I'VE REACHED MY GOAL!! 50LBS GONE!

WHOOOPP!! No, wait.....

WHOOOOOPPP!!!

I can hardley believe the day has finally arrived!!

And now it has....it feels SO STRANGE! I've worked hard to reach this goal (although I've enjoyed the journey a lot!), and I can hardly believe the day is here.

I've reached my 50lb weight loss goal!

1st August 2010 - 188.8lbs
29th April 2011 - 138.8lbs

3 stone 8lbs!

It's taken 9 months. Averaging 5.5lb loss per month - 1.3lbs a week.

I've kept a record every week of my weight loss, or in some weeks my weight gain!

I've made the graph below to show actually monthly weight loss. As you can see I got off to a flying start in the first two months. I guess that's because I had a lot to lose!

I spent the month of October in New York City, which is what spurred my on to lose weight - I wanted to be fitter and healthier to fully enjoy my NYC experience! November & December were fairly slow months weight loss wise. In January I started exercising and took up running - and it shows on the chart! In March I had a coupl of weekends away. April, back on track again. And here I am today, having finally reached the goal I had set my sights on!

This was my body mass index at 188.8lbs - off the charts!

Today.... I'm in a healthy weight range for my height!

Measurements

Waist     Before  44"    After 34"    Dropped 10"
Hips       Before  45"    After 38"    Dropped 7"
Thighs    Before 25"     After 21"    Dropped 4"
Arms     Before 14"     After 10"     Dropped 4"

Dress Size: Before 16/18 - After 10/12

Before and After photos!

Putting these photos together has been a strange experience. I'm not sure who I recognise more! The 'old' me or the 'new' me!

Seeing the photos side by side is a bit of a shock.

I wasn't unhappy when I was bigger. I thought I looked fine. My confidence was high. I liked myself and my curves.

I knew it wasn't healthy though.

But now...I feel SO much better. When I started losing weight, I didn't really imagine how I would feel. It's like a mental as well as physical weight has been lifted, much to my surprise.

I feel healthier, I can move around easier, I feel even happier, my confidence is even higher, I have a sense of achievement and pride in my efforts, and I do feel like my new body is rewarding me.

What next.....?

Well, I can't rest on my laurels! I've achieved my goal and now I want to keep it. So, I'm entering the 'maintenance' period.

I will put everything I've learned and the past 9 months experience to good use. I've practically overhauled my eating habits, and I'm loving the healthy way of eating. I've never felt deprived during losing weight, and I haven't found it hard work. I've actually enjoyed the whole experience!

There are some things I've been waiting to do when I got to goal, so I'm going to get these checked off...

Get new running shoes. Check. I did that a couple of weeks ago.

Photo shoot! I would love some new photos! And I need some new profile pictures for my online presence.

Clothes - I'm not going to go mad (and I don't like this seasons colours), but I would like a few new items.

Bras - Whilst I've been shrinking I've kinda made do with cheaper bras as I knew they wouldn't last very long with my changing shape. Now I want to invest in some perfect fitting ones!

Hair - I don't think I'm going to go for a big change, but I would like to at least have my hair cut and shaped.

Get some old clothes adjusted - I've kept some of my old clothes that I really love. Just a few, beautiful, quality items. Some I haven't been able to wear as they were too small, and now they are too large! So I need to take these to a seamstress to have them taken in.

Blogging subjects on this blog - Lots of my posts on this blog are weight loss related, but there are so many more subjects I want to talk about! Simply due to time, I have to select which topic to write about and of course weight loss is important to me. So, I may reduced the weight loss posts to once a fortnight, instead of weekly, just so I can squeeze in some other subjects!

If you would like to catch up on my weight loss journey since January, you can find all my weight loss related posts here.

I think I'm going to spend the rest of the day wearing the biggest smile EVER! :)

Follow me on twitter! @karenstrunks