A Better Me

Hi! My name is Dana, and I'm a 21 year old college student on a journey to a healthy new life.

LilySlim Weight loss tickers

carlywentz asked: Your blog is really inspiring! How many calories did you eat a day when you first started? I'm about 4 weeks into a healthier lifestyle and I am typically eating about 1200-1400 a day. Is that too much? Too little?

Thank you so much!  I love your tattoos! :)

When I first started I weighed 280lbs and chose to eat 1200 calories a day.  It worked for me for a couple months, but I felt tired all the time and eventually I stalled out.  As a 280lb person I should have been eating a lot more calories, and I would have dropped weight in a healthier fashion.  I upped my calories to 1300-1400 calories and started to drop weight again, and now at 188lbs I try to net around 1400-1600 calories. 

It all depends on your weight now and your activity level.  1200 calories is too little because that is the amount you should eat if you’re laying around in a coma!  It isn’t really sustainable and it is not good for your body.  If you are exercising you should eat even more!  It may take you a couple weeks to find your perfect caloric amount and even then you may have to switch it up every couple months.  I would suggest using a BMR calculator with activity levels worked in as a starting point!  :) 

Good luck!  Let me know if you have any questions! I know you can do it! 

On the left was me before high school graduation (2010)!  On the right was me yesterday!

On the left was me before high school graduation (2010)!  On the right was me yesterday!

90lbs down!

Today I stepped on the scale, and I was finally under 190lbs!  I hit 189.6lbs this morning!  That means that I am 90lbs down and nearly 2/3rds done with my total weight loss.  I am getting really excited about hitting 100lbs gone forever!  It is very motivating to have such a great number to look forward to!

I got signed up for a gym back home!  I am glad to have a place to workout along with getting walks in with my dog.  :) It is going to be a good summer!  Let’s see if I can make it to 170 by August!

Update progress pic!  It isn’t the easiest thing for me to find “old pictures”- I tended to delete the ones I thought were really unflattering.  Also, my roommate made me laugh in the picture on the right.  She was taking the picture and told me I looked like I wanted to kill someone… :P Picture on the left was freshman year- probably around 250lbs Picture on the right was me from around a week ago in the low 190s.

Update progress pic!  It isn’t the easiest thing for me to find “old pictures”- I tended to delete the ones I thought were really unflattering.  Also, my roommate made me laugh in the picture on the right.  She was taking the picture and told me I looked like I wanted to kill someone… :P


Picture on the left was freshman year- probably around 250lbs

Picture on the right was me from around a week ago in the low 190s.

89lbs down!

Despite have far too many “bad” meals and not making it to the gym as often as I want, I still managed to lose a pound in there somewhere.  

I am driving home early tomorrow morning, and I cannot wait to see my parents and friends from back home!  :)

I have my last final “exam” today before being able to go home!  I have two take home finals which are due in the next two days and should not be too hard to complete.

I cannot wait to be done with finals so that I can go home and enjoy…oh wait.  Still taking the LSAT in June?  Yep.  Alright, I can’t wait to get home and start studying for the LSAT! :)

I am also hoping to teach my puppy to jog with me, this might be more challenging than taking the LSAT.