He's done, I'm close! (with pics) 45kgs gone!

Hi everyone,

In June 2011, my partner and I had just returned from spending a long weekend in Cairns on the Great Barrier Reef (Australia). We stayed with friends and did the touristy things - swam, ate, drunk, and had a good time. We had an excellent time away. I came home, uploaded the photos to facebook and almost died. Two days later I jumped on the scales and decided to do something about it....

Here are some of those photos....


I was the biggest I've ever been. 94.8kgs (209lbs) and was so unfit and unhealthy is was scary. I was squuzing myself into a size 18 when in reality I probably should have been a 20 perhaps. Damien (whilst not the biggest he's ever been) was 98.8kgs (217lbs) and was just as unhappy, unhealthy and as much of a blob as I was.

So we found MFP and havent looked back. In 6 months we've lost 45kgs (99lbs!) betwen us (and our dogs have lost about 5kgs too - so our household is so much healthier hehe!) We've still had a life during this time - weve actually spent 5 weeks of this time overseas on holidays, wever both attended parties, weddings and visited family interstate.




This week has been a big week of milestones for me - so I thought this was a good a time as ever to post our success story. This week:
* Ive gotten back into my size 12 jeans from 2005!!
* I am now a size 10 (in everything other than my jeans lol)
* I ran 10kms, - my first attempt and I did it non stop and in under an hour!
* I hit 25kgs gone and I am now the smallest I have ever been in my adult life.

I still have another 5-10kgs to go. Im not sure yet - at least 5kgs and I might stop there. Damien has reached his goal a few weeks back and is now focussing on building muscle. He's also training to become a casual gym instructor with Les Mills 'Body Pump'. Im now training for a 10km race in April where the cut off time is 50mins. Both of us have plans to run triathlons sometime during this year, and will run Sydney's City to Surf in August. We have both changed our lifestyle completely and know we will never return to what we used to be. We've got goals and ambitions for this year and next and well into the future - which will ensure we never go back to being 'that'.

I know people will ask how we did it, and I'm happy to share my story - BUT - I am a big believer that a person's journey in weightloss is as individual as the person themselves. What I did wont necessary work for others. But here goes.
* I stuck to 1200 calorie diet and didnt eat my exercise calories back at all - now I am running longer I eat about an extra 200 calories on those days. Damien stuck to 1500 initially, then upped it to 1800 and gradually started to eat back exercise calories. He is now in full maitenance mode.
* We eat 2 serves of fruit minimum, and 5 serves of vegetables a day before we even consider treats. As far as I'm concerned you dont eat crap until you've met the dietary needs of your body. We switched to low fat dairy and lean, quality meats.
* We participate in 'Meatless Monday' every week. This alone forced us to be creative in the kitchen and find new things to cook - and now some of our favourite dishes are made with legumes and veggies! By learning to cook new things, we tried new foods and got out of the unhealthy rut we were in with takeaways, and bad cooking practices.
* I dont tend to eat too many typical carbs (rice, pasta or potato) but thats because I never have really. But if I want mashed potato, I make it happen - by going without a slice of bread for instance.
* We plan our meals for the week each Saturday. We cook lunches for the week on Sunday which has saved us $15 a day each on buying lunches!
* We exercised every day, even if it was just a brisk walk with our dogs. We joined a gym and lift weights together 1-2 times, we swim 1.3kms once a week and we do cardio classes like rpm and pump. Damien even did Zumba with me initially (until the gym lost the awesome zumba instructor and the new one isnt as good!) we made sure exercise was fun!
* We became runners by participating in street orienteering. Its amazing how easy it is to run when you are concentrating on finding your way around a map, and not looking at the clock!
* We stopped drinking alcohol on week nights and switched to light beer if we wanted to have 'a big night'. If we do, I dont mind if I go over on my calorie count, because generally Im always under 6 other days of the week. I log EVERYTHING - even if Im over shamefully lol.
* We make healthy choices when we go out to dinner - Indian, pub meals, Japanese and Sunday brunch - they all have low calorie options if you make the right choice!
* Sometimes I just decide to go hard for a week. Just because I can and want too.
* I dont feel deprived in any way, and I dont go hungry. For me this has been a learning curve. You cant eat chocolate, lollies, icecream, excess meat, and a whole pizza without doing damage to yourself. Icecream and lollies had become an everyday thing for me - and they shouldnt be for anyone. I just told myself that I no longer needed these, and gave them up. I weighed up the few minutes of pleasure versus a life time of health problems and excess weight and I no longer want those things. It wasnt a hard choice. But it was one I wish I had made years earlier!

So when I get to goal Im going to get my motorbike licence - thats when I get to a minimum of 30kgs gone. 4.8kgs to go and I cant wait! Im living life to the fullest and Ive never been happier. For anyone that isnt sure they can do this - you can. If you want it - you can do anything. I hope my story inspires someone - like many stories on here have inspired me. And a last shout out to my friends on here - I think I have some of the best friends a mfpal can ever have and I thank them for helping me get to this journey. My biggest thanks goes to Damien - who has supported me through every grunt, sweat drop, and tear so far. You're the best babe!! (Oh and Damien is Damp_29 if anyone is wondering!!)