Six months on MFP pics (and why you should weight train!)

Hi All,

I realized it's my 6 month MFP anniversary, and since I haven't posted any photos so far, maybe it's time. And a little disclaimer: Yeah, these photos are bad, grainy and some are blurry. They were just for my own reference, so don't expect photographic magic here The main reason I'm posting these though is I looked at them the other day and realized that my most significant progress has been since I started New Rules of Lifting for Women a couple months ago.

At the beginning of this journey I was eating poorly, sitting all day at a desk job and getting no exercise. I've gone through many health and fitness "kicks" in my life, but I was definitely in a low spot in October, at my heaviest weight ever and feeling like a blob. I started MFP, began the Couch to 5K program, and bought an elliptical. In February I started weight training, and on April first I ran my first 5K race (still hard for me to believe..since in October I could run for less than 1 minute without getting winded)!
I'm currently doing New Rules of Lifting 3x week, and running 3x week, working towards being able to run 10K. My fiance and I have also started focusing on eating clean, whole food - local and organic as much as we can.

From October to December I had my MFP calorie goal set to 1200 net. In late December I upped it to 1350, then 1400 in February, and again to 1500 last month. I have been feeling pretty good with the 1500 net, which means I usually consume 1800-2000 calories per day.

Here are my progress stats:

Age: 28
Height: 5' 4"
SW: 150lbs

November 2011 Stats (I didn't take measurements in October when I first started):
Weight: 142lb
Bust: 36"
Waist: 29"
Abdomen: 35"
Bum: 39"
Left Leg: 20.5"
Right Leg: 20"
Left Arm: 12"
Right Arm: 11.5"

April 2012 Stats:
Weight: 128lb
Bust: 34"
Waist: 26.5"
Abdomen: 32"
Bum: 36.75"
Left Leg: 19"
Right Leg: 18.5"
Left Arm: 10.5"
Right Arm: 11"

Total Inches Lost: 14.75"
Total Pounds Lost: 22lbs






From November-February, I was doing mostly cardio (running, elliptical), with the occasional P90X strength video or some machines at the gym. I can see my progress from Nov-Feb in the pictures, but it seems that while I was getting smaller, my overall shape didn't change a huge amount.

In February is when I started lifting (doing New Rules of Lifting for Women). As you can see, after a couple months of that, in my April picture I am finally starting to tone up a bit! Even though this is the smallest difference in pounds (only 3 pounds lost from February to April), I think it's by far the most significant change in my appearance.

So if you're not sure about lifting, or worried about not losing pounds on the scale, like I was - don't be! I am way more excited about my progress in the last few months than I was about just losing pounds for 4 months before that.

I feel I still have a looong way to go - I am only 3lbs from my original goal weight, but my focus is no longer on the number. I am judging my results on how I look and feel If I could get down to 120 that'd be awesome, but only if I can take some muscle definition with me! I'm excited to see where I'll be in another 6 months, or a year...