This post was written by Crystal.
Before I start posting about my specific attempts to shave off some pounds, I figured you may all want to know where I am coming from. I am 5’2” tall, average build with a natural hour-glass body, have wide shoulders for a woman, and have a naturally high muscle mass in my legs and arms thanks to my Irish and German ancestry. The Body Mass Index thinks I should weigh between 103-136 pounds to be “healthy”, but I am ultimately aiming for 135-140.
It Gets Bad Before It Gets Better
Way back when I was 13, I was in the best shape of my life since I was in multiple sports, marching band, and kept myself even busier with other school clubs. I weighed 130 pounds but still had an inch to grow and some curves to fill out. Fast forward 15 years to January 4th, 2011, and I was in the worst shape of my life. I had kept my love of junk food but was no longer active at all. I was a cubicle worker during the day, a blogger at night, and a food vacuum all day long. I was hot and uncomfortable all of the time. My husband was suffering the same proportional weight gain over the years, so we decided to get healthier and lighter together and joined Weight Watchers Online. I weighed in at 176 pounds.
Results
In 6 months, I have transformed physically into a new person. I will write more about the journey in future posts. Suffice it to say, I cut back on the junk and substituted in a more balanced diet with a ton of fruits and vegetables instead of Oreos and Twizzlers. I also started attempting to be more active and actually exercised about 90 minutes a week a couple of times a month. On July 3rd, 2011, I weighed in at 145 pounds. I was down 31 pounds!!! I then went on a one week vacation followed by a crazy quit-my-day-job week and gained back 4 pounds, but I am digging back in.
My Ultimate Goal
As I mentioned above, my personal target weight is between 135 to 140 pounds. My current goal is to hit 140 pounds by the end of 2011 and maintain that weight from there.
I will not lie, some of my motivation has been pure vanity, but the biggest benefit has been that I just feel better. I have more energy and feel more confident than I have in years. My husband and I both have discovered our inner sexiness again. It just feels good.
It also feels good to know that I am tackling my new life of self-employment with a clean slate. I will be networking with bloggers at conventions with a body and mind that I am proud of. I no longer feel uncomfortable or hot in an air-conditioned room. Life is better.
Have you been trying to lose weight or feel like you should? What has your journey looked like so far?
Crystal Stemberger has written 7 articles on this blog. This post was written by Crystal Stemberger of Budgeting in the Fun Stuff where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting in the fun stuff along the way. If you'd like to see more, feel free to follow her via RSS, Email, Twitter, and Facebook. Thanks for reading!
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My Weight Loss Journey So Far http://t.co/rhgRnBv via @@prairieecothrif
Crystal I’m so excited for you!! Really. I know how hard it is to lose 2 pounds let alone 30. One of my goals for this year is to lose about the same amount of weight but I’m only down about 7 pounds. I’m so busy with work that my bad habits kick in and I’m eating late, not making it to the gym, etc. Anyway, congrats!
Thank you but I have hit a rut. These last 3 weeks have been pretty bad and I am hovering around 150 again. Hopefully writing about this again will push me back on track.
Man I could have written that post myself! Right down to the numbers. I also want to get down to 140 and I’m currently weighing in at 150. When school starts (Aug 10th) I’m going to hit it full force and lose those last 10 pounds!!!
We can Skype at each other to get it done.
Congratulations on your progress so far. Giving up Oreos, boy that’s a hard one.
I know! I haven’t actually completely succeeded yet…
After my babies I shot up to 140 (from 115). When I went back to work I lost it again and stayed down for a number of years but now I am wishing and trying to get back to 140!
It seems harder now ( I did lose 14 of it last year) – I think old bodies try to conserve energy more than young ones and the fat glombs on to the worst possible places!
I was wondering why I can’t lose my arm stuff but my butt is nearly gone…
My Weight Loss Journey So Far http://bte.tc/qApD #RTW
I tried Weight Watchers earlier this year but found I’m too OCD for it – I kept thinking, “If I only ate 20 points today, I bet I could do 19 tomorrow!” Basically, I put my body in starvation mode and ended up gaining instead of losing.
