This is the Story of a Girl...: Before & After

My healthy lifestyle change started September 28, 2011. I had been having a conversation with R (My Fiancé) about the fun weekend we had had. R had wanted to put the pictures on Facebook for all of our friends and family to see. As we began to look through the pictures of the weekend I began to comment on each picture. The first picture I thought my tummy looked fat, the second I didn’t like my double chin, and so on through all of the pictures. R had then made a comment to me about how I never like any of the pictures I am in and how I always have to approve them prior to him posting them online. While the comment didn’t affect me much in the moment it did later that evening. He was right. I never liked how I looked, I always felt fat and I did have to approve anything my friends or family posted. What was I scared of? Other people finding out how I really looked? I was unhappy with myself and I had finally come to a point where I was ready to deal with it.

Growing up I was never a large child. I was a bit over weight and always felt bigger than I was. The weight really didn’t begin to creep on until I was about 19 living on my own. I began to eat horribly (fast food and easy bake items) and I began to drink socially with my friends. I also had been taking a form of birth control called depo. This birth control is known to make you put on weight but I didn’t really realize it until much later. As I continue to get older my eating and drinking habits never got any better and I only became more and more inactive working a 7-4 behind a desk. Eventually at my largest I weighed 239.5lbs. I am only 5’5 and I have a large frame so I think I did carry the weight well but my body began to feel the effects of it. I was constantly getting sick, I was having horrible stomach issues, and nose bleeds.

On September 29^th 2011 I decided to take control. I not only wanted to lose weight but I wanted to be healthy. I wanted to be someone to be proud of, I wanted to really live. So I did just that. I began by counting calories, learning proper portions and learning about what was really in my food. I ate only clean and even forced myself to eat things that I had never liked for the nutritional value. After a short while the weight really began to come off. I would hit a plateau and try something a little different and continued to work through it. Eventually I gave in and began working out at the gym at 4:30am every morning. Before I knew it 50lbs had came off and I had felt like a whole new person.

L: Camping Summer 2011 (about 239lbs) & R: 4th of July 2012 (ablout 188lbs)

L: Spring 2011 (about 239lbs) & R: Spring Training 2012 (about 195lbs)

After 50lbs it had become harder and I definitely had to change things up between the diet and different exercises and methods. But I continued to be strong and keep my goal in mind. I’m currently down 67.5lbs and I only have 17lbs more to go until I will be a healthy BMI at 155lbs. Continue to check-up on my blog and watch my progression for I’m just a normal woman figuring it all out as I go J