My weight loss journey

I figured that I would share my weight loss journey, so here goes.

I was always pretty scrawny, I remember seeing pictures of me as a younger kid and I was long and lean. Then I hit puberty! I didn't get fat or overweight, I just filled out in some places and would say that I was "healthy" looking. I always tried to lose a few pounds and to get that long and lean body that was all over the tv, but lacked the knowledge and motivation to do so.

After graduating highschool my mom told me about counting calories and how it is an easy way to lose weight without completely restricting yourself like you would with South Beach or Atkins. I gave it a go and found that it was pretty easy, but like in highschool, I still lacked the motivation to go through with it.

At 20 I became pregnant and with that came the baby weight. It took me about 8 months to lose all the baby weight and to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight of 155. I became really motivated and started exercising 5 days a week and was pretty good with my diet. I started to lose more weight and got down to about 150 when I got pregnant, again. I gained 50 pounds with this pregnancy by the time of delivery. At 4 months post partum I lost the baby weight and was back to my 155. I relaxed a little while and was pretty comfortable in my skin. In December I started to plan for a trip to the Virgin Islands and knew I wanted to lose the weight I tried to lose before becoming pregnant.

On January 5th I started my diet, my New Years Resolution was to get down to 135 by my trip. I started exercising when I could, currently 1-2 times a week, and started eating a reduced calorie diet of 2000 calories a day. I would eat less, but seeing as I still breastfeed I decided that the extra calories were essential for my milk supply. I have had a few cheat days along the way to help "shock" my body and am now down to 139, roughly 7 weeks after starting my diet. I have dropped to a size 6 and am starting to find that 6's are getting a little lose. I have lost several inches from my thighs, arms, waist, and hips and am continuing to lose weight and firm up. I have 4 pounds until my goal weight and consider my weight loss to be very successful thus far.

I am sharing this because I want people to know that with discipline and motivation that weight loss is possible and more so, it can be done naturally. I would say that weight loss is 90% mental and going into it with realistic expectations and a strong desire to succeed, it is completely and utterly possible.