Hey there. I'm Diane. And I just signed up the other day. I'm eighteen years old and I've always had trouble with my weight. I'm cursed with genes that make it extremely easy to pack on the pounds but extremely difficult to shed them. There are very few people on my dad's side of the family that aren't overweight. Unfortunately, my dad's side of the family is prone to sons as well. My dad has six brothers and they all have at least four sons each. I'm the only girl. They're basically all overweight but they're happy with their bodies. I'm not and I am very self conscious of it. I hang out with my cousins a lot. I have to hear a lot of "Oh, now she's hawt." type talk and have to listen to them compare women's bodies and such. Growing up around that basically murdered my self esteem. I cried for hours after the first time a guy asked me out because it just felt... cruel. It makes no sense, but it's true.


I get told that I'm being stupid a lot. I get offered a lot of really freakin delicious foods and when I break and eat way too much, I get teased about it. I'm sure you all know how difficult losing weight can be when you have basically zero support. :\

That's why I joined. All these before and after pictures are so inspiring. It makes losing weight seem more do-able than it had ever seemed before.

My weight has gone up and down quite a bit since I was 12. I was at my highest weight at that age. I was 182 lbs. I was 14 and my weight had dropped down to about 160 lbs, when that guy asked me out. His name is Cody and we're still dating. Cody is reeeally skinny and somewhat muscular. He had always told me I was perfect. Always said stuff like "you've got awesome hips," haha. It was weird for me how accepting he was. That is what motivated me to lose weight at first. I wanted to really be perfect for him. By the time I turned 16, my weight had dropped to 120 lbs. That's the lowest I've weighed since i was like 8. Then I got a depo shot about a year ago. Worst mistake ever. I regained 30 lbs in about 3 months. Which brings me to 150. My current weight. While Cody's love for my body despite how much I weigh had helped me to lose weight at first, now it's no help at all, haha. Since he's naturally skinny and muscular, he doesnt need to do much to maintain it. He eats a lot of unhealthy, fatty foods and plays a ton of video games. Unfortunately when we hang out, that's basically what we do. And now every time I reach for the chips i think, "i really shouldn't, but he doesnt mind, so why should i?"

Except I do mind. A lot. I'm seriously unhappy with my body.

Support is hard to come by around here, so I'm hoping that by joining this forum it'll be easier to lose weight.

Okay, enough talk about that, haha. Measurement time.

Height: 5'3 (I havent grown an inch since I was 14)
Weight: 150.5
Shoulders: 40 in
Chest: 38 in
Abdomen: 30.5 in
Hips: 41 in
Thighs: 20 in
BMI: 26.9

Lean Body Mass: 100 lbs.
Fat Mass: 49.7
Percentage Fat Mass: 30.4%


My goal weight is 120 lbs. While in the past when I was 120 lbs I still considered myself too fat, I hadnt realized that I just needed to tone it up a bit. I'm not looking to be stick skinny (Cody would kick my ass if I lost the hips completely, haha.).

I go to the gym five days a week. I do an hour of cardio one day, the next day I do 30 min weight training and 30 min cardio, and I switch back and forth throughout the week. I take the weekend off to avoid burning out. My half brother, from my mom's side, is big with working out so he's been giving me a few tips with my diet. He says it's more about how much you eat, rather than how fattening the food is, and that has worked for me in the past. I eat what I like in smaller portions. Luckily, I have always been a big fan of fruit and salad, so that's what I'm usually craving.

I've been doing this for about two weeks and I havent lost any weight. :[
I'm hoping that maybe I've been replacing some of the fat with muscle though.

Picture time.

Girl on the right is me. This was when I was at about 125 lbs.


Girl on the left. This was taken when I was at about 135 lbs.


About 140 lbs.


This was taken last summer. I was at around 145 lbs. The guy on the left of me is my dad. The guy behind him is my uncle. The guy behind me touching my hair is the boyfriend. They guy on the right of me is my half brother. The other boys are my neighbors.



Here are my official "Before" pictures. Taken 7/2/09 at 150.5 lbs. I look horrible because I had just gotten out of the gym. Not sucking in at all because I did ab workouts yesterday and HOLYFREAKINCRAP I'm sore. Haha.

Front:


Side:

You really are a beautiful girl I totally understand how you feel. My bf is the same way, and I wanna be skinny for him lol (though I started dating him well after I started loosing weight lol) I wish you luck on your weight loss journey, I know that you can do it

You will do a great job im sure. I personally think you look best @ the 135-140 range. good luck and keep us updated.

Hello dParsons, I totally understand where you're coming from.

I know you CAN & WILL do it!! Changing your lifestyle for the better & sticking to it can be tough at times! But keep your chin up & persevere!! Every little bit helps because down the road it WILL all add up!

Take Care

So you are 17 years old? I couldn't figure it out. Maybe I didn't read close enough.

I think you looked great at 135 so I'm thinking 130 would be a good weight for you but 120 would not necessarily be unhealthy. I don't totally agree with your half brother. Maybe for a while you can get by with simply watching how many calories you consume but when you get down to the last 10 lbs, you really do need to cut back on the fat intake. Not to mention, it would be a good thing to make sure you are getting adequate protein while you are losing weight so you don't lose too much muscle. When you are trying to lose fat, more than likely the best you will do is maintain muscle, not gain muscle.

I think you will do great. Good to see you are getting control now, before things get out of hand. I also agree that you are a very pretty girl. Good luck to you.

You still look really good! Its only 25 lbs!


and can I have your number!!! ha ha !

good luck on your weight loss..