weightloss: before and after

Growing up and throughout my teenage years, weight had never really been an issue for me. Yes, I went through a bit of a pudgy stage in JR High when I hated all of the skinny girls who could eat those Granny B cookies with that inch-thick layer of frosting every day for lunch and never gain a pound, but overall, I didn't have to worry about it much. I was a girl however, and so of course, I thought I was larger than everyone else around me (what teenaged girl doesn't think they're fat at least once a month, right?), but it was never really an issue.


Flash forward a couple of years:


Jefferson and I had been married for three years at this point. We'd been through a lot together and I found myself in a sort of a rut, a mild depression, if you will. I found my eating habits spiraling out of control (at least, I didn't want to admit to myself that they were in my control, that I had always been in control, and that in fact, I had done this to myself). Seventy-five pounds later and this is a picture of me last year at my younger sister's birthday (I'm on the far right):







It wasn't until mid-November of last year, when this same sister announced to the family that she was marrying her high school sweetheart, that it hit me: I was way overweight. I knew it and it was time to do something about it. Her wedding date was set for the end of February 2014, and that gave me a little over three months. My goal was to try and lose fifteen pounds by that time.


The diet and exercising began. I had been working out with my Mother-in-law off and on since my sweetheart and I were wed, but I stopped missing appointments and made my workouts a priority throughout my week. Also, I got the MyFitnessPal app on my Ipod and began keeping track of my eating habits. I restricted my calorie intake to the lowest amount possible while still being healthy (as recommended by my personal trainer; approx. 1200 calories per day).


It was amazing to me how the weight started to "melt" away. Don't get me wrong, it was hard work and I was cranky more than usual, but by changing my eating habits and exercising more, the weight started to come off. I first lost five pounds, then ten. By the time my sister's wedding rolled around the number was closer to thirty.





This is a picture of me with my sisters again the day of my little sister's wedding (funny, I just realized we're in the same order--youngest to oldest). I didn't want to stop losing weight just because my deadline had come and gone, but I could definitely tell that the weight loss was slowing down. I had to workout harder, eat even healthier, to show any kind of a change on the scale. However, the difference in inches was revealing. I definitely had a waist now, and my boobies, the one place I would've been okay with keeping some of the weight on, were, of course, drastically smaller. This is me on my birthday in April 2014:





Granted, I'm wearing a black shirt and it's difficult to see just how much I've lost what with the big scarf and all (not to mention I look different due to a change in hairstyle, too) but you get the picture. By this point I was fast approaching the fifty pound mark, which was my overall goal (i.e., New Year's Resolution) for weight loss. Now my biggest fear wasn't that I was wouldn't lose the weight, but rather, once I stopped actively trying to lose weight that I'd start putting it back on.


That started a little experiment. Being a psychology major, I've learned all about experimentation, and I thought that if I took a "dieting break" for the summer, still trying to eat healthier and exercising/being as active as I can what with summer classes and all, that I could monitor my weight and see how good I was at being able to maintain the loss. It's been several months now and, while my weight fluctuates and I'm still inputting what I eat into the MyFitnessPal app, I've done rather well on my maintenance goal. This is me this past Thursday, taking impromptu family pictures in front of our new house:





Again, not the best picture for showing the weight loss itself, what with the rather large chalkboard I'm hiding behind and the loose cardigan I'm sporting, but again, you get the idea. I still have more weight that I want to lose, and for my final semester of college in the Fall of 2014, I've signed up for multiple aerobics courses, including Zumba and Raquetball, but I am really pleased with my progress so far.


Anyway, I wanted to share this for those of you who are currently struggling with weight and/or those who are trying to shed a few pounds. Let us be inspirations for each other!