5'5" Down to 139.6 from 183 w/pictures (caution long story)

Hey everyone! My name is Sharie, and this is my success story. I posted it a while ago, and I wanted to update it and repost based on my more recent progress. I am 4 lbs. away from my goal weight and loving it. I couldn't have come this far without this website and the amazing people on it. So, without further ado, I bring you my success story haha :

About 8 months ago, I hit what I hope would be my rock bottom in life. I weighed the heaviest I ever did, I wasn't in school because I had to withdraw for a back injury, and my hours at work were minimal. On top of all of this, was the thing I was least proud of. From a surgery I had on my cheekbone a couple of years ago, I had developed a nasty habit. The surgery was very painful, and so naturally my doctor prescribed me some pretty strong pain medication. Which in the beginning, I was very thankful for because of the pain that I was in. Time progressed, and the pain let up. At this point I had been on opiate medications for a couple of months. My doctor then told me that everything was healing as planned, and I could stop taking the pain medication and replace it with ibuprofen. Well, at this point I was already physically addicted to them, and was completely terrified of the way I felt when I stopped taking the pain medication. I was embarassed, ashamed, and I had no idea where to turn. I began buying the medication on the street, wherever I could just to feel normal. This went on for a couple of years, and I did some things that I am definitely not proud of.

Eight months ago, my little cousin, my best friend, was taken from this world in a fatal car accident. The whole family was just devestated, and we still are. It gave me some time to evaluate my life. If you don't believe in the supernatural, you should probably stop reading here. A few nights after the funeral, I was coming home from work and my parents were sitting in the livingroom. My mom asked me to sit down next to her, and she held me very tight. She began to tell me about a dream that she had. Sabastian (my late cousin) had come to her, and said that he was worried about me. She asked me if there was anything she should be worried about, and I lied. I told her no, everything was fine, my back was bothering me, and I was distraught about my cousin. That night, I couldn't sleep. All that I could do was think about how Sabastian was trying to help me, and I was just flat out denying it. The next day, I decided that I needed to get help. I went online, and found a doctor, a psychiatrist, and some local NA meetings to attend. After getting everything planned out, I told my parents. This was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. I was afraid they were going to yell, scream, disown me, hate me forever, I don't know, I just feared the worst. They didn't do any of that. They accepted it, supported me, and my mom stayed up and held me all night as I was going through withdrawal preparing to get clean, and my father did the best that he could to try and keep my spirits up through the night. I will remember that night for the rest of my life. I couldn't have been more thankful for the love I had surrounding me. It occured to me at that moment what unconditional love was, and I was experiencing it first hand. I knew at that moment that I could do it.

My parents were really my saving grace in this whole process. My mom and dad went to Narcotics Anonymous for family members of addicts so that they could learn more about my addiction. They came with me to my first doctor's appointment, brought me everywhere that I needed to go, and paid for the majority of my treatment. They gave me words of encouragement, love, and motivation to get through this all. They even brought my boyfriend and I out to do plenty of activities and weekend getaways to help distract me from the negative side of withdrawal. Well, now 8-9 months later, here I am, clean as a whistle, and making every improvement in my life that I can.


One day, my mom asked me to hit a zumba class with her. I wasn't going to go at first, but then I thought about that night that she held me, and comforted me at my lowest, and realized that I at least owed it to her to go humor her. So I went with her, and to my surprise ended up having a blast! That night, I signed up for a full time membership at the gym, and signed up on MFP to start my diet. My dad even joined in on our workout routines to help keep us motivated. He did some of the Couch to 5K runs with us, did some at home videos with me, and lots of other things that really meant the world to me. My best friend, who also supported me through my recovery, then started working out with me. From there on out, there was no turning back! Also, I would like to note that 16 days ago I quit smoking cigarettes. It is a long and hard process, but it's getting easier every day. Once again, my family and friends have given me an incredible amount of support that has helped me through. Here I am now, 43 lbs. lighter, a whole lot cleaner, and happier than I've ever been in my entire life! Okay, now I'm past the boring stuff, here's some progress pictures

I'm 5'5" and 23 years old:

SW: 183
CW: 139.6
GW: 130-135

Me at my largest (183) I was deathly afraid to take a real progress picture, so here's the closest one I have to the angle I'm standing in the rest lol


12-15-2011 174 lbs. 9 lbs. lost


1-8-2012 168 lbs.16 lbs. lost


2-22-2012 159 lbs. 24 lbs. lost


3-14-2012 152.4 lbs. 30.6 lbs. lost


5-17-2012 139.6 43.4 lbs. lost


I hope you all enjoyed! And since I know a lot of you are going to ask, here's what I do:
I lost by eating more believe it or not. When I started at 1200 I lost quickly for the first month or so, and then stopped dead in my tracks for a month. It was recommended that I up my calories, so I tried it. I upped them to 1560, and started losing again! Here's a workout week at a glance for me (I do all of these, missing a few every once in a while, but this is my normal schedule):

All classes are 45 minutes.

Sunday: 2 hour walk with best friend, mountain bike ride with boyfriend, C25K run with my mom
Monday: T3 class (strength training class), and an at home workout DVD
Tuesday: C25K run with my mom, Yoga class, Zumba class, and NIA class (low impact dance aerobics)
Wednesday: T3 class, Pilates class, Zumba class
Thursday: Yoga class, Step aerobics class, C25K run with my mom
Friday: Step aerobics class
Saturday: a light walk, or nothing (I need my rest day! lol)