52 lbs so far... before and after!

Hi everyone!!! I'm brand new to the forums, I've lurked on here ever since I first started MFP, but never posted anything. I think I am finally comfortable enough with myself to show off some before and after photos. Just thought I would share my story and hopefully it will give someone the little boost of motivation they were looking for. Because seriously.. If I can do it, ANYONE can do it.

So.. my whole life I was the "chubby girl". I've always been overweight. From about 5th grade on I wore a size 12. In my first year of college I gained about 5-10 lbs and was barely squeezing into my 12s, then I started dating my boyfriend. That was in 2008. I went from about 160 to 178 in our first two years together, also in those first couple years I moved out of my Mom's house and in with him, we ate out a lot, and ate super unhealthy, I mean SUPER unhealthy. And humongous portions. I also quit college and got a desk job about 6 months after he and I got together. So I was completely inactive and eating everything in site. It wasn't pretty. We both gained weight, but my bf runs at work all day, and rides bmx bikes for fun, so he didn't put it on quite as quickly as I did, and I was so disgusted with myself, I didn't want anyone to see me. I quit going out and became a homebody, which made me even more inactive and more likely to overeat.

SEVERAL BEFORE PHOTOS:






That last photo was taken on the day he and I decided we needed to take some action and join a gym, it was August of 2010 and I weighed 178. That morning we had gone to Gold's Gym, signed up for memberships, then proceeded to go to Moes (the burrito place) and eat burritos covered in queso...lol.

Either way, the first 6 months of working out were brutal. My body wasn't used to it, I didn't know what to do, I was embarrassed to be seen at the gym, and I was clueless about what I should be eating to aid weight loss. We joined the gym in the beginning of August and I set a goal to be 10 lbs lighter by Christmas time. Well.. I'll just say that the only reason I was 10 lbs lighter on Christmas morning was because I just got over a nasty bout of the stomach flu. Seriously though, by the new year (2011) I was at 175, I had only lost 3lbs since August.

This kept up until about March 2011. We got invited to a friend's wedding in mid June and I had my heart set on weighing 140lbs by the time the wedding rolled around. I got SERIOUS about losing weight. I finally started doing some research on nutrition, weight loss, metabolism, and work outs. Right about this time I randomly found myfitnesspal on a message board. I checked it out and it made sense. I put in my weight in, set my goal at 1 lb a week, and it told me to eat 1360 calories. I became a little obsessed with counting calories, and making sure the calories I did get were healthy ones. I started hitting the gym 6-7 days a week for about a hour a half each day, two-three hours on the weekends. The weight started falling off. I was losing 10 lbs a month! I went from 170-140 in 3 months, and I met my goal. These are some photos from right about that time:







By the time fall 2011 came along I was at around 135 decided I would maintain my weight of about 135 through the winter. Then I set a new goal for myself that by THIS summer (2012) I would be at 120lbs and that would be my stopping point. Well, I maintained all winter, and started really going at it again about a month and a half ago.

This is what I looked like around Christmas, at about 133lbs:






Right around the beginning of March I picked up where I left off. So far I have lost another 8 lbs and am on track to be around 120 for the end of May. I have never looked better, or felt better about myself, and not just the way I look, but the way I feel. I have so much more self-confidence now, something I had hardly any of my whole life. I have a positive outlook on life, and I can't wait to feel like this for the rest of my life. It's wonderful. I am admittedly a bit of a gym rat. I spend a lot of time at the gym, and currently am really starting to get into weight training and toning. It's making a huge difference in my body, and it's crazy to watch my body change. I am happy with the way I eat, I am ALMOST a vegetarian but I can't fully give up meat. I eat as much veggies and fruit as I can squeeze in though. I eat around 1500-2200 calories a day but I burn anywhere from 500-1500 calories in exercise, so I adjust my food intake accordingly. I look at food more as fuel for my body then for comfort. But I do LOVE food.

This is me now, although it's not the best photo, I really should take one that shows me off a little more:



If anyone needs any tips, or help or motivation please let me know. In my free time I research food and exercise as much as I can and I'm a wealth of low-calorie information! I'd be happy to help or talk with anyone who is looking for advice.

Also, MYFITNESSPAL RULES!! I could not have done it without this website!!