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First, the pictures: https://www.reddit.com/r/progresspics/comments/9vp489/f32555_323_164_159_lbs_3_years_cico_strength/?utm_source=reddit-android
I've officially lost a whole person! (TBH, my scale wouldn't register me at my highest weight, so I've actually lost more than that, but my first recorded weight after I started losing was around 323 lbs.)
Years ago, I lost 100 lbs but I did it all the wrong ways and for the wrong reasons and I gained it all back. When I finally realized how my terrible habits were going to impact my child, I decided it was time to change things once and for all.
My progress was not linear, but I'll repost what I said in my progress pictures:
I went in stages, honestly, because I really wanted to stick to it this time.
First, I focused on tracking my calories through MFP. My initial intake was 1800 calories.
Once I lost about 20 lbs, I started exercising at home using the Wii Fit.
After getting more comfortable and losing more weight (probably about seven months), I dropped to about 1500-1600 calories, and moved to doing Insanity (which was "insanely" hard at 250 lbs).
Once I'd lost a bit more weight, I dropped to 1350-1500 calories, and moved to doing P90X (also very hard).
After finishing that, I finally had the courage to try the gym. I started slowly just doing some HIIT and cardio for about a month, and then I started the StrongLifts program and did that three days a week plus one day of HIIT and one day of static cardio.
Around January of this year, I moved to 1300 calories, and also integrated Strong Curves into my routine.
Nowadays, I do 1250 calories, and my gym routine is: Morning cardio (usually elliptical), two days a week StrongLifts, four days a week Strong Curves, and one active rest day where I do at least 5000 steps, plus yoga.
The best thing I've learned is that there will be ups and downs. There will be times that your weight stalls and you feel hopeless and frustrated. There will be times where you take a month off from exercising because life got hectic and you made excuses. There will be times where you eat at maintenance for a few days or even a few weeks because you just feel like taking a break. There will be times where you eat double your usual calorie intake because PMS is a jerk. The most important thing is to get back up when you stumble and keep trying and keep moving forward. Don't beat yourself up about mistakes; learn from them. And don't let anyone else derail you - be your own motivation.
And for those of you wondering about loose skin:
So far, it's minimal. My skin is slowly bouncing back and I'm not quite done yet, but so far, I've mainly noticed it in my breasts and a little bit in my arms, although both have gotten so much better the longer I've done strength training. I'm sure I won't escape unscathed, but I'm going to fill in as much as I can with muscle.
For skin care: I do dry brushing daily, moisturize twice daily, and do a body wrap daily. I also try to drink a ton of water, and I take gotu kola and collagen supplements. I'm not sure if any of it helps, but it sure makes my skin look and feel better in general.
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from loseit - Lose the Fat https://ift.tt/2DdjkVI
