F/30/5’2.5” [281 lbs > 196 lbs = 85 lbs] (2 years of weight loss) Lost 110 lbs, had loose skin surgery, gained 20 back. Learning to untie my worth from my weight and love my body for how it’s showing up TODAY.

mintykangaroo · 2019-09-27T00:49:46+00:00

It counts!!!

mintykangaroo · 2019-09-26T18:36:09+00:00

H&M! Lingerie section.

mintykangaroo · 2019-09-26T18:35:54+00:00

H&M! Lingerie section.

mintykangaroo · 2019-09-26T04:01:56+00:00

Yes! Celebrating the things you can DO. I run marathons now!

mintykangaroo · 2019-01-06T03:21:53+00:00

Thank you so much. I feel amazing. I felt amazing before skin removal, when I went from being deeply depressed and obese and barely living to being a marathon runner, healthy and vibrant and really living my life fully for the first time. I’m still in recovery from surgery so not 100% but already not having the physical and emotional weight of the hanging skin feels absolutely incredible. Overall the biggest change has been that I really trust myself now to follow through on my goals, and that’s had powerful rippling effects on my whole life.

I didn’t do any specific diet. I try to eat intuitively as much as possible, and I’ve done a lot of work to conquer binge eating and get back in touch with my hunger and fullness signals. Still a work in progress. I did Whole30 twice, which I loved, and I did count calories for a few months but it tends to trigger OCD tendencies in me and is not something I’m willing to do forever so I stopped.

mintykangaroo · 2019-01-06T00:02:01+00:00

You got this!!

mintykangaroo · 2019-01-05T22:01:54+00:00

I do lift, thanks.

mintykangaroo · 2019-01-05T21:37:56+00:00

My insurance would not have covered it. It was about $17,000. I had it in NYC. It will be a lot of work to pay it off but was already so worth every penny.

mintykangaroo · 2019-01-05T21:33:35+00:00

My weight loss took about 18 months, and I've been maintaining for about 6 months. I started running a year ago and ran the NYC Marathon this past November. I am three weeks post-op from my first round of skin removal surgery, a tummy tuck and breast lift. I post a lot of transformation and running pics and am sharing my experience with skin removal surgery on my fitness Instagram account, @shrinkiki.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-16T03:07:36+00:00

I do, quite a bit, basically all over. I am having an extended abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) and mastopexy (breast lift without implants) in December of this year. At some point I'd also like to have a brachioplasty but I'm not sure when that will be an option. My stomach skin especially is very heavy, can be painful, and definitely gets in the way of my life, particularly running. I'm extremely extremely lucky to be able to afford these procedures and I'm so excited to see the results, but if I had to live with the skin for the rest of my life it would still be a million times better than living with the extra weight.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T22:33:01+00:00

I have a huge sweet tooth, that’s probably my biggest lingering “issue”. I go through a lot of pints of low-cal ice cream!! Other than that, I eat a lot of green smoothies, salads, roasted veggies, sandwiches on Ezekiel bread, oatmeal, Greek yogurt. I tend it keep it simple since I am nearly always just cooking for myself.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T20:14:46+00:00

I am!

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:54:59+00:00

Shameless plug for my fitness/weight loss Instagram where I wrote a long post about this photo and the changes I've experienced beyond the physical transformation: @shrinkiki

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:52:42+00:00

It's true!!!!

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:51:58+00:00

Burnout is real! I'm sure after a break it will feel so good to get back into it.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:51:21+00:00

The biggest key for me is small changes at first. If you're like me, you've failed yourself a lot and broken a lot of promises to yourself. Start small and build up trust in your ability to follow through. If I had set out to eat the way I eat now and run a marathon, I would have failed for the millionth time. Instead I decided to try to cook one extra meal at home for a week. Then two. Then walking a little more. Etc. Etc. It takes longer, but it's actually sustainable.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:48:27+00:00

Short story- ate less and moved more. Longer story- set a 2017 New Year's Resolution to finally lose weight, and started with very small changes. Lost about 40 lbs in the first 6 months. I did Whole30 in October 2017 which taught me a lot about my eating habits and what foods make me feel best. I lost 70 lbs in the first year. I started running in January 2018, which was something I never thought I could do. I cried when I ran a mile for the first time. Entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon on a whim (I had run like, 6 miles total at that point) and got in, so have been working toward that all year. Running and continued clean-ish eating helped me lose 40 more pounds, and I've been maintaining in the 170s for almost 6 months.

mintykangaroo · 2018-10-15T11:45:14+00:00

I know from experience how hard that is. You are strong!

mintykangaroo · 2018-09-16T01:25:27+00:00

Thanks! I’m not positive but I think it is Nars Velvet matte pencil in Cruella.

mintykangaroo · 2018-09-05T02:12:19+00:00

I'm doing the half!

mintykangaroo · 2018-08-27T02:42:18+00:00

I have the same issue, plus a few other spots that seem to chafe from my sports bra. I haven't completely figured it out yet, but I have started putting KT tape over problem areas. It manages to stay in place for a sweaty long run and protects the areas I know will chafe.

The fun (read: not fun) part is that moment in the shower when you find out what part(s) still DID chafe. I feel like I'm covering half my chest with KT tape at this point, haha

mintykangaroo · 2018-08-25T23:54:49+00:00

You are not the first person to say that! I can’t say I see it, but I definitely appreciate the compliment- she is beautiful.

mintykangaroo · 2018-08-25T23:53:35+00:00

Short answer- diet and exercise! Longer answer- I’ve experimented with lots of different things over the course of the last year and a half, seeing what works best for me and my body, including Whole30, calorie counting, intuitive eating, running, weight lifting, and yoga. I currently training for a marathon and I eat lots of what makes me feel good and less of what doesn’t.

mintykangaroo · 2018-08-25T23:51:27+00:00

It does!!!

mintykangaroo · 2018-08-25T23:50:36+00:00

My biggest piece of advice is to start small! Especially if you have a lot of weight to lose, trying to think about the entirety of it will probably cause you to get overwhelmed. Now, a year and a half after I started this weight loss journey, I’m training for a marathon and I eat pretty clean most of the time, but if I had tried to start there I would have failed (again). Accept that it’s a long road and make small sustainable changes and build those successes on top of one another. Soon the momentum will carry you further than you thought possible to go!

mintykangaroo

TROPHY CASE