81 Pounds Lost in 1 Year (Pics!)

Hello MFP friends,
I'm a little late, but yesterday was my one year anniversary of being on MFP and starting my weight lost journey. In all honesty, time has flown by! A year went by way faster than I thought it would, and I can't believe how far I've come!

I have always been heavy since I was about 14 or so. I had no excuse... I loved food and I was lazy! I wasn't educated on proper nutrition, nor did I care. And exercise did not interest me one bit. There were times when I had tried to lose weight, but I never went into it whole heartedly, and I only lasted a week or so every time.

In January 2011, a couple co-workers at my job decided to start a Biggest Loser competition. I work in the NICU at Children's Hospital in Washington, DC... so it was a bunch of girls on a mission to lose weight! We divided into 6 teams, 7 people on each team. The rule was that in the end the team who loses the biggest percentage of weight gets half of the money, and the individual who loses the biggest percentage gets the other half. It was $20 to join, and $2 at every weigh in, which happened weekly.

I saw this as a great opportunity and decided to give it a try! I am a VERY competitive person, so I really think this was the push I needed to start losing weight! The first day we started, I was looking through my phone for weight loss apps. The first one I saw was MyFitnessPal and it seemed like the perfect app for me. I downloaded it and started logging. It started me off at 1,440 calories a day.

I did good at staying under my calories every day, and exercising a tiny bit. I mostly walked in the beginning and did some Jillian Michael's videos here and there. Every week I weighed in just kept getting better and better. 2 pounds, 3 pounds, 4 pounds... and sometimes 6 pounds! The weight was just falling off and I was loving every minute of it! I couldn't believe how easy it was. Just stay in my calorie limit and exercise? Wow... so simple! And I never even belonged to a gym this whole time!:)

I averaged about 10 pounds lost every month! After the 12 weeks of the Biggest Loser was over, I had lost about 33 pounds or so. I ended up winning the most percentage lost individually AND for the team I was on! I won 900 dollars all together!:-)

Winning the Biggest Loser was amazing, but it wasn't everything! I won so much more than that. I gained so much confidence and the determination to keep going! I still had more weight to lose and I knew I could do it now that I had the knowledge and tools I needed.

This past year I started and finished Couch to 5k, I ran four 5k's, one 10k, one 15k, and one Warrior Dash. I also passed the physical agility test for a Police Department, as well as for a Fire Department. I'm currently in the process of being hired by the Prince George's County Fire Department which is the job I have always wanted but never thought I could do before. 2011 was an amazing year. I learned so much. I'm a whole new person with a different outlook on life. I never would have dreamed of being where I'm at now and I couldn't be happier. I love my life more and more every day.

Although I was 0.4 pounds away from my original goal weight of 150, I still feel that I accomplished my goal, and then some! I don't feel that 150 is exactly where I want to be. I think I will slowly keep losing weight and decrease my goal by 5 pound increments till I get to where I feel satisfied:) So 145 it is! I also need to work on toning a lot now... especially in my stomach!

Sorry for this long story! I just wanted to give you the background on my weight loss journey. I also want to thank ALL of my MFP family!! Without the constant support of you guys, this journey would not have been the same!! I love having you guys as friends and I'm sure we will be here for each other for a long time!!:) Thanks for reading!!!:)

Anna

START - 1/9/11
Height - 5'5 Age - 22
Weight - 231.4
Waist - 40 inches
Hips - 44 inches
Arms - 13 inches (x2)
Thighs - 27 inches (x2)
Calves - 16 inches (x2)
Chest - 43 inches

Jeans - Size 18/20
Shirts - 2XL
Bra - 40D

FINISH - 1/9/12
Height 5'5 Age -23
Weight - 150.4
Waist - 32 = 8 inches lost
Hips - 37 = 7 inches lost
Arms - 10.5 = 2.5 inches lost (x2)
Thighs - 21 = 6 inches lost (x2)
Left Calf - 14 = 2 inches lost
Right Calf - 14.5 = 1.5 inches lost
Chest - 38 = 5 inches lost

TOTAL INCHES LOST = 40.5

Jeans - Size 11
Shirts - Medium
Bra - 38C