Saturday, November 13, 2010

Another Success Story

I haven't blogged much about my weight loss over the past year. And I'm not sure why I chose a Saturday to share my story (most of you don't read blogs on the weekend it seems), but I did.

I was very thin in high school. Even as a young adult. But as my age crept up, so did my weight. Given that I'm in my mid-forties, this is not a surprise. But that doesn't mean it's something I needed to accept as fact. I simply needed to change something.

At its simplest, weight loss (or gain) is a matter of calories in vs calories out. I do pretty well on the calories out side of the equation, but was out of control with regard to calories in. As a result, my weight was heading in the wrong direction. I began carrying some extra unnecessary pounds and was best described as chubby.

Here's a photo from Sept 2009, to demonstrate the chubbiness:


This year, I've made some significant changes to reduce calories in, and the weight began to come off. I hit my target weight in September. No small feat given that I was unable to run all summer due to issues with my knee! I didn't mention the weight progress here, because I was afraid somehow that I would jinx it. But my weight has remained steady for 2 months, so I figured it was time to share.

This photo from Sept 2010 (courtesy of my self portrait project) shows off my new, slimmer and more athletic figure. I chose this one for comparison because I'm standing in roughly the same position as the one above:


I feel better than ever. Yesterday I went jean shopping and actually came home with a few pairs of size 4 Levis. Did you get that? Size 4! I haven't worn size 4 since I was in high school!

If anyone out there is struggling with weight, my only advice is to be honest with yourself about what you are consuming. It's not easy to change old habits, but it CAN be done.

Have a great weekend folks!

P.S. I finally made a decision and will be running the 5K tomorrow. :-)

20 comments:

  1. Thank you for this post. And Wooo Hoooo to fitting in Size 4.

    I think I do pretty well with regards to calories out, but I literally just inhale what I want. I'm working on it. My downfall is lunch though. I pretty much "eat on the go" and I have the tendency to grab fast-food. Been working on this month.
    I will be more honest with myself. :)

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  2. Good luck in your 5k tomorrow! Thanks for sharing your story. Over the last year I've learned it's the food (calories in) that was killing me too. Great pics, and wow! size 4! That has got to be the best feeling.

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  3. Lisa, you are so right. If there is one thing I have learned the hard way, it's that no matter how much I run and exercise, it dos not give me an excuse to eat anything and everything I want.

    I've gone through a lot of ups and downs myself but I am just recently getting a real handle on calorie counting and paying more attention to exactly what (and how much!) I am eating. What a difference. The pounds are falling off!

    But enough about me. :) HUGE congrats on your success. You look wonderful and must feel incredible!

    Have fun at the 5K!

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  4. You go girl! I need to make better choices on what I put in my pie-hole too.

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  5. you look awesome Lisa! good luck on your 5K =)

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  6. Wow I can see a big difference - you look so amazing! I'm always so curious about peoples weight loss stories - I find them fascinating :)

    Out of curiosity, what were some of the significant changes you made?? :)

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  7. Congratulations!!! You look GREAT! Way to go and great job! :0) Good luck on the 5K!

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  8. You look amazing Lisa! You are toned, fit and fabulous:)

    Good luck on your 5K! You are going to do great:)

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  9. HAWT! congrats on the transformation.

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  10. note to self: be more like Lisa! Congratulations - how satisfying to see the results of your hard work :)

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  11. very nice. You look great.
    good luck at your race.

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  12. way to go lisa! weight loss isn't hard - we don't need these fancy diets or experts, most people are just lazy. you look great! i am currently in a similar "chubby" phase, trying to get back to my "size 4" phase (although i'll take a 6, lol). :)

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  13. I wouldn't really call you chubby, but point taken.

    You look marvelous and since I have seen you in person, I can attest to that! ;)

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  14. Well done for achieving your weight loss goal and good luck in your run.

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  15. Honestly, I don't think you looked chubby before, but congratulations to you on reaching your goal!

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  16. Great job on the loss! Today is day 1 for me on the calories consumption control! I've done horrible and now I've got 10 pounds to lose! Booooooo!

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  17. Congrats! Looking good, chica!

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  18. You look fantastic! I know how hard it is to get weight off. Congrats!

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  19. To me, you looked pretty good in the before picture, but I completely understand it (been there, too), and your after picture is wonderful. Better yet, you did it the healthy way.

    Nothing tastes as good as how a size 4 fits! Yay! I'm sure you did a happy dance in the dressing room. :)

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