Starting August 1, I’m going to try to just simply count calories. It’s tough to eat better when I stay so busy! I’m 5’1″ and would like to lose at least 20 pounds, but I keep falling off the wagon. Sigh. I wish food wasn’t so important to me.
Oh yeah, eating less than 29 points a day is apparently the opposite of healthy. Glad you stopped!
I counted calories a few years ago and it worked great – I just got lazy and stopped…
Congrats on the weight loss! I NEED to lose a bunch of weight. I’m about 5’5″ and weigh in at 192 pounds…The “powers that be” say that 132-145 are my healthy range.
Found your blog via you comment on So Over Debt’s “Are You an Emotional Spender” post.
@Jamie. Thanks for visiting. I hope you found the website interesting. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself all at once with losing weight. It is all about small changes that add up over time. When you make changes slowly you allow yourself to adjust which means you can make the changes a new way of life and stick with them. If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask them here.
Good luck! If you ever need a little extra motivation, just chime in!
Great job! Was fat as an adolescent, took the weight off during my 20s with calorie counting and activity. Have kept it off ever since. Moderation and activitly are the keys!
Woot for keeping it off!!! Moderation is key for me and I need to increase my activity.
I can totally relate to your weight loss journey,Congratulations on losing your weight. I’m also determined to lose some of my weight. So, thanks for your inspirational post, and good luck losing the rest of your weight.
Good luck to you too!
Great job Crystal! I hope you make your final goal…
Thank you Kyle!
I’m so impressed! Not only by your weight loss, but more so by your perseverence even when it’s difficult. I’m in awe.
Oh, don’t be! I am not doing anything extraordinary, believe me. If I can lose weight, anybody can!
Crystal! Great Job! I too have lost 55lbs, and really can say that I feel like a brand new person. At times it is difficult, but we all need to believe in the power of postive. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Congrats on 55 pounds!!! Yay!!!
I find that it’s all about goal-oriented thinking and staying as far away from the kitchen as possible…
Crystal, I am so happy for you! What I have learned in the year that I’ve known you, is that you absolutely demolish any goals set before you!
I am at the beginning of a long journey to drop 100lbs – down 16 so far – and it’s been tough recently because of the move, funeral, and other things, but I’m still pushing at it!
I can’t wait to meet up at the conference – maybe we will have lost more than 50lbs combined by then!
Congrats on losing despite all of the emotional turmoil!!! That always gets me…
I look forward to meeting you too! We will have definitely lost more than 50 by then – we are already at 43. So you lose 4 more by then and I’ll lose 3 more and we’ll get it!
You’re right! We should make it 60lbs!
I’m writing here every 2 weeks, so you just let me know when you hit your 4 pounds and I’ll let you know when I hit another 3 pounds and then we can each add on 5.
Great job on the lifestyle change! I also have worked on some poundage the last year, and I’m down twenty pounds! I have an ideal twenty more to go, but it’s not coming off as easily. I’ll just have to keep counting calories and exercising!
It was a lifestyle change but now I am drifting back to bad habits. I will need to dig in big time to get this last 10 pounds off…
Good luck with your continued success!
Do everything possible to keep on losing that weight and to keep it off. There is nothing more discouraging than losing a ton of weight and then gaining it all back. Good job and keep it up!
No worries. I have been hovering around 149 for 3 weeks, not putting on more. I’m digging in again with Weight Watchers and pushing to lose my last 10 pounds by the end of September.
Congratulations Crystal! Amazing that you’ve managed to juggle so much AND lose so much weight in such a short space of time. I’m so glad that you’re feeling so good for it. It’s obviously all paying off.
Looking forward to hearing about you hitting that 140 mark!
Thank you Harri! I actually gained a bit as you’ll see in my next update, but I am now aiming for 140 by September 25.