Here I am when Kid was 3 years old about 6 months before I became pregnant with Baby. I weigh around 126 in these pictures.
Here I am about 8 months pregnant and probably at that point about 168 pounds.
Here I am about to give birth and topping the scales at 178 pounds. Believe it.
This shot is taken the beginning of April about one month into calorie counting and just over 2 months postpartum. At this point I weigh 145 pounds. I had already lost 33 pounds.
This is one month later at 140.5
Five weeks after that on my 31st birthday and am 134 pounds.
And here I am just before I started my blog in the middle of July and I weigh 131 pounds and my weight loss had started to stall.
You've seen this before but it helps you visualize where I went weight wise from the above photo until now. This chronicals a 20 pound weight loss, a 10% fat loss, and it spans a 4 months period of time. This is when I started the crazy cardio.
And here I am today. I weigh around 110. I have maintained this weight for the past 5 months.
(sorry for the nightgown shot but it's 1AM)
33 comments:
Your labels make me smile...
and you are inspirational in more ways than weight loss...
Its 2 am. why I am still up??? Oh yeah, I knew you'd get another post in tonight. Plus, I can't sleep...
This post is inspirational and I'll tell you why...this morning I got on the scale and I weighed the most I have ever weighed in my life. While this could potentially send me into a shame spiral I am focused on next week and planning on getting in some great cardio with my sister to kick off a plan of training for a 5K.
That said,I do not run, I have never run, but I am determined to whip this ass into shape and I think the challenge of a 5K will do the trick.
You are amazing and your children are so beautiful, that I'll bet a 100lb weight gain would have been worth it!!!
You are totally inspirational. Your honesty is what keeps me coming back. I am so afraid of getting pregnant again because of the weight loss. I am starting WW today. I'm not kidding this time. The doctor told me I needed to lose 10 lbs since I have diabetes and heart disease in my family history. No fooling around this time. Thanks for the encouragement!
Wow! I love to see pictures like that. You look amazing. :)
I need to start looking through old pics to see how far I've come. It must make you feel really good.
That is amazing! Thanks for sharing the pictures...its great to really "see" the weight loss. I don't think I ever really realized how much you changed your body! Really an inspiration!!!!
And on your 31st birthday, it would appear that 34 of your 134 pounds was pure boob! Good lord Mae West! I need to get pregnant...
wow. I am amazed and inspired. I do have one question - During the time before u started the 'crazy cardio' or when your weightloss had stalled, did u ever feel down or feel that you might never loose the weight that you had gained??
-Smita
I already thought you looked great, but the early shots really tell the story. You are amazing!
Note to self: always read Haley's comments before posting. She's right. Baby boobs are pretty impressive.
LOL at Haley!
Shelley,
thanks
Kiki,
I was up until 2 myself!
I too am trying to start running (and I have never run...nor thought I ever would). I always thought people were either born runners or not... we'll find out ;)
Preppy Mama,
I was afraid to get pregnant the 2nd time too for the same reason. I was afraid I wouldn't have gotten back to that stellar figure I was sporting in those first 3 shots ;)... I thought that was as good as I could get post kids and thought one more pregnancy would put me over the edge. But look... It worked out. I'm thinner & in better shape after 2 kids than I ever was even before kids (stomach not so great... but whatever). You can do it.
Haley,
Pre-kids 34B (barely) I was definitely the kind of person who could not wear a bra and it was reasonably socially acceptable.
Right after birth with both I was a 38FF to G.
Now who knows what will happen when I'm done b'fing (although after 4.75 years of b'fing their not too bad... I've seen worse on women whose breasts have seen a lot less action!) but I definitely gain & lose from the boob region. Because I stayed fatter after Kid for longer my boobs stayed bigger too. I'm now a 32 C... but my bra-less days are sadly long gone!
Smita,
After Kid's birth, Yes, I felt that way. With Baby the weight really kept coming off at about a pound a week. As soon as it stalled in July I started working out and it started dropping again. Because I lost so consistently I never really had time to worry about it. Since I didn't lose any weight after Kid until I started dieting at about 9 months post-partum I was prepared not to lose anything for that same amount of time after Baby as well. I just thought I'd give it my all and hope I could budge the scale a bit... or at least be sure I didn't gain. I was actually surprised that I lost as much as quickly as I did. I never thought I'd hit my pre-pregs weight at 6 months post-partum (it took me a year to reach that after Kid) and I never would of dreamed I would weigh what I do today. I also ate significantly less that I did postpartum with Kid.
Things to remember are that I never took a day off that whole time. I just kept my head down and kept going. I was intensely focused.
Deb, Marie & Robin,
Thanks! Yep I was wasn't always the lean mean fighting machine you see before you today ;)
I think the most interesting thing is that before Baby but after Kid I felt my weight was "good enough" for being a mom. I was average. Wore a 6/8. The difference between then and now is only 16 pounds... and 2-3 dress sizes.
Being in my skin now I can't believe I was okay with being that much fatter (and yes it was fat that made up the difference).
Kiki, Mrs.F - On the subject of runners..Well i thought the same way too. I never thought that I could run. I was never very athletic and running ..ugh never.
I started slowly (run 1/4 mile and walk 1/4) and today I can easily run 4 miles in one go.
So yes, if i can then anyone can.. :)
-Smita
You get me excited to know I can do this I never lost 15 pounds from my first prgnancy and was detemined this year after finding your blog sometime around thanksgiving that 08' would be the year and dont yoou know it I found out I was pregnant January 10th I actually cried because I knew I was going to gain more weight and not lose it this year.
Im 23 weeks and have gained 9pounds(lots of puking) so far freaks me out about the whole gaining a pound a week the last part I guess I should say I gained 50 lbs with the 1st hoping to only gain 10-12 more pounds. And then come September Im gonna do this Im going to get healthy I need to get healthy. Which Brings me to the question that popped into my head when I saw your post When Did you decide hey this is it or was there like a light bulb moment for you just curious? And you totally rock you look great!
