hi,

wanted to share my before and after photos and most of all ENCOURAGE those of you thinking about starting their journeys. One year ago last Tuesday (right after MLK's holiday) I started on my journey at 201.6 pounds (now hovering from 125 to 128 or so, I am 5'2"). (hopefully you can see the pics, first time ever attaching stuff here)

i started with nutrisystem for about 4 months, then continued their plan but with grocery store boght items and counting calories, averaging 1200 to 1300 a day. did I always like the food? NO, but i assumed this was my "medicine" that was going to help me "get better" so I sucked it up and ate it. it felt like i ws eating constantly since I split up my meals so there woudl be like 6-7 mini meals throught the day and drank tons of water.
i exercised every morning, first thing, on the treadmill. at first it didnt matter if I only walked for 10 minutes, i would still get on the thing every morning. i knew i needed to create the habit and exercise my "mind muscle" in terms of creating the habit to move no matter what.
i read read read all i could about weight loss. blogs, forums, boards, books, etc. that just kep t me in the right frame of mind at all times.
i threw away ALL my large clothes (except a couple that serve as reminders of how far i have come). i want nothing that I could fit back into ever.
i weighed myself (and still do) every day (morning and evening). it doesnt affect my mood, i understand my fluctuations, and helps inform how I shoudl eat the rest of the day/week, month.
i reached my goal weight of no longer overweight (around 136) around september of 2011 and then the paradigm completely shifted as I continued to eat healthy and exercise and managed to get to where I am now, hovering between 125 (on an awesome day!) and 128 (usually on Mondays after a weekend of more relaxed eating and likely sodium retention). i have NOT been this light since 7th grade! (i am now 36). i couldnt believe i woudl fit in sizes 2s and 4s and smalls and extra smalls! yikes!
i now eat closer to 1700 and 1800 during weekdays (and exercise every weekday). on weekends i do not really count calories and dont necesariyl exercise (unless I feel like it or know I am really going to eat more than usual) . i do try to not eat until i am overstuffed.
over time in started incorporating jogging and videos (30 day shred and now ripped in 30, all of this at home. earlier on i did some zumba at the gym but that got to be too time consuming as my usual workout routing takes no more than 30 minutes early in the morning (yes, I wake up at 5:30 before the rest of the family to do this, no choice).
i have had eating disorders in the past (binging / purging) which have unfortunately resurfaced a bit as i entered maintenance. I am dealing with those, nipping them in the bud so to speak since. i think i am just afraid I will go back to being obese since I have been down this rroad in the past (lost and gained back a couple of times in my lifetime). but i think the difference now is I did it the right way (no crash dieting or starving myself but rather by eating healthy and exercising) so I am convinced that the longer I remain in this lifestyle, which barring illness, tragedy, or an aliean abduction, i just cannot see myself giving up, i will be more confident in myself that i am capable of keeping this up and that this will be for keeps

my wonderful hubby has been my stronghold as well as my kids and really all my family, coworkers, etc. hubby actually liked my chest bigger (went from 38dd to 34c), typical man but he is very proud of me as I am of myself.

IF I COULD DO IT, ANYONE CAN!!!!!!!

please ask away any questions you may have. thanks to all for yoru supert. even though i have barely posted, i lurk a lot so "strangers" on these boards have really helped me through the toughest of times without knowing....

oh, most important of all: God helped me through all of this, couldnt have done it without HIM. once I stopped stuffing myself with food and started filling myself with HIM it became doable (not necesarily easier, but doable since we can do all things through HIM who strenghtens us)

hugs, kisses, cheers to all! you can do it. and now my journey oficially begins as a maintainer.

wow, you look fantastic!!! thanks for sharing your story

Wow, you look fabulous, congrats on all your hard work and thanks for the inspiration! Way To Go!!

You are gorgeous! And so inspiring! I'm also 5'2" - weighed in at about 170, but losing.

Thanks for sharing your story and voicing how importance of healthy eating and exercising.

WOW. Again. WOW! I'm so motivated to keep going after reading this,

You look really great. Congrats!

AMAZING....Thanks so much for sharing. I really needed this today.

Your story is so inspiring and I am grateful that you posted it. I have a total of 90 lbs to lose. I've lost about 35 lbs so far. Sometimes it seems so impossible, you know? But I know I need to break it down, day by day, into manageable healthy steps of proper portions, proper food choices and exercise. Thanks.

wow! This is so great! You look awesome! Congratulations!

Thanks all for your kind words! And sorry for so many typos, I was rushing to type my story this morning, so my apologies if it seemed like one long run-in sentence. Pucedaisy, healthyg, nomoreknit, smarkey, bayleysmomma, free1, eagleriverdee, and dani13 please keep up and don't look back. Time is going to pass regardless of what we do. If you "fail" for one meal or whatever, don't wait until tomorrow, next Monday, next month, next year to restart. You can literally restart right that minute. You will be glad you did. I took things one day at a time. This is not a race, it is your life. It helped me a lot to list all of my benefits for losing weight and look at the list daily to remind me why i was doing this.

More about myself: I am a wife of almost 13 years TO A CHEF!!!!!!yes, that is why I gained weight, but of course nobody force-fed me so my weight was of my own doing. I had to really accept responsibility for what went/goes into my mouth and learn to say "no thank you" or "I will have 3 ounces of that"

I am a mom of a 7 year old daughter "mini-me" except she is skinny and I was fat. I was ashamed of people thinking "oh she looks just like her mom except her mom is overweight" . And of course I wanted to set a good example at an early age! Same goes for my 10 year old son.

I work full time as a marketing director, I lead a team of 8. It is a ver stressful job, with a fridge full of free soda and junk (and not so junk) readily available.

I am latina and in our culture (not trying to generalize, but oftentimes is the case) people equate food with love (like DH) or skinny with unhealthy. I have had my share "stop losing weight"comments almost since halfway through goal.

I have a one hour commute (two hours round trip). So really time was limited and planning was key. I got a personal cooler that looked like a cute purse and carried (and still oftentimes do) my food and water for the day so I would be prepared.

I think next I will post about what triggered this journey for me.. Why I decided to lose the weight... But now off to pick kids up and head to extracurricular activities...

Sorry for any new typos. Typing this from my iPad and can't get used to it!

Wow you look Fab-u-less! I hope the food demons stop haunting you..

Congrats, good job!

Congrats!! You look like a different person!! Love reading these stories and seeing before and after pictures. So inspiring to someone (me) who is struggling so much right now. I always get to around 20-30 away from my goal (I've lost almost 50) and for some reason at this point I always struggle and then slowly gain it back. Ugh! It's like I'm sabotaging myself! So frustrating. But again, thanks for posting and being so inspirational!

You look amazing,you were lovely before and even more so now! Congrats on the wonderful job you have done. Can't wait to read the rest of your story.

Charin, I love to see a beautiful woman become a beautiful woman!

You were gorgeous then and now...only thinner.

Your journey is amazing and I thank you for sharing. I need some inspiration on the exercise part. Thanks for that.

Congrats on the wonderful job you've done getting the weight off and continuing to maintain it.

Congrats! Your story is so motivating! You look awesome!