Amytugs Before and during......

[amytug]

I started losing on 12/11/09.
240 lbs.
shirt size 2X
jeans 22
pajama pants 3X
- http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/amytuggle/DSC00239.jpg
-------------------------------------------

I've lost 53 lbs in 3 short months~ I'm now 185.5.
shirt size XL (almost into an L)
jenas 16
pajama pants XL (almost need an L)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/amytuggle/IMG_8207.jpg

Pleaaase ignore my clothes. I didn't take care of myself when I was fat, and didn't buy clothes until I'd lost about 45 lbs. I'm now wearing clothes that fit( and a bra) and will add more pics when I'm around 160 or so. :)
My long-term goal is 140 (or lower) I'm 5'4.

[Conscious Midwife]

:DBRAVO!

Absolutely RAWmazing:D

[rawbutterfly]

Awesome! You're looking great! I totally understand about the clothes. I did the same thing!

[Shine]

You look fantastic!! :D Good for you!! :)

[lovenlife]

Woweeeee you rawk sista! Oh MY.

...I have seen, when people have weight loss as an obvious result of weight loss, it is the biggest testimony to others of the raw power and they want it.

No worry bout clothes, that doesnt matter and it will come and you will feel so pretty in your new duds!

[OnMyJourney]

Amy you look fantastic!!! I'm so excited and happy for you!!! Congratulations! ((HUGS)))))

[mama29]

Absolutely Beautiful!!!
Big Hugs
Kristi

[amytug]

Thanks everyone. I feel so much better btw- and I LOOOOOVE this diet! 5 years ago I lost 40 lbs doing Weight Watchers points and I liked it at first. First it was like a game.. how much food can I eat for my allotted amt of points, and how much dessert can I eat! Not a very healthy diet- at least not if you do it that way. I got tired of it and then HATED it and failed and gained it all back plus 20 lbs. I just LOVE this diet. I keep finding recipes I love.

down side = I have more dishes because I have 5 kids and they don't eat my diet.. because -downside 2- it's expensive! :eek: I'm down with that though, for my heatlh. I wish I could feed all of us like this!

[Aleesha Sattva]

wow wow wow wow wow ... you go girl!!!

[RawKnitster]

Way to GO! Can't see your face or eyes well in the before pic, but I'm guessing there is a big difference there, too. Your face in the after pic is looking bright. With 5 kids you must be putting all that extra raw energy to good use. :D

[monkapotapus]

Wow! Great job :D

[Green_Woman]

Uh-MAZING!!!!!! Way to RAWK it, girl!!!

[kidkid]

so inspiring! you look beautiful!

[busybees]

Oh MY! You look FABULOUS! You have done magnificantly there mama :D absolutely wonderful!!!


I understand what you mean about expense with the kidlets. We are at varying stages (the youngest 5 and me that is). For now I'm comfortable with that because I do not want them going through major detox quickly and during school. There will be time for that in the summer when they are more apt to eat lots of raw anyway.
However one of these days soon I will have to ante up because the three oldest girls are serious about going all raw (15, 14, 11). My youngest (6) is apparently already nearly all raw and I didn't know it because she chooses salads at school which are all raw except the dressing. Last night she asked to start taking a dressing we make at home to school for her salads (where is the wide-eyed drop jaw emoticon when you need it?! lol). She is a gymnast and a soccer player (I should post a picture ....) and eats lots of fruits and apparently more salad than what I have her eat in the evenings! She's the one that begs me to make her a smoothie each afternoon after school *shakes head in wonder* But she is also the one that has had serious food allergies, so it sorta makes sense.

OK, did not mean to hijack your most awesome thread - Please forgive me.... just wanted to commiserate on the expense and let you know another mama is going through the same thing!!!

