High school gym coach ran into me at Starbucks and told me I look back to myself. First person to make a big deal about my weight loss, and gave me a ton of confidence and drive to keep going.(24F 189 -> 148)

I gained 35lb in a little under a year due to a really unhappy time in my life. At my worst the scale hit 189. I am now down to 148 over (first 20 lost over 8 months, last 20 lost over 3 months).

My high school swim coach goes to my same gym, so she saw me 20lb heavier 3 months ago. Today she ran into me at Starbucks and she ran right up to me and grabbed me by both my arms and she looked me right in the eyes and told me I look amazing. She was just so happy and excited for me!

She told me I look like I’m myself again, and honestly I feel like myself again. Because I gained the weight so fast, I didn’t fit into any of my clothes. I was wearing basically leggings and loose shirts (that were actually tight because of how much bigger I had gotten). I had no confidence. I never felt cute, so I just stopped trying. I didn’t do my hair or my makeup. But now, I fit into my clothes again. I am not busting out of all my shirts and feeling super uncomfortable all the time. I feel CONFIDENT. I want to wear makeup and do my hair and talk to people and live my life to the fullest!

I was in a tiny bit of gym lull the last few weeks, but this moment really has sparked me back up to be the best I can be. Sometimes I wonder if people in my life think it will be offensive to mention they’ve noticed my weight loss? I’m unsure, but I honestly (maybe conceitedly) wish more people would say something, and most importantly I am SO thankful to my old coach :)

Edit: for anyone interested in how I lost my weight. Initially it was thought calorie counting on myfitnesspal and just staying under 2000 and trying to do some cardio very sparingly (rollerblading, elliptical, bike). The past few months I am aiming at 1200 (but I eat back what I burn off exercising) and I alternate between running and a self-made lifting routine.

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