When I got married in 1997, I was a trim 135 lbs, which worked well for my medium 5'6" frame. Then I started having babies... my body was in for a shock. In October of 2001, three kids later, I couldn't believe my nonpregnant weight was 200 lbs! I simply hadn't gotten down to my prepregnancy weight before I got pregnant again... and again. Then I decided that I had to get serious and drop some weight before our next child.

I found The Fat to Muscle Diet by Victoria Zak and Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding By Eileen Behan, R.D., which served as my nutrition guides to lose weight as I breastfed my newborn. I took fitness classes at a local gym five days a week, including three days of cardio and two of weight training.

Nine months later, by July of 2002, I had dropped 60 pounds! I was back down to a comfortable 140, which I maintained until I got pregnant with baby #4 at the beginning of 2003.

Now I'm at it again, attempting to get back to prepregnancy weight. Although I don't have as much to lose, it's still a battle day to day. But having done it before gives me the confidence to know that I can do it again.

My husband (JeffC on this forum), who was inspired by John's site, is in it with me this time.That makes it more fun. Since he is one of those skinny guys, who has trouble putting on muscle, he is working on bulking, as I cut my fat. We now have a weight bench at home. We track our progress together, measuring and taking pictures of each other weekly. I should reach my cutting goal within a couple of months. Then I want to try bulking, too.

I didn't track my progress with photos on my first "body transformation," so I don't have any good pictures to show the change. Hopefully this will give you an idea. This time the pictures show it much more clearly.

Photos from first transformation:
http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2001-10-03.jpg .... http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2002-11-24.jpg
Oct. 3, 2001:200 lbs. .........................Nov. 24, 2002: 140 lbs.

Photos from current transformation:
http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2003-09-28.jpg.........http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2004-02-15.jpg
Sept. 28, 2003:170 lbs. .................Feb. 15, 2004: 150 lbs... getting there!

Hi Christina! Welcome to the board- you are looking great! :)

I'm 5'8 138 and you look thinner than me! It's great to see a couple working out and eating healthy together!

When I got married in 1997, I was a trim 135 lbs, which worked well for my medium 5'6" frame. Then I started having babies... my body was in for a shock. In October of 2001, three kids later, I couldn't believe my nonpregnant weight was 200 lbs! I simply hadn't gotten down to my prepregnancy weight before I got pregnant again... and again. Then I decided that I had to get serious and drop some weight before our next child.

I found The Fat to Muscle Diet by Victoria Zak and Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding By Eileen Behan, R.D., which served as my nutrition guides to lose weight as I breastfed my newborn. I took fitness classes at a local gym five days a week, including three days of cardio and two of weight training.

Nine months later, by July of 2002, I had dropped 60 pounds! I was back down to a comfortable 140, which I maintained until I got pregnant with baby #4 at the beginning of 2003.

Now I'm at it again, attempting to get back to prepregnancy weight. Although I don't have as much to lose, it's still a battle day to day. But having done it before gives me the confidence to know that I can do it again.

My husband (JeffC on this forum), who was inspired by John's site, is in it with me this time.That makes it more fun. Since he is one of those skinny guys, who has trouble putting on muscle, he is working on bulking, as I cut my fat. We now have a weight bench at home. We track our progress together, measuring and taking pictures of each other weekly. I should reach my cutting goal within a couple of months. Then I want to try bulking, too.

I didn't track my progress with photos on my first "body transformation," so I don't have any good pictures to show the change. Hopefully this will give you an idea. This time the pictures show it much more clearly.

Photos from first transformation:
http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2001-10-03.jpg .... http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2002-11-24.jpg
Oct. 3, 2001:200 lbs. .........................Nov. 24, 2002: 140 lbs.

Photos from current transformation:
http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2003-09-28.jpg.........http://www.digitalinlet.com/fitness/christina/2004-02-15.jpg
Sept. 28, 2003:170 lbs. .................Feb. 15, 2004: 150 lbs... getting there!

Wow, you have lost some serious inches off your waist! Great job and keep up the awesome work :claplow:

fantastic job on your losses so far, keep up the amazing work!

Wow, your dedication is really is amazing! I'm seriously impressed. Great job; you obviously worked your butt off (literally!)

Welcome to the forum! :)

I'm 5'8 138 and you look thinner than me! It's great to see a couple working out and eating healthy together!

Hi Christina,

I feel your pain! :p I'm still trying to loose babyfat from many moons ago...it's tough! Skin just isn't the same.

Anyhow, you are looking absolutely fantastic! Very impressive. What are you goals? How much more do you want to lose? You obviously have the discipline it takess to do it..no doubt!

Keep it up,
And...let me in on your secrets! ;)
Danielle

Thanks, all, for the positive feedback. It's nice to get encouragement to keep going.

The secret for me, Danielle, was the Fat to Muscle Diet book, like I mentioned. It's just basic balanced diet/exercise info put in layman's terms. I've found quite a bit more information on this site to take me beyond the basics I learned in that book, though.

My goal is to get down to the 135-140 lb. range and then start bulking.