[amytug]

awwww, you're all so nice.. HOnestly- and I'm not bragging here, but my face/skin is sooooo much smoother and nice looking. that picture is so unflattering! It was taken by my 8 year old with the video camera which obviously doesn't specialize in photo taking. Here is a more recent shot of my face- but ignore my look.. LOL I'm not mad- promise!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/amytuggle/DSC_0223-1.jpg My hair isn't orange or red- it's actually light brown with some auburn undertons. not sure what's going on w/ the color but that's about what I look like.. at times my skin has more of a red undertone. I can't believe my chin has shape!

I'll get better pics, like I said soon. Probably when I fit into these size 14's I tried on today that DONT EVEN fit. lol

[islesgirl]

amytug, I am so happy for you. This latest photo of you says it all. Your skin is flawless and glowing and your eyes pop. You actually have the look of a much younger girl. For lack of a better word, this pic reflects what many would refer to as a "cherubic" or "angelic" face. What an inspiration for us all.:D

[Pking]

Very nice buddy. Keep up the good work:)

[bicb85]

Wow! You look so great! =) Your skin is just glowing.

Thanks for posting- it is very inspirational.

[amytug]

amytug, I am so happy for you. This latest photo of you says it all. Your skin is flawless and glowing and your eyes pop. You actually have the look of a much younger girl. For lack of a better word, this pic reflects what many would refer to as a "cherubic" or "angelic" face. What an inspiration for us all.:D awwww, thanks! :) Actually when I was a teen my Mom had this jewelry box with this photo on it and I always thought I resembled her.. h ttp://www.grandmas-attic.com/images/lf71.jpg (broken link) I'm shocked at how good my skin looks. :eek: Just today I was thinking "gosh- you look like a teenager!" I am 26 btw. I even bought teenie bopper underwear today! *giggle*


Very nice buddy. Keep up the good work:) awww, thank you so much!


Wow! You look so great! Your skin is just glowing.

Thanks for posting- it is very inspirational. I feel so odd being called an inspiration. I'm actually to the point that I'm willing to accept it. I'm just so happy to be albe to share these! I've never had this much success (or felt this great!)

[Mikey_H]

awwww, you're all so nice.. HOnestly- and I'm not bragging here, but my face/skin is sooooo much smoother and nice looking. that picture is so unflattering! It was taken by my 8 year old with the video camera which obviously doesn't specialize in photo taking. Here is a more recent shot of my face- but ignore my look.. LOL I'm not mad- promise!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y294/amytuggle/DSC_0223-1.jpg My hair isn't orange or red- it's actually light brown with some auburn undertons. not sure what's going on w/ the color but that's about what I look like.. at times my skin has more of a red undertone. I can't believe my chin has shape!

I'll get better pics, like I said soon. Probably when I fit into these size 14's I tried on today that DONT EVEN fit. lol

BRAG ALL YOU WANT!!
You deserve it, I achieved things I never in my life thought possible by going raw. Such a physical, mental and spiritual lift.

Just imagine yourself going even farther!
Everytime I strayed off raw I found myself right back on it... it's the best in every way! Now it's all I crave, all I want, and you're just gonna keep feeling better and better! woot!

[katchmoleen]

My goodness you look about 16 years old! Beautiful! I know what you mean about the clothes. I have recently lost a lot of weight also and am beginning to enjoy clothing for the first time in my life. I have found a system called Dressing Your Truth, which uses Energy Profiling to help you learn to dress on the outside what is a reflection of the true you inside. It is really amazing and lots of fun. You might be interested
http://www.dressingyourtruth.com
I don't make any money off of it, just a satisified customer.

[rawmom2006]

Wow you look wondeful. Your skin is just glowing. You should be so proud of yourself.
Thanks for sharing your photos.

[laura-jane]

Fabulous! Look how far you've come! Be very proud of yourself. Keep us posted on your progress.

[Blessedw/6]

What an inspiration!!! I'm so very proud of you, keep it up!!
God Bless!

[amytug]

thanks everyone!!

KM- that site looks neat- I'll look further into it!

[ZaeZae]

Amy, I really really needed to find this thread today. I 'found' raw in the summer but I've pretty much thrown everything I learned aside. I'm bigger than you (265ish) and getting desperate. I'm going to start working with a coach...hopefully that will help. Amazing amazing amazing...I would love to hear more about 'how' you do it. Balancing full time work, school and a 2 year old has been the downfall for me so far.

