1 year

May 4th, 2011 I weighed in at 215 and my waist was 46" around. I met with a free health coach for the first time at my Dr's office. She put it to me straight. Change my ways or die young.



The day before I had 4 pieces of pizza for lunch and 2 for snack. I drank regular Dr. Pepper. I often ate a family size bag of Twizzlers every 2-3 days! I was always hungry and never felt full.

I was on an antidepressant, an anti-anxiety, something for sleep, and something for itchy skin.

My body always hurt. I felt like my height was shrinking. I would sit all day at work and go home and sit all night. My body felt permanently bent in the sitting position. We ate out 5 or so nights and week and most lunches too. When I did cook it was almost always mac and cheese or hamburger helper.

I was tired of being tired and decided to do something about it!

First thing I did was sign up at MFP and bought a postage scale. My portion sizes were much larger then what I needed. I made changes slowly. First was to get rid of pop. I did this by drinking Crystal Light. Then I got rid of that and now only drink water.

I started walking a couple nights a week. 1 mile.

I went to the running store to get some shoes and they told me to sign up for the "Beginner's Luck" class they owner had every year.

The class started the first week and is similar to Couch25K. The beginning was utterly HORRID. Everything hurt more then I could imagine! When we were at about the 3rd class I said to a fellow runner that maybe it was better to be fat. She simply said "never". It clicked. She was right. Being fat meant never fitting into anything, never being comfortable, never being happy, never feeling well. No, those things were never better!

I kept going. Ran a 5k at the end of the summer when the heat index was over 100 degrees and finished in around 55 minutes.



Kept going.

Ran a 10K in October in 80 minutes. The longest I had ran. The first time I never walked.


Ran Soaring Wings virtual half marathon at the end of October in 2:47:52.



I kept running and losing and running and losing.

I signed up for a full marathon in December and started training in January.

I got a stress fracture in February.



I started riding a bicycle and signed up for back to back centuries in June.

Sunday is the marathon. I haven't ran but a couple of miles since January. I am going out there and I will see what happens. I refuse to quit and do nothing.

May 4th, 2012 I weigh 133.5 pounds and my waist is 33". (goal was to get to 135)

Total loss: 81.5 pounds

Waist loss: 13"

Pant size: Was a tight 18, now a 4

Shirt size: Was 2XL, now a small

Life gained: Not measurable!

I am not on any of those meds.

(As of right now I can't find my fat girl before pics.)

Here are my after pics. My new goals are to find a weight that is easy for my body to maintain. Get moar muscle. Run farther. Run faster. Cycle farther. Cycle faster. Learn how to swim. Learn how to be happy in this body I have worked hard for!










Also to note. I didn't start out eating super healthy. My eating habits have steadily gotten better over time. 2 months ago I gave up processed sugar. I have since dropped 2 pant sizes while exercising less and eating more... I eat very little processed food and we prepare our food at home.

This is a life style change worth making and keeping.

I am excited to be alive and to LIVE this life and not just subsist!