Wow. Thank you all so much. I love reading stories and looking at pics for inspiration - and I cannot believe I am posting them now! I am so happy that I can share with you guys!! I am not done yet - 25 to go to my initial goal, and then we'll see. Seriously the time has flown by... Looking back I cannot believe its been a year.
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Originally Posted by DaugT
I have been dead set against taking before pics of myself, just because of not wanting to face them ... but seeing these really have changed my mind
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That is such a good point. I personally am obsessed with before and afters so I knew I wanted to take before pics. I wasn't ever one to really hide from the camera, not that I would seek it out of course
I think the pics are soooo important, especially for the first 20-30 lbs when no one notices a change and you are starting to feel discouraged. You can see it in the pics. It really helps!
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Originally Posted by puneri
Congrats, a liitle story about your diet and plataus will help. Especially i am struggling with slow weight loss, so the request.
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Originally Posted by djs06
You look incredible!  Would you mind sharing your story? I'm sure we'd all love to hear! |
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/mini...ago-today.html <-- that's my "one year" post I made last week, it has a little bit, but you asked so here goes!
I have been overweight since 5th grade. I was very lucky to have parents who never made me feel bad about myself because of my weight. The downside of that is that I never really saw it as an issue. In college I had a few boyfriends and married the first one who was willing; by that point I figured I had limited options and if someone didn't love my fat then too bad. I was 234 when I got married at 22.
My marriage was rocky and I continued to gain. I was 263 when I got pregnant with my son at 25. We divorced when he was 3 and I was bouncing around the 270s and 280s for years.
I realized my weight was limiting me in so many ways. I would avoid visiting my sister because it meant a long, uncomfortable flight crammed into a coach seat. I avoided dating because the guys that would respond to my online profiles were not for me, and forget about meeting people in person. But I loved eating, and didn't want to change any of those habits (only weirdos don't eat bread, right?). I had excuse after excuse of why I couldn't exercise. And so there I stayed, for years.
Last Feb, my team at work decided to sign up for a local run/walk that May. I knew I had to get my rear in gear and start walking so I didn't embarrass myself in front of all of them (including a triathlete and half-marathoner). So, I did some research online, bought some new shoes, and set out with my 7-year-old to do C25k. After my first attempt at running 1 min, I thought I was going to die. So we settled for walking, and walk we did. He was such s good sport!
While researching how many calories I was going to burn with all this walking, and looking for an app to track my weight loss, I came across this site and my fitness pal. Both have been absolutely crucial in this process. It finally clicked that CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT is the key. (Yes, I know it's more complicated than that, in some cases.)
It was seriously an epiphany for me. How could I, a college-educated professional, not have made that connection? It blows my mind now. I started counting calories and the rest is history. I started at 1440 calories and now am at between 1225 and 1400 depending on my activity for the day.
I have been pretty lucky as far as plateaus, I think. Every month, I stall out for 10-14 days due to water retention before ovulation. I weigh daily and figured out the pattern after a couple months. I normally lose 3-4 lbs in a few days when it drops, so that part is fun
I love calorie counting. I seriously feel in control and totally free at the same time. It has worked so consistently for me that I feel like it's magic sometimes. It was so. hard. at first to resist temptations. So hard. But now it is second nature. I eat lower carbs (<50% of calories) and high fiber (>35g per day).
Exercise - at first I walked outside and then used a mini-elliptical ($85 on amazon) 3x per week. After a few months I bought a treadmill and used that for walking, and restarted the running attempts. Went on vacation in August and totally got off track with the exercise until this January. I restarted c25k for the 3rd time and now am on week 8. I ran 29 minutes straight today - 2 miles!! (yeah I'm slow. But it was running!) I don't seem to lose weight any faster when I exercise but I definitely feel better.
Health - I did have a period in the fall where I was feeling dizzy a lot. My bloodwork came back "normal" and the dr told me to increase calories. I bumped them up about 50 and started taking vitamins to ward off any anemia and eating more salt (I have very low blood pressure anyway and I think I was just on the edge). I only get dizzy occasionally now.
Hope that answers any questions, if not ask away!
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Originally Posted by ParadiseFalls
P.S. The first picture momentarily terrified me because I couldn't immediately tell that the face was blurred — for a second I saw a faceless person!  |
Hehe sorry about that!
Congrats!
