In the year since I joined MFP (w/pics)

laurielie · October 2011

Beautiful story, Beautiful you!!! Job well done, Gotta LOVE all these Success stories =D!!!!:flowerforyou:

M_lifts · October 2011

you look great! well done

arosmith79 · October 2011

You look incredible

Very inspiring

amfmmama · October 2011

You look so great! I am going to a fair today. I am dreading all of the temptations. I think your success hasd inspired me to stay on track today!!! THANKS!!! Oh and love the haircut!!

sherry_augustine · October 2011

Absoultely awesome and inspiring to someone just starting out!

mmelledge · October 2011

Thank you for sharing your story. I have very similar attitudes toward tracking "bad" days, too. One of my goals is for what used to be a normal day to be a "bad" day now, and for the good ones to be normal! I've done WW before (with success, just not lasting), and I'm really psyched about the MFP community and tools.

Your pics are fantastic (you were beautiful even in your before pic, I hope you know)!

Sumijain · October 2011

What a great achievement! You look fabulous. :flowerforyou:

wannabesexymama · October 2011

:flowerforyou: WTG hun such a big achievement!! I also must say I hate tall woman lol J/K I was 200 and looked like I was 300 because Im a shorty (5ft) You look soo great CONGRATS and keep up the good work!

sandhillcrane · October 2011

I'm really happy for you! Congrats;-)) You look amazing! Keep us posted. It is so encouraging to hear/see success stories! :flowerforyou:

kateopotato · October 2011

Seriously, thank you all for your kind words! I am glad that my story and/or pictures could help some people! It makes it feel like this journey was for a reason. The best advice I can give to those of you starting off is to take full body pictures of yourself for comparison. There will be weeks and months that the scale may not be cooperating and you get frustrated but it helps to look back and see what you looked like compared to where you have gotten.

You look great! I like reading stories about tall people because I'm 5'10". If this isn't too intrusive, do you mind telling what clothing size you are now?

I started off in a 20 (still in some 18s although I was kidding myself that they still fit). Now I have a handful of 16s that are a little baggy and a couple 14s that are a little tight. I think a couple more lbs and the 14s will fit wonderfully. As for shirts- I am still in a large/xl depending on the cut of the shirt, but I blame the girls for that. They have gotten a lot smaller but are still quite big!

One thing I noticed with clothing sizes is that it seems almost like the larger sizes have a wider range to them before going up/down. I had to get down to 220 or so before I could fit into 16s but then I got to 14s a lot faster. I had friends telling me that every 10 lbs is down a pants size but that was NOT the case for me. I had lost almost 30 lbs and went down 1 size. I think it depends on how and where your body stores fat and where it comes off. If it comes off pretty evenly all over it may take more weight to gi down a pants size.

All I know is that I don't EVER remember buying 14s before. In high school I wore guys pants because I was kind of Tom-boyish and baggy pants were the cool thing but I know they were 38s and pretty baggy. When I started buying girls pants I was in an 18 or 16. I know that with vanity sizing today's 14 was probably a 16 then though! Haha

I got a body composition analysis done at my drs office in march (I'm due for another soon) and at that time I was told I have something like 159.5 lbs of lean body mass. That was probably the most helpful thing to know that even if I was at 0% body fat I would be 160. It put goals into perspective and just shows that BMI does NOT work for everyone. If I get down to 185 and my lean body mass stays the same then my body fat % will be around 15% which will be awesome for a woman.

I've never "looked" my weights neither has anyone in my family. The hard part about that is it gave my mind an excuse. "so you weigh 250... You don't LOOK like you do, so that's ok"...

melanie_J · October 2011

Wow, from your highest weight to your current weight, you look like a brand new person (And I bet you feel like one too)! Good job!

Karen_145 · October 2011

Thanks for sharing your story. You look great! I'm also trying to underestimate exercise and overestimate calories. So far I'm losing at a good rate.

I really dislike BMI. I'm 5'4" and even if I get to my goal of 145 (which is skinny and manageable for me) I'm still considered overweight. Pfft.

autumnmoon2001 · October 2011

Thanks for sharing! and congratulations on your progress so far. It's nice to hear that your hard work paid off and to read your reminder about not letting the bad decisions we make totally discourage us from continuing toward the path of fitness. I really like the fact that you recorded not just the good days, but also the "bad" days, because that's really important to be honest with yourself and to learn about why those may happen, and possibly think about how we can have less of those "bad" days. Sometimes it's really tough, but it's how we learn best. Thanks for your story. It inspires me.:bigsmile:

Diane80lb · October 2011

For someone looking to lose 80 lbs, you are truly an inspiration to me, as I also look to the "Success Stories" for motivation. Thank you for sharing and being a positive influence! Congratulations on your weight loss! I hope you continue to achieve all of your goals!

