Ok, so I know I just posted unflattering pictures of myself just last week, but I'm convinced that since I cut simple sugars out of my diet, my body has changed already (if only slightly). But just to be fun, I am posting other pictures of my bodily changes in the past year. I figured since I already posted pictures of me in a bikini, it couldn't get much worse, right? So the first picture is of me about 1.5 years ago when I was the fattest I have ever been (I think I was 135 pounds). The second picture was taken last fall after I just barely recovered from mono, strep throat, valley fever, and gastritis (I was out of work for 5 weeks and the last 3 weeks I was bedridden and vomiting constantly). I wasn't the skinniest I've ever been, but I can honestly say that my arms were pretty gross looking. BTW....that was our beautiful German Shepherd that we had to give away because he got too big The next picture is my unflattering bikini picture, and the last two are my updated pictures 1 week later. I swear, I think the simple sugars in my previous diet gave me a really bad "fanny pack" stomach. Anyway, tell me what you think. I promise I won't post any more weekly updates with pictures.

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To me you look alot more skinny than the other picture.Why?

I don't want to annoy everyone with weekly update pictures. Plus, i think my progress will probably be slower now.

Yeah, ever since I've been eating healthy, I've felt so much better. I was always really bad about skipping meals, but now I feel like I'm eating so much more throughout the day and not overeating at dinner. I've been following the USDA guidelines and cut my calories by 300-500 per day to lose the excess fat. My body fat percentage was a lot higher than I expected (it measured at 25.8% last week, which is borderline "overweight" according to the ranges). It's so weird that someone can be on the low end of the BMI scale and ideal weight, but on the high end of body fat percentage.

Will you post every month?

So... you're overweight?

I'm not saying I'm overweight. I'm just saying that I'm one of the "skinny fat" people who need to lose some fat. I would like to maintain my weight, tone up, and drop my body fat percentage to 21%. My arms and legs have always been very skinny, even when I was heavier. My mom is obese, yet her arms and legs are only slightly larger than mine. Unfortunately, when I lose weight, I lose it first in the arms and legs.

All I was saying with this post is that when I cut out all the foods with high glycemic indexes, my mid section appeared to shrink.

First thing's first...holy crap, that dog is absolutely GIGANTIC!!!
It's almost bigger than you!!

Anyway, the last 2 pics look like you've lost quite a bit of fat from the 3rd pic. You say this happened in a week? That may be even more incredible than the size of your dog, which I just realised, is actually taller that you, standing like that on it's hind legs.

No, I think it's the way I was standing that makes it look different. Here's a better picture of where I was last week (1st pic) and where I'm at right now (2nd picture taken tonight). If you're wondering about the skin color difference, it's cause I did a tan in a bottle last week and it's worn off now

Yeah, I can't believe our dog got so huge! We tried to weigh him before giving him away, but our scale didn't go up high enough (my husband tried picking him up and standing on the scale, and it was bouncing at above 280 pounds). I'm 5'4", so it's not like I'm super short (even though the picture makes me look tiny).

I swear to you though, I've been eating between 1500 and 1800 calories all week, and I've seen a big difference. I wish the attachments had the digital dates on them so you could see for yourself. I don't mean to get into the gross details, but I think it has to do with the fact that I was really bloated last week when I took the pictures.

I do plan on posting pictures periodically, but I don't think I'll see any drastic changes besides added bulk. I plan on increasing my calories this next week too because I think I need to add muscle weight.

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Hmmm ok. So you do a weight training routine I assume?

My suggestion regarding the pics would be, to keep them consistent - otherwise their use is greatly diminished. I would recommend the following:
- Same Camera
- Same Distance between you and camera
- Same Position (eg. Amrs & Legs in the same spot every shot), because as you move limbs, your body may shift the fat/muscle a bit to suit your position better, so the difference will not be clear if this is clouding your physique.

Just get into the position...hmmm I've no idea what it's called, but it's the flex position, you know what I mean? Probably not heh, I make little sense sometimes.

Great work! That middle is toning right up. And that's just a week

what are trying to accomplish? What do you want to look like?

it is your bulking comments that make me ask?

lookin pretty good! keep it up!

I would like to lower my body fat percentage from 25.8% down to 21% (which is a good fitness goal, but not enough to lose my womanly assets). I would also like to tone up.

I've always had skinny arms and legs and a generally thin upper body, but my core (my stomach and love handles) have never matched the rest of my body. I've ALWAYS had the love handles and the unless I'm really skinny, I've always had a little pooch on my stomach area. I would like to trim my core and build up my arms and legs. It's frustrating to me because whenever I lose fat, it comes off of my legs and arms first and never my love handles area. Essentially, I want my body parts to match each other.

I figured this time I will be more strict than in the past (more defined diet and more exercise). Ideally, I would like to work out 5 times a week (5 cardio and 3 weight training sessions) and I've been following the USDA guidelines for nutrition (basically the new food guide pyramid). I've been working out 3-5 times a week, but it really needs to be 5 times. For cardio, I do 30 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill and for the weight training sessions, I do a day of back/triceps exercises, 1 of chest/shoulders/biceps exercises, and 1 of legs. Every weight training day also consists of ab exercises and I have at least 1 day of rest between weight training days. I am keeping a food log and exercise diary on my computer.

Good progress - do you use free weights for your weight training?