90th day on MFP and I reached my goal! 15lbs GONE!

*Warning: bikini photos at the end of this post! I know some people don't like those :ohwell: *

Hi everyone! I am so excited because today I reached my goal weight! I haven't been this light since before I came to college and I'm so proud. Of course, I couldn't have done it without MFP!

Now, I'm not totally done. Due to my busy schedule, I've focused a lot more on eating well than on working out, so I've got some serious toning to do! My plan is to start eating at maintenance but working out at least 3-4 times a week and see if I can build up some muscle.

Since everyone always asks for specifics, here's what worked for me:
-Most of the time, I did eat my exercise calories back. The only times I didn't were times when I was really full and just couldn't do it. I'm a firm believer in not letting net calories get too low, and I believe there is a reason MFP adds calories back into your allowance when you work out!
-I'm of the "everything in moderation" school. If you look at my diary you'll see plenty of days where I ate ice cream, or pizza, or fries, or whatever. Don't get me wrong; my eating habits greatly improved! I used to eat fast food literally every day. But I knew I wouldn't be able to stick to my diet if I deprived myself, so I still allowed myself to have my favorites - just a lot less than before!
-Recently I adapted the "zig zag" method and I love it! There were plenty of days where I was staying a couple hundred calories below my goal - I just wasn't hungry enough to eat all of them. So I thought, why can't there be days when I go a little over? I started focusing on staying under my weekly calorie allowance more so than my daily, and it made things so much easier. I still lost consistently, and it allowed me to splurge on days where I had special events, since other days I was staying under!
-I originally started eating at the 1200 MFP recommended, but after reading a lot of forum posts I upped my cals to 1440 to be above my BMR (but below my TDEE). I still lost consistently and it was a lot easier to stick to!

I think that about covers it! Here's the picture proof!

BEFORE (145lbs)
Natural Waist: 31
Waist: 35
Hips: 39
Neck: 14









AFTER (130lbs)
Natural Waist: 27
Waist: 32
Hips: 35.5
Neck: 12.5







(You can see a couple of the "before" images are of better quality... I did a little modeling for fun last year. When I have the time, I want to do another photoshoot of the new me! I'll probably share those pics when that happens )

Thank you, MFP, for being so supportive and so awesome!