Progress Pics

This weight loss journey has been going on for some time, but I've never really taken progress pictures. In April of 2006 when I had gained back some weight that I lost, I started exercising again and eating well so I took some front, side and back pictures with the thought that I would start taking monthly progress pictures. But that didn't happen. So tonight I pulled together some pictures to give an idea of where I've been.

December 2001

Earlier in 2001 I hit 235, my highest weight ever. I went to the doctor for migraines and for the very first time a doctor looked at me, concerned, and asked if I had thought about exercising. It was awful. I started working out twice a day, swimming laps in the morning and lifting weights on my lunch hour. I managed to lose a little weight and I think I got down to around 220 or 225, which is where I was in this picture.

August 2002

Taken about a week before I started law school. I had lost some of my workout momentum, my boyfriend went on a mission at the beginning of 2002, and I was neck-deep in depression (which I wouldn't admit for another year and a half). So I was still around 220 to 225.

Christmas 2003
This holiday was a doozy. I wasn't really in the mood to weigh myself, so for all I know I was back up to 230. The boyfriend and I had broken up and I was still so very sad and hopeless about it all. A few months later, I hit bottom, admitted that I was not really in control, and I started taking anti-depressants. Completely changed my world.

May 2004
At my roommate's graduation. I was probably about 210 or 215 here, having started dropping weight as soon as I started on the meds and felt like doing something besides sitting on my butt all day watching TV. I mostly see the loss in my face. I feel like that girl with the round face wasn't really me.

November 2004
Still working out and trying to eat well. I was definitely about 205. The weight wasn't falling off like I wished it would, but I felt strong and healthy and happy.

July 2005
Right after taking the Bar Exam, following a summer of super-healthy eating and swimming laps almost every day. This was my lowest weight at that time, about 185. I felt awesome! I fit into a dress I hadn't worn in 5 years. I had this moment of realization one day when I was standing in front of my mirror getting ready for something. I glanced over at a picture on my dresser of a friend and me at her bridal shower in the Spring of 2001 and I realized I didn't recognize myself. My face was very round, and my eyes... My eyes looked sad and searching and not like me. I looked at myself in the mirror again. I looked at my body that I had made fit and strong and I started crying. I felt sad for that girl who I was, and so very happy with who I had become.

Then follows an up and down period. See, I moved to DC, didn't have health insurance, went off the meds, couldn't find work, was trying to figure out if a brand new relationship was going anywhere. I felt the need to eat Chicken McNuggets from the McDonald's down the street often. In the Spring and Summer of 2006, I joined a nice gym and worked out a lot. I went from 199 down to around 190. By January of 2007, I had moved back to Boston, but I wasn't taking care of myself and I was back up to 207.

A friend and I decided to do something about our lack of activity and our weight gain. It's always good to have a buddy. I started swimming laps again, keeping track of what I was eating, and also, and this is probably pretty key, I got back on anti-depressants. By August I had lost 27 pounds.

October 2007

The key in all of this, if you haven't noticed, is that I have to eat right and work out regularly. Otherwise the weight just comes back.

December 2007
I gained back some weight. I think I was about 190 at this point. Following a holiday season of eating a lot of really yummy and really bad for me food, I was back up to 194.

January 2008
Two weeks before we left for India, I started eating healthy again and went to the gym almost every day. Then I spent two weeks in India eating extremely healthy and walking a lot. A lot. A week after we got back, I weighed in at 185. I'll take it.

And that's where I am now. I'm working out again, I'm trying to eat well (which I find to be easier when I'm on my own for an evening and don't have my husband around being a bad influence. Yes, that's what I'm all about. Passing the buck.) I'm also gearing myself up for a sugar detox - just as soon as I finish the last of my Valentine's dark chocolate.