Goal! The long journey from 268lbs to 148lbs (Size 26 to Size 8)
So my story is not new, I was a very active teenager and had no problem maintaining a fantastic body until I met my boyfriend (now my husband) my senior year of high school and threw my eating habits and exercise out the window. At 18 years old I went from an 8/10 to a 12 in my senior year. Then by the time I left community college to go to the university 2 years later I was a size 14. During my time in college I pursued a very stressful major, worked part time, was in a committed relationship and was broke as joke. I ballooned up to a size 24 by my wedding in 2004. After my wedding we moved back home and I started my career and I spent the first 18 months gaining a few more lbs and another dress size topping out at 268 lbs and a size 26.
In January of 2006 enough was enough. I’d had it with having to wear boxer shorts under my skirts to keep my thighs from rubbing together; I’d had it with spending an hour to choose something from my closet that didn’t make me want to burst into tears; I’d had it with one flight of stairs making me feel like I’d just ran a marathon; I’d had it with barely fitting into booths at restaurants and spilling over stadium seats; I’d had it with feeling like I was a trapped in someone else’s body and feeling completely humiliated every time I ran into someone who hadn’t seen me in a while.
So I joined Nutrisystem and a gym. By April I’d lost about 20 lbs. It was a great start and really taught me about portion control, but I knew that Nutrisystem was not a sustainable long-term plan for me. So I started trying it on my own with a plan that had me at about 1500-1800 cals a day. I lost another 50 lbs by October 2007.
At that point my husband and I decided it was time to start a family and we knew I had more to lose, but it was time. I got pregnant in November of 2007 and this was thanks to my weight loss. Prior to losing I had maybe one to two periods a year. To put it frankly, I was so fat I had stopped ovulating. I forget when my cycles started regulating, but without losing weight I would have never conceived. I gained 50 lbs with my pregnancy, not ideal, but it was what it was.
Once my son was born in August of 2008 I spent a few months adjusting to my new life but then I just kind of picked up my old healthy habits and thanks to what I had learned and nursing I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight by July of 2009.
At that point my weight loss stopped and I just maintained my weight until my son weaned in November 2009. Since it was the holiday season, I felt no rush to start my journey again until January 2010. At that point I started calorie counting. This method of weight loss opened up a whole new world for me. I learned all about portion control and how to eat what ever I wanted within reason.
By June 2010 I had lost another 30 lbs and was really starting to feel like I was a normal size. I started really learning about fitness, I was officially a runner and a strength trainer, I was learning all about whole foods and I was eating for fuel. My cravings for fast foods had just disappeared…I was a health nut and I loved it! It took another few months to reach my goal and some soul searching to determine what my goal was but on today, July 18 of 2010 I have reached my goal of 148 lbs – 120 lbs lost.
At this point I plan to continue on for a few more lbs to give myself a little buffer and I will revaluate how I’m feeling at 145 lbs. I think that will be the magic number for me and I will give maintenance a go for a bit while I train for a half marathon.
I hope to post some better goal pics soon, but below is a link to a pick from this morning and some from two months ago. So for any of you who are feeling overwhelmed bit it all, just stick to it – 4 ½ years later and I’m still here and I did it!
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/goal...ml#post3393708