Really so awesome - Congrats!!

[CathyA.]

You are beautiful. You have the glow of a RAW girl. You are a living testament to the benefits of going raw. Great job!!!

[Emma Jane]

Oh my gosh! Look how you glow! Good for you, how inspiring :D

XxX

[sjpersonal]

You look amazing. Wow, this is what I am looking for a major transformation. Did you just do all raw foods or Green Smoothies.

I want to be like you LOL! Seriously I am so jealous, you look great, keep up the good work

[Zella Juice]

I hear ya about the clothes thing. I didn't realize how crappy I dressed until I lost the weight. Now I enjoy shopping for clothes.

[freshlight]

you are so CUTE! wonderful, I'm so happy for ya! Well done, girlfriend. Keep it up and enjoy :)

[sidrah]

You look amazing. You look so young and your skin looks great. All that change in 3 months?! Wow

[xPIXIEx]

Creamy, gorgeous skin! Congrats! :D You're looking great.

[Redgrrl]

You are indeed stunning! How did you start? i am trying to do the same, lose weight and get healthy. But all i know to do is drink green smoothies. What did you actually do to start and keep going?

[amytug]

I did all raw foods. I call myself 100% raw but there are a few thigns I eat that aren't raw because we are in a small town and these things are easier to get here.

agave
balsalmic vinegar
olive oil (though I plan to change that when we go to the city)
dijon mustard for my salad dressing
... a few other things.. seasonings aren't organic etc

Here is another recent shot.. much better than the last one lol
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2698/4442862501_6d6c5fd474_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4442856965_c4e46637bc_o.jpg

thank you for all the kind words!

[CathyA.]

Love the up-dates. Your pics are beautiful.

[AutumnBreezColordLeavz]

Thanks for posting, it is always a motivator for me.

[christinajade]

Beautiful skin!!:D

[sidrah]

You look nice!

[Rawcstacy]

Looking Good! Your hair looks especially nice in it's natural color. No need to waste money on toxic hair dyes(yes they are dangerous to your health). Instead you can purchase more raw foods for your lovely family with the savings.:D

[klomasius]

Um.... Wow!

You look like you've just de-aged yourself about ten years!

UNbelievable!

Keep up the fantastic work!

p.s. can you put all your pics in the one post so we don't have to scroll through pages to see the amazing transformation? That'd be awesome!

[Kaila]

you look great!!

[IamLoved]

You have made such amazing progress and you look wonderful! Congratualtions on all your success!!
I totally understand the difficulty in having to feed your family different food, makng extra stuff and having more dishes. I have 7 children and they all eat differently. Some are vegetarians and some are meat eaters. They all love my green smoothies and the raw crackers, kale chips and goodies that I make. They typically eat fruit for breakfast and always have fruit for snacks. I try to feed them as healthy as I can with lots of raw goodness. It can be hard, but it is worth the effort.
I see that you live in Missouri. Are you anywhere near St. Louis? We live in Southern Illinois.
Congrats again on your success!

[somelikeitraw]

i did all raw foods. I call myself 100% raw but there are a few thigns i eat that aren't raw because we are in a small town and these things are easier to get here.

Agave
balsalmic vinegar
olive oil (though i plan to change that when we go to the city)
dijon mustard for my salad dressing
... A few other things.. Seasonings aren't organic etc

here is another recent shot.. Much better than the last one lol
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2698/4442862501_6d6c5fd474_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4062/4442856965_c4e46637bc_o.jpg

thank you for all the kind words!

WAY TO GO AMY!!! Unfortunately these shots are not showing, but your others do tell a very compelling story. Thanks for sharing inspiration!

[paperoceans]

Congratulations! You're such an inspiration.

[amytug]

sorry about those pics guys, I'm just now seeing that they aren't showing up. I'll have to find them again and upload again. this time in post 1.

I am ashamed to say that I've fallen off the wagon. I haven't gained anything though, Praise God!!!

