95 lbs down - the last mile

Was going to wait until I have been here one year and share what I am hoping will be my final after picture, but have been getting so many compliments as of late that I wanted to share my journey so far.

I was always very thin as a teenager and was as low as a size 3/5 but had to starve and exercise like crazy to maintain that, my body naturally sits around a 10/11 otherwise.

I have been holding onto over 100 lbs for most of my adult life since my first child was born in 1995. I have gone up and down with my weight and lost good chunks of weight doing weight watchers and various other "diets" for the past 16 years but it never stays off. I have had five pregnancies in total and did good keeping my weight in check during the pregnancy but would always end up weighing more then when I went into labor. Looking through my photos to find before and afters I could really see my weight fluctuating up and down over the years but I haven't been below 200 lbs since before the birth of my third child in 2001.

Here is a pic of me during my fifth pregnancy (which is the only thing I could find at my heaviest weight, i never allowed full body shots, thought i was being good about hiding it, isn't it funny how we fool ourselves?)



Another photo from what I guess is my highest, my friend shared this with me when I first re-started my journey.



In Sept of 2010 I was so tired, my knees hurt, my back hurt, I had no energy, I could barely make it through the day and with five kids that is not something you want to deal with. My friend was doing Atkins and I gave it a try. I took off 35 pounds pretty quickly and was feeling good but then it would not come off anymore after that, so I maintained that for an entire year fluctuating up and down about 5 lbs. In Sept of 2011 I decided it was time to get serious and actually started learning about nutrition. I joined MFP and started logging my calories meticulously and started a spreadsheet where I could see weight trends etc.

This before picture is after 35 lbs down and at my 20 year high school reunion where I was feeling pretty good about myself. Funny thing is it was seeing these pictures after the reunion that motivated me to restart my weight loss.

The after was taken just a few days ago. I have at least another 20 lbs to go possibly 30, but right now I am so excited. I am wearing size 10's and for the first time in years I way almost the same as my very thin husband. I am shopping for swimsuits and cute tops and I love shopping again, it is no longer a chore.



I hope this is motivation for others out there with the daunting task of over 100 lbs to lose, never in my wildest dreams did I think I could do it, and I am such a different person for it. I LOVE to eat healthy and exercise and that is a complete shock to me. I always did it before until I lost the weight, but now I know this is how I want to be the rest of my life. To be there for my kids and future grand kids.