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For anyone who may be struggling, hitting a discouraging plateau, not seeing the results they want on the scale...just know that this has been a 7-year weight loss for me. It's not instant and it takes time, but never, never give up. You deserve the healthy body you've always dreamed of. Don't diet, make a lifestyle change that includes healthier eating habits and exercise.
Me in December 2003:
Me in March 2011:
This photo was actually me at about 63 pounds down, but i've since lost 3 more pounds. Sorry it's sort of a ridiculous picture, I was at a Mardi Gras parade lol.
I have weighed in at 157.8 this morning, officially putting me at my goal of losing 20 pounds in 2011. I took the bottom 2 pics a couple of days ago when I hit 158.0, which marks the 70-pound weight loss milestone. This first pic is a comparison pic of me at Christmas-time when I was 20lbs heavier for comparison for weight lost this year alone:
I swear I shave my armpits, I must have had a little 5 o'clock shadow growing because I realize they look like they are not shaved, but I shave them every single day! LOL!
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Last edited by MaddiesMama; July 31st, 2011 at 04:24 PM.
Amazing! You look great! What's your overall goal? Are you at your healthy weight now or still working on it?
__________________ Sara, 27, married to Shane, 31, mom to Gemma, 6, and Ashlyn, born 8/7/10
Running for my health and sanity!
PR's: 5k-25:05 (old PR 25:10), 5M-45:03 (old PR - 47:22), 10k - 52:00 (approximate - training), HM-2:25:58 (ran a 2:17:36 during marathon), Full- 4:49:25 (old PR -5:49:40), 50k-7:05:56, 50M-13:31:14, 100k- 18:59:31 (old PR 20:56)
(All of these PR's are going down this season!)
Thanks, ladies. Most days are still a struggle and some days I am more focused then others, but I want this to be a long term lifestyle change, so if I need to lose the weight in spurts and then maintain for a while, so be it.
Sara, I don't have a goal other than to be healthy and fit. When I first started losing weight, my original goal was 160. I am within 2 pounds of that original goal, but have no intention of stopping there. I don't know what "healthy and fit" means for me, but I will know it when I get there. I am going to slow down the weight loss once I hit 157, which is my 20-lb weight loss goal for this year, but I'm not stopping it completely. My DH deploys next month and I would like to lose 2lbs per month while he's gone, so I will be working on that in the immediate future. That's where I will need to get creative because I will no longer have access to the good gym on base and I refuse to shell out $70/month for the only gym here in town that has child care.
I'm happy and sad to say the red dress in the Christmas picture does not fit me at all now, it just hangs on me. Sad because I adore the dress, happy for obvious reasons!
Thank you all I lost an additional 2 pounds, bringing my total weight loss to 72 lbs. Then my hubby came home from deployment and I've already put 5 of it back on from eating more carbs because he does not like the low carb foods I eat And I already have to prepare a separate meal at mealtime for my daughter normally (dairy allergy) and I am not going to prepare a separate meal for everyone so it's just easier for me to adapt to what he eats than vice versa. Sad, but true.
My arms don't look like that anymore I had to stop lifting because it pulls something in my wrists. I went to my doctor for it, but I'm getting the typical "just take pain meds" runaround and they're not actually x-raying or anything. Actually, I take that back, I can still lift weights, but I can't lift anything heavier than 10lbs, but my wrist is most comfortable at 8lbs at the heaviest. I was so excited to have built up my muscles only to have to give it up because of lack of adequate medical care.
I absolutely love that you said to not diet but make a lifestyle change. That is exactly what I am doing, starting from today!!! I am so tired of being this size after putting on weight since giving birth to my son. I'm ready to have my pre-baby body back! May I ask what kind of things you were eating in order to lost weight?
It's evolved over the years. Back when I started, I didn't know anything at all about nutrition, so I lost about 40 pounds just by skipping dinner every night! I would NEVER advocate doing that now! But honestly back then, I didn't know any better. I thought since I had a big breakfast and big lunch, I could go without dinner. This is years and years ago, like back in 2004.
I held steady at about 40lbs down for several years. I was working out all the time, but couldn't figure out why I wasn't losing anymore weight and it's because I was still eating junk. I still didn't know that weight loss is 70% what you eat and 30% what you do at the gym. I thought I could burn 1200 calories and still eat junk. Wrong.
It's only been in the last couple of years that I've cleaned up my diet and lost the other 30lbs. When I'm eating ideally (and I'm not at the moment, totally guilty here), I eat less than 30g sugar a day - but I am not big on fruit so if you like fruit, you'll probably eat more than 30g sugar a day. I avoid a lot of carbs and try to eat about 100-140g of them a day. I always start my day off with 3/4c honey bunches of oats with almond milk and then throughout the day, I usually have 2 protein shakes, whatever I feel like having for lunch (always prepared at home), a couple of snacks of string cheese and a spinach salad with shredded chicken or beef for dinner. I adjust my caloric needs depending on my workouts...the more calories I burn, the more I eat to fuel my body. The hardest thing for me to remember is that when I'm strength training, to up my carb intake. I have it ingrained in my head that carbs are the enemy and I always feel bad about myself when I eat them. It's really hard for me to grasp that my body needs them. I also start sleepwalking when I consistently eat less than about 80g carbs a day. I have no idea why but I do. So anyway, I didn't mean to ramble, but the gist is to eat lots of protein, lean meats, veggies and drink only water. No diet soda, no Crystal Light, no tea, just straight water. I've taken baby steps in the last 7.5 years in this lifestyle change, but they've all led to good habits that are now a way of life, so I wouldn't have it any other way.
