I've finally stopped thinking of myself as fat. Progress, f/29 & 5'9", 238lbs to 170lbs.

Progress pictures!

Up until recently, I didn't realize how much of my daily thought process consisted of being concerned about my weight. I mean, I was aware that I thought about this a lot, but now that I'm not as worried about my appearance my brain feels less "full". I can just go about my day without the added stress of feeling unattractive or uncomfortable in my body. It is surprisingly relieving:)

I didn't start out with a goal weight in mind, I mostly just wanted to be able to shop in a majority of clothing stores. My goal was to not have anymore crying-in-dressing-room episodes. There are still some boutiques that I can't fit into, but for the most part I'm pretty darn happy and comfortable with myself. I have stopped losing and am just maintaining, and if I get to a point where I feel like I need to lose more weight I will. I'm technically still overweight for my height, but this isn't something hovering around the back of my mind at all times.

The biggest help in my weight loss journey has been keeping track of calories. Just knowing how many calories I'd been ingesting versus what I was supposed to be ingesting was a wake up call. I got a myfitnesspal app for my phone and logged everything I ate, right when I ate it. My phone is almost always on my person and the convenience was exactly what I needed. I also liked to figure out how much I could eat with my allotted calories and made it into a sort of game. Like calories were my hit points, and I needed them to hold up throughout my level (day).

Other than calorie counting I just moved around more. I don't have a car so this wasn't hard. If I really really really wanted a doughnut I would walk an hour round trip to the doughnut place to cancel out the majority of the calories. I started walking home almost every day and if my bus was running late I'd walk towards where I was going until the bus caught up with me.

r/loseit has also been so helpful and encouraging, and definitely aided in me started my journey and powering through tough times. So thanks guys!

TL;DR I counted calories and started walking more. I'm still "overweight" but I'm happy!

Edit: Thanks for all the nice comments guys! I truly think this is the most absolute pleasant and supportive subreddit:)