Still LOVE your new hair!
You ARE inspirational! - especially for someone who is small boned like you are - I am also on the small and short side, and should be weighing about what you are now - instead I am around 125....
Your hard work has really, really paid off! You look great!
You look so incredible. Your face is slim, your hair is adorbale and your body is kickin'! (That's what the young people say - kickin')
I got to 168 NOT being prego - just from eating too much Kung Pao Chicken. ha ha.
That is awesome! I'm going to have to look back at old blog posts to see how you did it. Care to explain the "crazy cardio"? did you weight lift too? I'm trying to lose about 60 pounds and it's tough!
Smita,
oh that is good news. I'm up to about 1/2 mile at a stretch with a 1/4 mile walk and can repeat that for an hour. I'm hoping I'll be able to go a little farther every week and be able to run a 5K by the end of the summer. I have been surprised that I can do it at all!
Erin,
The funny thing is until I lost the weight I was convinced I had a medium frame and that is why I always weighed a little more than the typical 115 for 5'3. I laugh every time I think of that!
Andrea,
Yes I had a moment. When I was pregnant and the weight was just piling on no matter what I did I decided that I wasn't going to be "fat" afterwards. I wasn't sure if I would be able to lose weight in the first year postpartum or not (since I really didn't with Kid and always thought that it was b'fing related) but I was determined to be accountable the moment I gave birth. I never went back to pregs eating or mindless eating. I decided as soon as I stopped losing the weight naturally (at 2 weeks... 20 pounds) I would start food journaling and calorie counting to be sure that I was on top of my intake. I just ate what allowed me to lose 1 pound a week not more and not less. I thought with breastfeeding I'd be able to eat like 2000+ calories and still lose... NO. It turned out I had to eat 1650 to lose. Which explains why I didn't lose anything after Kid was born.... I was eating well over 2500 calories a day then. Seriously. Often a lot more.
The good news is I can eat over 2000+ now because my metabolism is so much faster... even when I'm not working out.
P.O.M.,
thank you :)
Margo,
If you scroll down my left hand sidebar there is tons of info in the "Mrs F Motivates" section.
From Feb-July I really didn't workout. I had had a c-section. I just calorie counted. I figured out through experimentation how much I could eat and still lose 1-2 a week. It varied and actually increased as I lost weight. When I felt like my weight loss had really slowed in July I committed to kicking my ass. I was just doing cardio... and just walking. I focused on walking for 60+ minutes 5-6 times a week and the fat just melted off. I really believe in long cardio session for fat burn. Now I'm trying to focus on adding in the strength training.
You are a badass. Us mere mortals are impressed. :)
PS I'm amazed at how much of your weight was in your face/jaw.
Heather,
Oh yeah... I was all about the "chubby cheeks" before.
It really looks like I had about 5 extra pounds on my face alone!
aww I love your photos and all the progression! You look cute at all weights. I love your smile :-) You definitely look the happiest now though ;-)
Mrs. F.
All I can say is: You Rock.
Wow, it's really fun to see the progression of your weight loss - it's amazing!!! I am so inspired by your example. Crazy cardio is great!!!
Cara,
LOL... yes it is really hard to use the photo booth and not look serious!
Kelly O,
hey thanks :)
Kid Art,
It is all about the crazy cardio. And thankfully you don't have to be as crazy in order to maintain the loss.
I have a question. It occurred to me this afternoon while I was thinking about that photo of you showing the various stages of weight loss, which is so dramatic! (If this is too personal, just delete it!) At any point when you were doing the blog and posting photos along the way, did you fear that you might not succeed and have to deal with that publicly? If so, did that motivate you more? Were there points where you regretted making it a public process?
I ask, because I tend to be a secretive goal-maker "just in case", and I really admire you and Katie and people who do this stuff in front of the world.
Deb,
LOL!
I'm nothing but confidence (and I wish I were joking about that but I'm not).
I didn't start posting until I was pretty far into (as I didn't have a blog until then) and I really didn't know how much I'd lose but had the thought that I'd want to see where I had come from when I got there. Failing really never occurred to me. At that point I was losing so consistently that it was kind of like being high all the time.
Deb,
I should also add that I am a very spontaneous person and when I took each of those pictures I had just finished working out and was totally stoned on endorphins and thought I looked fucking hot in each one (hilarious in retrospect... but at the time I had lost more than the week before so I was stoked) and was totally proud of myself.
So, speaking of bra sizes, I realized today that the reason my boobs are so unhappy lately (read: pancaking) is that I've gone from a 36B to a 34B -- a happy discovery I made in the Victoria's Secret dressing room. However, I'm going to let them continue to be unhappy, because it's getting too friggin expensive to keep replacing clothes. Anywho, totally off topic, but I felt the need to share. Dude, I can't imagine being a G or an F -- I'm 5'4" and I know you're teeny too, so that just seems like it would be a balancing nightmare!
Haley,
Well the rest of me was much bigger too...
And as for the boobs I'm with ya. I could totally benefit from a better sized bra but they are changing all the time and I can only by so many bras a year. It is also hard to find a 32 band and I'm too cheap to order anything expensive until I'm totally done breastfeeding.
Those pictures are amazing! I love seeing the progression... pictures like that are always so inspiring!
Thanks for the continued inspiration! I think you looked gorgeous at every stage though, you have a sparkle ;) My boobs were so huge after Ella was born I refused to even find out how big and wore stretchy multi size nursing tank tops. BTW the black nightgown is tres chic, you look like you are ready to do the catwalk with Kid ;)
Wow, what a difference! As always, you continue to inspire.
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