Here's my story. Overweight/obese my entire life. Highest weight ever was 220lbs in 2011/2012. I initially lost about 30lbs in 2012 effortlessly by working on an organic farm over the summer simply because I was moving a lot and eating a lot less and healthier.
Once I left, I was at a standstill as I wasn't moving much anymore and started eating like I used to. I had no idea how much I weighed at that point because I didn't have a scale, but I knew I had lost some weight over the summer because my clothes were falling off of me. Oct 2013 decide to start tracking my food online because of this very subreddit. I felt encouraged so decided to buy a scale. I weighed in at 192lbs. I just kept at it with logging my food and counting calories, and week after week the pounds kept dropping off.
Lo and behold about a year and a half later, I'm down about 90lbs. I was thrilled to finally be at a healthy weight for my height and finally feel normal. My confidence soared, I started working out with workout DVD's and my body continued to improve and I felt so confident in clothing and even confident enough to wear a bathing suit/bikini for the first time as an adult. I felt great wearing summer dresses and shorts and skirts and all the clothing items I would never dream of wearing before. I used to loathe summer when I was overweight because I felt so uncomfortable in my skin and didn't want to wear anything that would show any skin, so I would suffer with long sleeves and pants. I vowed to never feel that way again and never gain the weight back. I even made a post on progress pics with my before and afters, which got a lot of attention, and had someone from Yahoo contact me to do an online article about my weight loss journey. I felt great and everyone who knew me was so proud, but most of all I was proud of myself.
I managed to stay in the mid-high 120's/low 130's from summer 2015 until summer 2018 and felt maintaining was pretty easy at that point. It all started going downhill starting the holiday season of 2018. All the previous Christmases I had managed to maintain and even lose weight by keeping track of the treats I was eating and adjusting my calories before/after so I could still indulge but not go overboard. For some reason this past Christmas I ate and ate and ate and didn't stop. I just figured once January rolled around I'd just go back to my regular routine and lose the few pounds I had put on. Only thing is I started a new job in January, a desk job, and I was very stressed and anxious all the time because new jobs are terrifying and I wanted to do well. My previous job was in food service and I was on my feet a lot more and was eating free salads at work everyday so it was easy for me to keep the weight off. I never had a desk job before so I really didn't think it would make that much of a difference but it did. Combined with the stress of the job itself, I started eating more and stopped tracking my food. Plus during winter, I was covered up so I didn't really notice the weight creeping on. Then my boyfriend and I went to NYC in May and I basically binged for 3 days straight and kept eating once I got back.
Well hot weather comes around and I finally have to face the reality of the past few months of not caring at all about my weight. I feel extremely uncomfortable in my skin again, my clothes don't fit/don't look good anymore. I finally faced the mirror and I knew that I had packed the weight back on only I didn't know how much, because I had stopped weighing myself early on during the year. I dug the old scale back out and stepped on: 150lbs. So I managed to gain about 20lbs since winter 2018. Yikes. That was on Monday, and since then I went back to what worked for me before, tracking my food, counting calories, upping my activity. And I'm already down 1.5lbs since then. I know it's probably water weight, but I've vowed to get back to 130 again, which was my happiest and most comfortable weight. I don't want to suffer through the rest of this summer being uncomfortable, even though I know it will probably take me until the end of the year to lose it all. I feel motivated just like I did when I started losing weight at 190lbs. I've done it before and I can do it again.
I honestly never thought I 'd be doing this again because I felt so confident in my ability to keep the weight off after 3 years. But it just goes to show, I WILL have to track my food and continue weighing myself on a regular basis for the rest of my life, and I'm ok with that. The alternative is much worse for me.
Sorry this was so long, I really neede to get this off of my chest. And I know 20lbs might not seem like a big deal to some, but I know myself and I know I feel better being at a lower weight. Does anyone have a similar story?
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