The Journey Continues (but the journey has changed after losing 128lbs)

    Hey all,
 
                I know its been a while since my last post (over  a year lol), but a girl's been busy. Since my last post there has been a lot of change. We will start with life changes, since then I have gotten my Master's degree in Clinical Social Work (still have yet to sit for the test to get my license). I now work in my field instead of working jobs that have nothing to do with why I went to school. I am now a crisis counselor at a crisis house for individuals with chronic mental illness. And i love it!!! The hours are a bit whacky, but I am making it work!! I am also 31 year old now :(  Lol now I feel better (and look better) than I did when I was 21.
                In terms of my weight loss, boy have there been changes...so my last post on here I still weighed over 200 lbs (225lbs to be exact). Now I weigh 161lbs. and am a size 6/8 (from size 16 as of last post (August 2013)). So I did it and I hit my 100lbs lost goal!!!! Currently I have lost 128 pounds. In a little over 2 years. I must say that the scale no longer moves very much for me and really hasn't in a few months. I hit the 100lbs mark in about 1.5 years. In the last post, I talked about being close to graduating from "plus-sized" stores. Since the last post,  I have graduated and can now shop just about anywhere. There are so little options for cute clothing when ur bigger and that is a problem!! (maybe a different post for that lol)
                I am still trying to lose about 10 more pounds just so I can lean out a bit and lose some remaining fat. According to my BMI I am still over weight, but we all know that the BMI charts are utter BS! I am trying to lose these last 10 just so I can be a bit more fit and trim. More than anything right now, I want to build up my muscle and tone up and just be a strong female!! I want to look like the athlete that I am!!!
                Since losing all this weight I have not only lost the weight, but I have also changed on the inside!! It is so different living life on the other side of 100lbs lost. I have a whole new mentality. I still have a ways to go though in terms of my confidence and self-esteem, but its getting there. After many years of self hatred and body shaming from myself it will take a while to completely love my body, but I am trying, one day at a time.
                My goals right now involve doing more strength training and improving my diet a bit. For a while here I was still eating as if i needed to lose 100 lbs., and not eating as if i had. By this i mean I had not changed my diet really since I first started. What I was told by a trainer at my gym was that i was not eating enough and that I can eat more since I really don't have much more weight to lose. So recently I have upped my caloric intake and upped my workouts a bit and have started to lift a bit more heavy. This is so that i can lean a bit and lose some fat.
                 I plan on posting more often so i can help others to achieve their goals like I have mine. Losing weight is hard, but with support you can def so it!! I will post again soon I promise, but just wanted to keep this semi-updated. Below are some before and after pics. Thanks for checking out my blog guys!! leave a comment if u want to see more!!

*** To see how it all began view my first blog post from 2013!!

-Valerie

          This before is from my last post August of 2013 (six months in) and the after is from Jan. 2015

                      This before is from before I started my journey 2 years ago. The after is from Jan. 2015

All blog posts and Photos are Copyright Valerie Hinrichs 2013-2015