Goal! Have you reached your goal? Share your success story and celebrate your victory!

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Old 05-15-2006, 04:56 PM   #1  
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Smile I guess I'll jump in

I bet nobody wants to go right after Meg, am I right??

I've struggled with my weight on and off since puberty. I was a skinny and active kid, but once I hit junior high my activity level dropped and my access to junk food increased ten fold.

I went on my first diet at age 13, dropping from 150 to 130 on a not quite dangerously low cal diet (after a boy in gym commented on my "thunder thighs") . By the time I was in highschool though, I had gone back to about 150 and was holding steady there. It was a fairly healthy weight for me at just under 5' 9" although I felt incredibly ungainly. I was busy with activities though and didn't worry about it too much.

In college, the freshman 15 became the freshman 35 and all of a sudden I was 185 and feeling terrible about myself. Enter low cal diet #2 and I quickly dropped back down to 135.

I proudly maintained my 50 pound loss for about 2 years. It wasn't really that difficult. I walked everywhere and kept an eye on my food choices, but was never too stressed about it.

Then came a messy trauma. I broke up with my boyfriend and he killed himself. My eating habits went totally to ****. I started a new relationship with a wonderful guy (now my DH.) It's a cliche of married life that women start eating like their husbands and gain weight. Well, my husband is 6'1" with a large build, eating like him was *not* a good idea. I stopped weighing myself and did a really good job of fooling myself that I wasn't getting as heavy as I really was.

I found it much harder to get things under control than I had previously. I periodically tried to lose weight but instead kept yo-yoing upward, eventually reaching 265 pounds. When I finally got on the scale and saw that number, I was in total shock, in my head I'd been estimating about 215.

This was about 5 years ago. The moment I saw that number on the scale I realized that this was nuts. It was time to get my life back. I was tired of being tired. I was tired of heel spurs and not being able to keep up with my friends on hikes. I was tired of feeling depressed every time I caught my reflection in the glass.

I knew how to lose weight. (After all, I'd done it before) I knew I needed to move more and eat less, so I did. I started walking an hour a day and journaling my food. I just kept on with it. I didn't cut back my calories as much as I had in the past. I didn't make any foods forbidden. I just made sure that at the end of the day, week and month that I'd moved more than I'd eaten. I added in new exercises, starting going to the pool. The first year I dropped about 50 pounds, the second I got down to about 185 and plateaued. I was feeling really good by this point. My heel spurs were gone, my borderline blood pressure was normal again. I felt normal. I maintained that weight for about a year, I was still technically overweight, but I felt good.

The next year, I got a little slack, I was paying slightly less attention to my eating and skipping work outs. I gained 15 pounds and freaked out. I focused my attention back on my diet and exercise and set a goal of 150 lbs.

The weight started dropping again and this time I blew right by 185. I think the break had really done my metabolism some good. I hit my goal weight of 150 just before my birthday last year. I started upping my calories gradually, but ended up losing another 13 pounds or so, settling in to between 135-140 pounds. From start to finish I went from a size 24 to a size 6.

So far so good. I've been in maintenance mode for about 9 months. The key for me is to pay attention. At least once a week I hop on the scale and look at the number. I buy fitted clothing (no elastic waists!) and pay attention to how they fit. I need these external checks to keep me honest. If I know I'm up a pound, then I'll cut back a little or squeeze in an extra work out. If I don't pay attention though, I can easily lie to myself and/or just be oblivious to the weight gain.

I didn't mean to ramble on so long here, but I've read a lot of posts lately about people who have had set backs on their journeys and I want to let people know that you can have a *ton* of set backs along the way and still get there in the end.
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Old 05-15-2006, 05:32 PM   #2  
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It is hard to follow Meg But you've done it! What a great success story! You've been through your share of ups and downs, like many of us, but you've shown that you can overcome them and reach your goals. Great advice, too, about paying attention. I didn't, and now I'm paying the price. I appreciate that you have shared your story, and I hope I'll learn something from you, as well as Meg and the other happy success stories.

Thanks, and Congratulations!!!!!!
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Old 05-15-2006, 05:40 PM   #3  
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I was getting lonely!!

What a great story! It just goes to show that there isn't one 'right' way to lose weight -- we all have to do it our own way, in our time, and it sure isn't a race (since there isn't a finish line ).

And your before/after photos are stunning!
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Old 05-15-2006, 06:30 PM   #4  
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Thanks for posting your story. It reminds me of the saying 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try, again'. It was very inspiring to read how you didn't give up trying to lose weight despite several setbacks. We've all been there.... it's so easy to slip back into bad habits and regain the weight we've lost with so much effort. Keep up the good work!

P.S. You're looking great!

Last edited by penpal; 05-15-2006 at 09:03 PM.
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Old 05-15-2006, 08:53 PM   #5  
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Wow! You even got taller Fantastic story, Tani, and your pictures and beautiful.

Mel
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Old 05-15-2006, 09:06 PM   #6  
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Thanks for sharing the story, it's very inspiring for me. I am 5 lbs. to goal and then I'll share mine. The pic's are great. It gives me so much to focus on. I need to get my butt in gear and finish losing the weight, I so want to be a maintainer too.
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Old 05-15-2006, 09:42 PM   #7  
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Thanks for the story! I love reading these stories because they are so inspirational and I needed that today. Congrats on your weightloss, by the way!
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Old 05-15-2006, 10:48 PM   #8  
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Fantastic story... thanks for sharing, and congratulations!!!

And Meg... LOL some of us would LOVE to be able to post here but we are still over in the "mini goals" section. Just WAIT though!!! Here we come!!
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Old 05-15-2006, 11:29 PM   #9  
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Thank you for the reminder that its ok to fail as long as you get right back on track again!
Congratulations and your pictures look wonderful!
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Old 05-16-2006, 07:10 AM   #10  
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WOWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE you look fantastic!! Congratulations
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Old 05-16-2006, 08:41 AM   #11  
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WOW Tani,that's awesome!!! You must feel like a million bucks! WTG girl!!!
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Old 05-16-2006, 03:17 PM   #12  
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Tani you are amazing! Congratulations on your success!
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Old 05-16-2006, 03:40 PM   #13  
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Thanks everybody for all the sweet compliments. You said it Meg, about there being no finish line. I think I really *get* that this time around.

Mel, I feel taller! Although the doctor begs to differ and insists I've lost almost an inch since high school. (although now that I've seen the the recent xrays of my curvy spine I can't really argue) I'm hoping all the stretching I'm doing in physical therapy is going to get me that inch back!
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Old 05-17-2006, 08:04 PM   #14  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tani
I didn't mean to ramble on so long here, but I've read a lot of posts lately about people who have had set backs on their journeys and I want to let people know that you can have a *ton* of set backs along the way and still get there in the end.
Hi Tani!
Thank you for such a sincere post. I'm learning so much from you and other maintainers.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tani
You said it Meg, about there being no finish line. I think I really *get* that this time around.
I am "getting" it too. I really am.
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Old 05-20-2006, 12:28 PM   #15  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tani
I didn't mean to ramble on so long here, but I've read a lot of posts lately about people who have had set backs on their journeys and I want to let people know that you can have a *ton* of set backs along the way and still get there in the end.
Thank you for your story just like Meg, MrsJim, Mel, Glory and others I may have missed I will print off your stories as inspirational reading and to help me plan out my journey to my goal.

I'm 54 yrs. old at 315 lbs. Need all the help I can get.

Thanks Ladies and Best Regards,
Elaine
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