Hopie17 · October 2011

so inspiring! i need to show this story to my mom cuz she broke her leg and gained weight too. she was bed ridden for about 2 years

aramintio · October 2011

I too cannot believe you are 207 in that last pic, you look WAY lighter! You look amazing though, well done! I am doing things like you - the progress seems slow right now but I can't wait to reevaluate this time next year and see how I've done.

happyheart15 · October 2011

Seriously, thank you all for your kind words! I am glad that my story and/or pictures could help some people! It makes it feel like this journey was for a reason. The best advice I can give to those of you starting off is to take full body pictures of yourself for comparison. There will be weeks and months that the scale may not be cooperating and you get frustrated but it helps to look back and see what you looked like compared to where you have gotten.

You look great! I like reading stories about tall people because I'm 5'10". If this isn't too intrusive, do you mind telling what clothing size you are now?

I started off in a 20 (still in some 18s although I was kidding myself that they still fit). Now I have a handful of 16s that are a little baggy and a couple 14s that are a little tight. I think a couple more lbs and the 14s will fit wonderfully. As for shirts- I am still in a large/xl depending on the cut of the shirt, but I blame the girls for that. They have gotten a lot smaller but are still quite big!

One thing I noticed with clothing sizes is that it seems almost like the larger sizes have a wider range to them before going up/down. I had to get down to 220 or so before I could fit into 16s but then I got to 14s a lot faster. I had friends telling me that every 10 lbs is down a pants size but that was NOT the case for me. I had lost almost 30 lbs and went down 1 size. I think it depends on how and where your body stores fat and where it comes off. If it comes off pretty evenly all over it may take more weight to gi down a pants size.

All I know is that I don't EVER remember buying 14s before. In high school I wore guys pants because I was kind of Tom-boyish and baggy pants were the cool thing but I know they were 38s and pretty baggy. When I started buying girls pants I was in an 18 or 16. I know that with vanity sizing today's 14 was probably a 16 then though! Haha

I got a body composition analysis done at my drs office in march (I'm due for another soon) and at that time I was told I have something like 159.5 lbs of lean body mass. That was probably the most helpful thing to know that even if I was at 0% body fat I would be 160. It put goals into perspective and just shows that BMI does NOT work for everyone. If I get down to 185 and my lean body mass stays the same then my body fat % will be around 15% which will be awesome for a woman. I've never "looked" my weights neither has anyone in my family. The hard part about that is it gave my mind an excuse. "so you weigh 250... You don't LOOK like you do, so that's ok"...

I definitely identify with being tall and plus sized and it taking a long time for sizes to go down. I started out at 270, have lost about 15 pounds, and still haven't gone down a size. I was in 18W pushing into 20W, but after the loss I'm still in a 18W. But from when I lost weight before, I know that I should be in a regular 18 at around 240 and a regular 16 at about 225 or 220. Can't wait to get to "regular" sizes!

congrats on your loss!

Ally_Clare · October 2011

You look absolutely amazing! Congratulations on your weight loss, it was so inspiring to read. Best of luck with your goals xxx

CathiWiltsey · October 2011

Incredible! Inspirational! You look great and (more importantly) you osund happy. A story like yours helpd keep me, and I'm sure many others, motivated and focused. Thanks for sharing it with us.

RuthAne · October 2011

Wow!

AloyMomNwife · October 2011

Congratulations!!! It's a great feeling not to be alone in this journey and even better to see what people in the same situation have achieved. You are cute as a button!! Keep up the good work!! You look fantastic!!

Sul3i · October 2011

Wow! Amazing job! U should b soo proud of yourself!

& u look great! Thanx for sharing your story & I can't wait to see what I look like after a yr! Keep up the great work & as I too know it is LIFE CHANGING!
:flowerforyou:

bluecollarfrench · October 2011

You look absolutely great. Amazing the transformation.

zoombie_bear · October 2011

wow great progress, you don't look 207 now, you look way smaller then that, what is your goal, you are doing great for yourself and look very happy too, congrats