Last Friday, January 20th marked my six month post-op from my surgery on July 20th, 2011. This has been such an amazing journey...nothing like I could have ever expected. My surgery weight was 264 pounds and today I am weighing in at 185.4 pounds. That is a total loss of 78.6 pounds. (about 80 is what I tell everyone, lol). My ultimate goal this whole journey has been to get to 145, but now after doing some researching, that would be too low for my body fat %. So now I'm just not sure where goal will be for me. I have gone from a size 18W/20 pant to a size 10 and I have lost 9.75" off of my hips alone, 9.5" from my waist, 8" from the girls :Banane20:, 4" off of each arm and 2.5" from my neck. It may be hard for me to see the changes every day but when I look at those numbers and my before pictures, I think there's definitely a difference.

I have learned so much about myself in the past six months and my entire view on food and nutrition has changed for the better. I realized that I don't have to gorge myself at every meal and I don't feel like I failed if I make some wrong decisions in my journey...that there is always my next meal to do right again. I also learned that this is in NO WAY the easy way out and I wish people around me would realize that too. I do my best to eat my six small meals a day with 70 grams of Protein, less than 30-40 grams of carbs, and keep my Water intake above 64 oz. I also go to the gym 3-4 times a week.

Anyways, I was very hesitant on posting these before pictures because they are horrendous, :blushing: but I figure if I inspire even one person on here to keep on their journey, then it's worth it. Plus I don't know any of y'all in person...haha.

I am so happy for you, Leah. It has been awesome being able to be a part of your journey and see how you have transformed. YOU ROCK, LADY!