144.4 Before and After Losing 90 Pounds

Scott took the top picture at Dunkin Donuts in July of 2011. I took the bottom picture with a timer a few days ago, at my goal weight of under 150. In the top picture I weighed about 220. I had already lost 20 pounds and I thought I was done, until I saw this picture. Ugh! How different fat makes our faces! But that is not the only difference between before and after losing 90 pounds.

Before: My ankles hurt all the time. I couldn't get through a trip to Walmart or Costco without having to find a place to sit down.

After: I am going to walk 5 miles home from work today, and my biggest concern is boredom!
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Before: I had to buy whatever the store had that fit my size 20 body. Most size 20 clothes are ugly.

After: I have to keep telling myself not to buy all the size 8 clothes in the store, just because they all fit me.
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Before: I got a headache almost every day. Mom said it was probably high blood pressure.

After: I have had exactly one headache in the last 6 months.
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I read a Facebook post that showed pictures of the same woman supposedly at size 8, size 12 and size 16. The post said we women try too hard to lose weight and that most men prefer the way we look at size 12. Size 12 was my original goal, as you can tell by the name of my blog.

You know what, though? It's not about the weight men like me at. It's about the weight I feel best at. Staying at a size 8 keeps my ankles from hurting and keeps the headaches away. Size 8 is recommended on all the body mass index charts. Before I lost 90 pounds, size 12 sounded good. After losing 90 pounds and feeling so much better, there is no way I am going back to size 12!

Here is what I ate yesterday and lost a pound on a no-exercise Sunday:

Small bowl of Special K, strawberries and organic soy milk
Handful of raw carrot sticks
1 iced sugar cookie, three peanut butter cookies, 5 pineapple chunks and 4 grapes at church coffee hour
A cup of Healthy Choice chicken and rice soup
Hamburger patty, 1 tablespoon of BBQ sauce, steamed broccoli