that period.
Well done again - you look fabulous in your after pictures.

Here is the progression since August, keeping in mind that I put my starting weight at 195 without getting on a scale and it was closer to 212 like I can see on my dr chart. I was in denial about being over 200 lbs.

selawson729

Here's another picture...my best friend's wedding late 2018 and now. I didn't take many pictures with her because I didn't like my body in photos and that is a shame.

selawson729

carro585 wrote: »

You look amazing! I'm so impressed that you went a whole year with no cheat days. I'm your same age and height and have 130 as my goal, so your success is extra motivational!

You can do it!

orangegato

💪

73hkm73

This is exactly the motivation I needed! I’m starting today- around your same height and need to lose 31 pounds. Did you use the preset macros from MyFitnessPal? You look great!!!

hello7108

Wow! Great job

selawson729

73hkm73 wrote: »

This is exactly the motivation I needed! I’m starting today- around your same height and need to lose 31 pounds. Did you use the preset macros from MyFitnessPal? You look great!!!

I didn't adjust them and other than noticing that I could try adding more protein in the beginning, I only used the macros as like data in the beginning. I never look at them now really but the set percentages have matched what I was eating. I don't count my carbs. I've been asked if I do keto or intermittent fasting by friends who are trying to lose weight, keto comes up A LOT, and no, I didn't use any sort of overly complicated (for me) methods or gimmicks...I do have Slimfast or vanilla muscle milk sometimes because I like them and they're cheap. I didn't buy anything from a MLM, no flat tummy tea....I take probiotics and vitamins but nothing unusual.
You can do it!

jamesha100

Thanks for the progress chart - it looks like a nice steady loss but maybe with a few plateaus. I think you are a great example of taking things steady and having faith in the program. I have never managed to keep to it for longer than three months so I will bookmark this for inspiration!

selawson729

jamesha100 wrote: »

Thanks for the progress chart - it looks like a nice steady loss but maybe with a few plateaus. I think you are a great example of taking things steady and having faith in the program. I have never managed to keep to it for longer than three months so I will bookmark this for inspiration!

Thanks! My weight would sometimes stagger around the same amount but consistently I see it drop once a month around the same time (tmi sorry but that affects weight/water retention) so I got accustomed to that pattern, knew I'd see a loss after that time of the month, and not hung up on the weeks when I didn't move the scale...I have been scale obsessed in the past, around 10 years ago and I starved fifty lbs off quickly but I was eating 700 calories a day and in my 20s...I didn't create healthy habits or eat in a way that would work long term; it was all about getting that scale to go down. Sooo I got to my lowest weight, and slowly crept up to my highest weight and here we are! I did think my weight would come off faster based on previous experience, but it isn't so easy in my 30s...getting older is fun like that. Slow progress was a blessing that allowed me to focus on the journey instead of only being motivated (or getting discouraged) by a number on a scale getting lower. I think it's easy to have unrealistic expectations when we see people lose so much weight so quickly on shows like The Biggest Loser and Revenge Body. Don't compare yourself to anyone else and don't announce your journey to the peanut gallery, is my advice. You aren't on a deadline to hit your goal weight, the time will pass anyway, and if you keep going without giving up, you will thank yourself for your own patience and persistence.

gorgeous_eyes_dreamy_thighs

You look so beautiful. Congratulations on a new healthy body and a great future ahead.

mynameisnobody1990

Well done - such an achievement!