I have finally achieved what I never thought was possible, what I have never been in my adult, what I probably have not been since I was 5...I'M OVERWEIGHT! In your face obesity!
At my highest, I was 312 and a sophomore in college (I was 299 as a senior in high school; stupid freshman 15). At the time, I was weighing in to compete in the very first Discovery Health Challenge along with my sister. I managed to lose about 30 pounds in three months by exercising in my room and eliminating drinking soda. I was incredibly proud of this accomplishment. I could now fit into my size 26W jeans, which were very snug and even some of the buttons had broken off, for which I was using safety pins and hope to keep my pants from completely falling apart or down.
It never crossed my mind to continue my weight loss journey, so I remained in the 270-280 range for several years (about 8) until I finally decided that I really wanted to wear a smaller size. At this time, I was wearing a size 22W in pants and XXL/1X in tops. So, in late August 2010 at 268 lbs, I decided I would try the Alli program. The commercials made it look like a great program and I was well aware of the, ahem, stinky side effects. This program worked well for me and I managed to lose about 41 pounds in 6-7 months. I then decided that the majority of my weight loss was most likely due to the reduced-calorie diet (1800 calories) and that I could no longer justify the expense, so I stopped ordering the Alli pills and decided to just participate in calorie counting, sticking to the 1800-diet. I have lost 43 pounds since then. And, as of yesterday, February 1st, I have an Overweight BMI.
I have never been this excited in my life. When I saw 184.5 on the scale, I literally jumped in the air and started cheering. Nearly broke my scale, but it has survived and continues to cooperate on my weight loss journey (weighed in at 184 this morning).
I have attached four pictures of me. The first is me at my college graduation in May 2004 and the second is me at Christmas morning in 2003 (I apologize about the horrific nature of my hair and clothing in this pic). I was in the 280s at this point. The last two pictures are of me as of today at 184 lbs. In the third, I am wearing my college graduation dress, which is a size 26W and engulfs my small frame now. In the fourth picture, I am wearing a sweater dress/shirt from H&M (size L) and skinny jeans from Old Navy (size 14).
I'M OVERWEIGHT, *****ES. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!