F/29/5'4" - One year in, 95 pounds down.

Long post ahead!

I started this journey a year ago today, on 11/5/2012. It was when I finally persuaded myself to step on the scale and see just how badly I'd treated my body since my previous attempt at weight loss. That was in mid/late 2008, and I'd managed to go from 301 to 276 and then got derailed by my grandmother's passing in October of that year and never really got back to it.

Having heard horror stories of people losing the weight and then gaining twice that back (and more), I have to admit I was somewhat relieved to see the number 308 staring back at me. I knew I was pushing the limit of my size 28 jeans (being a pear shape, I still usually fit a 22/24 on top but it had to be stretchy to accommodate my wider hips). And at 5'4" it wasn't a good look.

I knew that throwing myself 110% at the task wasn't feasible or even wise, so at that point I only made a commitment to work on eating better breakfasts and lunches. I started by switching to oatmeal for breakfast and trying to pack a balanced lunch--usually sandwiches, maybe some yogurt or applesauce, and something sweet. Nothing too drastic. I ate like this through the holidays and didn't worry too much about the copious amounts of cookies I baked and consumed, eating out, or having big meals with friends and family, and I still managed to lose about 25 pounds. Not bad, but I knew I could do better.

In February I committed to counting calories--I'd done it before back in 2008 and it had worked, but it was work. Something that was new in the intervening years was the level of technology available to assist me in my journey. Now I had a smartphone and a tablet, and all the fitness/health/diet sites had apps to help you along the way. I ended up on MFP and it definitely worked. By sticking to my (reasonable) goals--around 1500 calories at that point thanks to my desk job--I managed to lose about 8-10 pounds a month for many months in a row.

In August I added a Fitbit Flex and regular walks to my arsenal of tools. I stopped paying so much attention to MFP's calorie goals and mostly try to aim for my 1000 calorie deficit based on what Fitbit says I've burned. Now I walk about three times a week for about two miles around my neighborhood. I never wanted to be in a position where I was exercising just so I could eat (or eat more), so I don't set terribly ambitious goals for myself. I try to beat my best time and otherwise enjoy the fresh air, sunshine, and scenery.

I've had a bit of a stall coming off of a vacation back in September and a couple of weeks where the scale didn't really want to move for me, but it seems to be going back in the expected direction again. I check in here and in r/progresspics pretty much every day for guidance and inspiration, and everyone here has helped to keep me motivated and inspired to keep going. THANK YOU!

Here's what I've learned so far, and some things I'm really happy about:

• Start by changing one thing. Changing too much at once will be difficult to maintain, but it's easy to make smaller adjustments. Once you've got that down, change something else. Keep building on your successes.

• People don't notice as soon as you would like them to--but they will notice! I was about 50-60 pounds down before anyone at work said something to me, but after I hit the 75-80 pound mark everyone had lots of nice things to say. It's hard to get used to the attention, but I've learned to accept their compliments gracefully.

• Macros of 40/30/30 (C/P/F) work for me. Any more than that amount of carbs, I retain a LOT of water. Any less, I'm really cranky. And I couldn't live without sweets.

• Water is so important. I need to drink a lot of water--usually I have 3 liters a day, sometimes up to 4. I almost never drink calories because I don't think it's worth "spending" them on.

• Nothing is off limits! The only thing that matters is that I hit my calorie allotment and make a good attempt at meeting my macros for the week, if not for the day. I haven't had a single day where I completely gave up, binged, or felt deprived, and I can only credit this to allowing myself to eat whatever I wanted as long as it fit in the budget. I used to be a junk food junkie who, if I knew it was there, I had to eat it, so this is HUGE for me!

• I've lost seven inches from my hips, six from my ribs, and six from each of my thighs. I've gone from pants size 28 to a size 18. I can't remember being any smaller than this in my entire adult life.

• My husband says that for the most part, I've stopped snoring. It's not totally gone, but it's not constant now either.

• I had a fair bit of body/mind disconnect starting out--instead of still seeing myself now as the same (big) size I was then, I think I pretty much got mentally stuck at the size I am now and then got bigger! Sometimes it's frustrating because I feel like I should look much smaller now since I've lost so much... but pictures don't lie! So here they are:

(Warning: fat lady in underpants!) http://imgur.com/a/lwkww

• As hard as it is... take progress pictures! I really regret that I don't have one from my highest weight now, even though at the time I couldn't bring myself to do it. In the end it will be WORTH IT to see how far you've come!

So that's where I am. I'm hoping to get into the 1XX numbers by the end of the year, and at least to 180 in the first half of next year. Once I get there, I get the feeling I might want to drop some more, but since I've never been that small (and my bones are starting to be in evidence of defining the width of my frame) I'll have to decide that later on.