My Before & After - 61 lbs lost w/pics! Yay!!

Thats fantastic progress! You look amazing!! Can you tell us a little bit about how you acheived your goal? How many days a week you work out & what you do for workouts?

Great job

Well I always danced (ballet, lyrical, jazz, tap, hip hop) twice a week, 2 1/2 hours each time during the 'school year', less in the summer, even when I was at my highest weight. So I continued that. But when I started mfp and really focusing on losing weight I also started going to the gym. I would go to the gym 2-3 days per week (during the 'school year' in addition to dancing 2 nights a week). If I didn't go to the gym then I would take long walks. Over the summer I went to the gym A LOT, since I wasn't dancing as often. When I go to the gym my workout consisted of a minimum of 60 minutes on 2 different types of ellipticals. I would frequently change the resistance and ramp to keep variety in the workout. I also always try to then do strength training as well. At the very least I always do crunches and push ups/reverse push ups. Probably about 1 1/2 months ago I started running (something I never thought I could do since my feet always went numb, plus I always hated it! lol) and I'm getting addicted, lol! I have now run for 60 minutes straight, not dropping below 6 mph, on 3 separate occasions!

Let's see, what else? For me a huge deal was portion size. My ex always ate HUGE portions so I got used to thinking that I was eating a normal amount because my portion was smaller than his. THIS WAS NOT TRUE! Lol. Also, making healthier food choices and cutting out lots of alcohol really helped. And I know this is a hotly debated topic but for me personally, I generally ate back at least 1/2 of my workout calories.

Well sorry, that was lengthy, but hopefully it'll help someone!

What exercises did you do? How many calories did you burn a week?

If you look about 1/2 way down page 2 of this thread I posted some of what my workouts are like.

I'd say my gym workouts average anywhere from 800-1000 cals burned, and I think I burn somewhere around 600-700 for 2 1/2 hours of dance classes. I've actually never used a HRM so I don't know exactly how accurate my estimates are. I am living proof that you don't need a HRM to lose weight though! :laugh:

That looks IMPOSSIBLE. Are you sure you just dont have a thinner twin sister around somewhere? Who would think that those are the same two girls? It sounds like that nasty word "excercise" was a huge part of your rapid and impressive weight loss. You should be so proud of yourself for accomplishing this, not only do you look MAAAARVELOUS, you most likely tremendously improved your future health . Way to go. Thanks for giving us old folks the example on how to do it.

This made me LOL! Thank you! And nope, it's not some secret doppelganger of mine!