I am promising myself (and rewarding myself) for at least 2 weeks on program. I really t hink that's what it's going to take to get in gear again.. After 2 weeks, it'll be a piece of cake. I just need to recommit. will start another thread for advice.

[Sweet lips]

Your story was very inspiring, and you are a winner. Don't give up on yourself ever! You have done it, and you will again. I reward myself as well - I am doing a raw challenge for 30 days and I do expect to see some results and good ones at that. Thank You

[willimakeit]

Amy great work - you look so good. Keep it up you're such an inspiration

[Gab]

You are looking so amazing. The difference is oh sooooo obvious in your first two photos. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly changed your face is. Your eyes are so wonderfully large!

And the last photo... wow. It's about your eyes. So clear, so bright.

Wow, wow, wow.

gab :)

[montyloree]

congrats.... I'm really impressed!!

[StarFire]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/2006-11-16T08_58_11-08_00.gif

You look amazing! Your skin is so beautiful, your glow factor is 'off the charts' gorgeous!! You look so healthy - AND happy!! Congratulations Amy.... you sooo RAWk!

please repost your update photos! These are so inspiring to so many of us here at RFT!

maybe try photobucket.com you can set up an account and it's free! (I lovez free!!) you can upload pics there and also find really cool smileys and stuff!

can't wait to see your updated photos!

RAWk on... and thank you so much for sharing!!

simply beautiful....

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/18.gif ... doin the happy dance with ya!!

[Kilico]

You look amazing. Such a big change in so little time.

[annabella]

Keep us posted with your progress! I can't believe you lost so much weight in only 3 months! You must feel just absolutely incredible!

[Bananna]

Niiiice job :)

[listen2raw]

Thanks everyone. I feel so much better btw- and I LOOOOOVE this diet! 5 years ago I lost 40 lbs doing Weight Watchers points and I liked it at first. First it was like a game.. how much food can I eat for my allotted amt of points, and how much dessert can I eat! Not a very healthy diet- at least not if you do it that way. I got tired of it and then HATED it and failed and gained it all back plus 20 lbs. I just LOVE this diet. I keep finding recipes I love.

down side = I have more dishes because I have 5 kids and they don't eat my diet.. because -downside 2- it's expensive! :eek: I'm down with that though, for my heatlh. I wish I could feed all of us like this!

I so feel your pain, I just had my 6th child and I would love all of us to go raw more than I can now. I am hoping with growing my own garden this year that raw for my kids doesn't have to be a now and then thing. My kids love chia puddings, smoothies, pizza, living taco night and any dessert I can think up raw or otherwise.
In our house I cook for them a good portion of the time but we do have one night a week that I make a raw family meal. One of our favorites is spanish rice made with soaked barley yummy, there are always left overs for me to add to a salad the next day making this little dish cost friendly for us.
My kids also love banana shakes I make these by taking half a banana, 1 cup raw almond milk (homemade or store bought), a T Raw almond butter (home made), a dash or two cinnamon, 1 t vanilla, a swirl of raw honey, and about 3T soaked chia seeds(added after everything is well blended makes it thick like a milk shake), very gentle on the budget. My daughter is a big chocoholic and she always adds 1 heaping T of cocoa powder to hers.http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/thdroolsmiley.gif

I don't have any fancy gadgets, not even a cheap dehydrator but I do get as much as I can in bulk such as nuts,dates and seeds. I buy things in season such as mangoes are on sale right now for 50 cents each so I cut a bunch up and froze them for smoothies and such and they ended up yielding way more than I could buy them frozen.

these are just some of the things We do here, I would love to hear what you do at your house and what recipes really work for your kids.

my kids are 16, 13, 11, 10, 2 and 6weeks http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x87/recyclinggoddess/1.gif

[peachersen]

BEAUTIFUL!! keep going strong, you look phenomenal!!!

[Ahngele]

Such an inspiration!! Congratulations:woohoo:

[Mothergoose]

This is inspiring. You look wonderful.:woohoo: