From 155 to 132
 

I guess it's time for me to finally post a thread for GOAL, huh?

At the end of this week, I am officially switching to maintenance mode!

I'm celebrating by going out of town to see some friends for Halloween, so I'll wait until after the trip to post Before and After pics, but I've posted mini-goal pics in the past if you look through my past posts.

December 2013, I realized how much weight I'd put on. My clothes were getting tight and I felt like a slob. I was in terrible shape, not overweight but really lacking in physical fitness. My first day of weighing in, I was at 155 lbs. and 32% body fat.

At 155 and 5'7", I was technically at a healthy weight medically (barely) but 32% body fat made me clinically obese.

I started out with diet and exercise, kept at it for almost 2 months, and lost 5 lbs, but then suddenly I got some big news: I was offered a job I really wanted, but in order to take it I had just 4 weeks to pack up or sell everything I owned and move from Texas to New Hampshire!

I kept trying to eat healthy through the move, but fitness fell off my radar. My weight still crept down from a combination of decent diet and one bad bout of stomach flu. (Thanks, stomach flu!)

At the end of June, I was firmly settled into my new home and job, and visiting friends, and suddenly I felt inspired to get serious about fitness again. I just really wanted it again.

So I dove into working out head first, and got serious about counting my calories as well. My goal weight was 135, which I hit in September, and then I decided to wiggle down to 132 to be safe. Today I'm at 131 lbs. :)

Here's a graph of my weight loss from day one:
http://i.imgur.com/ug9dbcw.jpg

Overall, I have lost 24 lbs., 15.5", and 8.5% body fat.

Starting measurements were 37 x 31 x 41 and 32% body fat

Current measurements are 33 x 28 x 37 and 23.5% body fat

From here, I plan to change focus toward becoming stronger and more fit, so I may lose more weight or I may even gain weight as I build muscle, but will be continuing to decrease my body fat. :)

FANTASTIC work! You must feel so proud of yourself, that is some steady progress and something to be really proud of.

Our stats are quite similar (except I'm a bit shorter and my max was a bit less) so I can totally relate to everything you said about being not quite overweight but quite overfat/out of shape.

Your story is very inspiring for me :D

:congrat:

Congratulations! Love the graph, I'm a chart-aholic, lol!

That's wonderful!! Congrats!!

WTG! It's good you decided to get rid of the weight before it got out of control. How did you find out your body fat percentage? I want to know mine.

Thanks! There are a lot of different calculators you can use online for a ballpark, or ways to have it checked by a doctor or a trainer at the gym. Personally I bought a scale at Target that also measures body fat %. It's not 100% accurate the way an expensive medical test is but it will give you a general idea and you'll be able to watch to make sure that number is falling as well.

Awesome work! You have done a fantastic job and should be so proud of your results! :D

Awesome job! Keep up with working out and you'll probably see even more banging results!

Amazing! Congrats and keep it up :)

Thanks for the support, everyone! I'm eating more now but still eating healthy and tracking my food less religiously. I've been sticking to my workouts and I've continued to lose a few pounds since I hit goal.

This weekend I found some photos of myself from last Halloween that made me cringe, and I went to another comic convention so I got some new pictures taken.

Here's a picture from 10/25/13 which I'm linking instead of inserting because it's huge.

And then here I am yesterday at the convention:

http://i.imgur.com/zYWHJXM.jpg

As my friend said, "You're wearing way more clothes but you can still REALLY TELL."

You look fantastic!

Wow....I am so inspired by your story! You look amazing. Thanks for posting photos, as they really help and give me hope. Just like Mrs. Snark's photos!

I started here at the end of October with about 24 lbs. to lose as well. I've lost 5. Sounds like it took about 6 months for you? My goal is about 4 lbs. per month, which would be about 6 months to reach.

Enjoy your body and your maintenance program. Hope to keep hearing from you!

Thanks, Ashli! In the last 6 months I lost 17 lbs. The 20-25 I needed to get to goal took me about 10 months, but some of those months were before I was counting my calories properly and exercising. It's difficult to say how long it really took since there was this period of about 3 months in the middle when I wasn't really trying at all and only lost a couple pounds.

I think during the months I was counting calories and exercising I averaged 4 lbs/month, but there's going to be variation. Some months I'd only lose around 3 lbs but then the next I'd lose 5. The important thing is to see a general downward trend.

I'm currently at about 125 and took some new pictures for comparison this weekend. I apologize for size/poor quality but wanted to share.

December 2013:
http://i.imgur.com/B3a7LiK.png

February 2015:
http://i.imgur.com/cesiKP1.jpg

Halloween 2013, link due to size

Same costume, Feb 2015:
http://i.imgur.com/J9A3WoS.jpg

Wow, you look amazing! WTG

It's amazing how much of a difference 30 lbs make! You look great!

I have a question if you dont mind answering. Do you have any saggy skin from the weightloss? I'm trying to lose around 30-40 lbs also.

Thank you!

Regarding the skin question: nope! The weight came off very slowly, which helps with that a lot. However I will say that I still have more fat than I'd like on my stomach and abdomen and thighs.

Those are the areas I'm losing fat in the slowest and tend to be the biggest problem areas for people who do have loose skin. So it's possible I'll get a bit if I do manage to decrease my BF% more, but it's not looking likely. I think you need to have a much larger weight loss before loose skin becomes an issue.

WOW, you look fantastic!!

I'm just at the beginning of my weight loss journey (well, the beginning this time around) and am hoping to lose a similar amount (25-30 lbs). I love how much more confident and thrilled you look to be snapping selfies at your new weight!

Wishing you all the best!

Thanks for answering! My biggest insecurity are my arms (also my problem area), so I didn't want to have any loose skin there once I reach goal. How many calories were you on when you did count calories?

I aimed for between 1200 and 1400 generally since I was also working out. I tried to focus on eating high fiber foods (at least 20 g of fiber every day) and getting plenty of protein since I was trying to build and repair muscle. Plus, protein and fiber keep you full longer even though you're eating less :)

I hope this doesn't come across as an insult, because I don't mean it that way, I swear! But it looks like you most a lot more than 23 lbs! wow the difference is extraordinary :)

What an inspiration! WOW! So happy for you. You look fabulous!

Hi congrats on your weight loss

that's the same boat I'm in I'm trying to lose weight but I went back to drinking regular pop but I'm trying Premier Protein and I have some bars also to keep me from being hungry at work.

I'm so happy for you

Great job!:devil:

You look absolutely stunning! Great work!!! :)

so great ! you got your goal . once i got too ,but i gained .it is a matter .so i should figure out a good method to avoid this .

Hi there, you look great and you've inspired me! You started where I am now and ended where I want to be! How did you get started, and how you motivate yourself? Any specific workouts you recommend?

Also how often did you weigh and track the weight? I feel like I fluctuate so much that weighing myself every week or more would just unmotivate me.

Wow that's wonderful! Great job you look fab!

Thank you for sharing your inspirational story!

Unbelievable results hun,
congratulations 10 times over

:congrat:

:dance::encore::cheer2: