Hi all! I've been a lurker for a long time and haven't really posted much, but I wanted to share that I am officially down 20 pounds!
A few years ago I was fired from a job I moved for and over the past few years gained 25-30 pounds. I was 155 when I was fired, I'm 161 now.
But over that time I was building my freelance business so I let my health go. Fast forward to February of last year, I was miserable because I felt stuck and just couldn't get into gear. In January I spent the entire month fighting bronchitis or something so I ended up with not much appetite and dropped about 8 pounds. My skating coach recommended I try the Advocare 24 day challenge, in which I lost 10 pounds. I felt great! Then I plateaued for months and eventually stopped using Advocare products (they were becoming too expensive to keep up with if I wasn't sticking to the plan perfectly). I ended up gaining back those 10 pounds over about 7 months.
In November, I was diagnosed at the age of 27 with arthritis in my knee, which caused me to have to stop working on jumps on the ice. The doctor recommended dropping 20-30 pounds and getting physical therapy. I switched tracks and am now doing ice dance and moves in the field and spins.
In December, I'd had enough. I searched for dieticians in the area (I also found I have binge eating disorder which I currently have in check for the most part), and came across a clinic that specialized in weight loss that didn't use protein drinks to get it quickly. Instead they taught you how to fuel your body with the right things. I started the week before Christmas, and in my first week dropped 5 pounds. Over the Christmas and New Year's holiday I lost another 2.5, and since then another 3 or so.
So 10 pounds since I started at the clinic almost a month ago, and 20 pounds overall.