The very worst point

These are pictures of me about 4 years ago, extremely overweight. I weighed about 300 pounds in these pictures.....way way way too much for my height and frame. I stand 5'6". This was the year that things first started to change for me. I looked at myself one day and knew that I was in a very bad place. This is after 3 pregnancies with gestational diabetes, and around the time that I saw my doctor and had my cholesterol levels taken. I was told I had the highest number of bad cholesterol she had seen in somebody my age.....NOT good! I made a change, started walking, started a diet, counted calories endlessly, and started a paper and pen diet journal. From this point to January 1st 2012 I have lost about 60 pounds, give or take a few, but that is almost 4 years of back and forth...on the wagon off the wagon. Dreams of getting my high school body back, before marriage, before pregnancies, before I gave up on myself.


So as embarrassing as this is, as private as I usually am, I am going to put my current stats on here. So everyone knows where I am starting from this day forward. I will not tolerate mean, hurtful unnecessary comments on any photos, or numbers or posts, please. This is meant for encouragement only, and after all we all know what our mothers told us....if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all....and DON'T READ MY BLOG ;)


January 1st I started at 258.2 pounds
Today January 15th I weigh 240

That's a total weight loss of 18.2 pounds this month. From here on out I do not plan on weighing but once a month, on the last day of every month. I know some people say that weighing daily keeps you motivated but it does the exact opposite for me, it discourages me to see my weight fluctuate day to day, morning to evening, going up because I'm bloated a certain time of the month...so on and so forth, so once a month is what works for me. My goal weight is 140 which leaves me with 100 pounds to lose....that's a lot of weight, and a lot of hard work to do it. My first goal is to hit 220 which is still 20 pounds away but I need to break up my goals in between so that I am accomplishing something along the way. My first big goal is to get under 200 pounds, which I haven't been at since I was pregnant with my oldest daughter...she is almost 8 years old now!!!

My BMI is 39.7...a BMI of 30 or more is considered obese, so I am well into that category. I don't have much else to say about that other than it HAS to change!

My starting measurements from January 1st 2012:
Waist-48 inches
Hips-52.5 inches
Right thigh-28 inches (some women have waists that big!) :(
Left thigh-28 inches
Right calf-16.5 inches
Left calf-17 inches
Right arm-14.5 inches
Left arm-14 inches
Bust-47 inches

My measurements as of now January 15th 2012:
Waist-45 inches
Hips-47 inches
Right thigh-25 inches
Left thigh-26 inches
Right calf-16.5 inches
Left calf-16.5 inches
Right arm-14 inches
Left arm-13.5 inches
Bust-45 inches

So I have lost 17 inches this month. Pretty good start I'm thinking! I will tape myself on the same days that I weigh each month also. I wear a size 18 in jeans. Think that's all the information about my numbers and measurements.

As of now I am on a 1,500 calorie a day diet, I plan on recording my meals here each day as well as exercise so that if anyone has comments or suggestions or if you just need to tell me to get back on track...you can do it here! :) I have been walking about 5 miles a day and jogging for 15 minutes as of now, I do plan on kicking up my jogging times as I build more endurance. 3 miles a day are done with my amazing friend CarolAnn who has become my partner in crime along with my husband who I sometimes drag out on my walks with me. I also have a workout routine of strength training on the Bowflex and indoor exercises like crunches and leg lifts and things like that which I do every night with my hubby who is incredibly supportive <3 I have many supportive people in my life including my mom and sister and friends and I couldn't do any of this without them, I want them to know that!

Here is a more recent photo of myself at about the weight I am at currently



So it begins.........