My Journey to a Healthier ME!!
It has been 20 months and 6 days since I began my journey to find a happier, healthier, and whole ME. Has it been easy? That would be a resounding NO! It has been a struggle with ups and downs and even sideways at some point. I have learned a lot about weight loss, eating healthier, dealing with stress and how to let stress go, learning who I am as a grown woman, now about to be divorced, and what makes me happy and gives me joy.
Since my journey I have gone from 400 lbs to 317 lbs as of today. I have gone from a Plus Size Women's pants size of 32 down to a 24. My goal in weight loss is eventually around 200 lbs, and I would love to be in a size 16 or 18. I get so many comments on how much healthier I look. I am being called names I have never heard when referring to me.....names such as "Slim" or "Skinny" or "Skinny mini" or even my favorite "Sexy"....names that put a smile on my face and bring light to my heart. I post all my progress pictures and workout routines on my Facebook page, and I even started a Facebook group called Healthier Lifestyle, Healthier You and invited my friends (click on the link and check it out if you have Facebook). I am currently working on setting up the same group on Instagram. The comments, and congratulations, and motivations that are posted when I put up a new pic have kept me focused and motivated. Sometimes they are funny as hell, such as the gif's that my high school friend Charley posts. They make me laugh, which makes me even happier. Charley and his wife have become to of my most vocal supporters.
I have had friends and colleagues ask me what I am doing. How I am doing it? They say that I have begun to motivate them. I am so overwhelmed that someone that could go years with being made fun of, degraded, made to feel worthless, someone that had doubted herself as a woman, could ever motivate someone else. Knowing that I do, that makes this journey even that much more amazing.
I want to share what I have learned.....some of the things I have learned I had been told for years but did not believe, but now I know they are true. (Those are marked with an *)
1. Drink lots of water (*) I add frozen fruit to my cup, then ice and water. The fruit gives it a little bit of flavor...my favorite is pineapple.
2. Smaller portion sizes (*) Yep, it is true, eat smaller portions and drinking water will help fill you up.
3. Eat 5-6 small meals a day. I take healthy snacks to school and count those as my small meals....like a small ziploc bag of grapes, a handful of nuts, a cheese stick, a healthy granola bar.
4. Exercise before dinner. I have found that for me exercising before I eat dinner, usually in the late afternoon or evening, helps to suppress my nighttime appetite. I eat less.
5. Hydrate after exercise (*) Usually I use water or Body Armour drinks. I tend not to go for Gatorade unless I am going to be participating in something that has extreme profuse sweating, because of the sodium.
6. Cardio, Cardio, Cardio (*) As much as I sometimes hate cardio...getting it in almost everyday is essential in burning fat. Get that heart rate up. Get to sweating. I googled it and I should be doing 30-45 minutes every day. In order to avoid getting bored, I switch it up between walking on the trail I use when its cool outside-the elliptical-the treadmill-or the Bike. When on the treadmill I always choose the pre-programmed workout for weight loss. It is called Weight Loss Hills, and I set my incline at somewhere between 8-10, speed starting out is 2.7 and then I up it to 3.0-3.2 depending on my ankle that day (as most of you may know I have had 3 ankle surgeries, which is why I cannot run).
I have been asked what diet I use. I don't. I don't believe in diets per say. Losing weight is different for everyone. I know that I don't need anything but willpower and motivation. I don't need to pay a weekly or monthly membership to someone else, buy their food, buy their diet drinks, or buy their diet pills. My reason---I DO NOT BELIEVE DIETS WORK LONG TERM!! I BELIEVE THAT ALL DIETS ARE DESIGNED TO FAIL!! Most people end up spending a lot of money on memberships and special foods, lose weight, go off the diet, and gain it back. It has a to be a healthy lifestyle change...
I can see my journey laid out in front of me and I know I can make it to the end. Is this something that I will stop once I reach my goal? Absolutely not...it is a lifelong journey and I am excited about what I will see, hear, taste, love, and do along the way.
Since my journey I have gone from 400 lbs to 317 lbs as of today. I have gone from a Plus Size Women's pants size of 32 down to a 24. My goal in weight loss is eventually around 200 lbs, and I would love to be in a size 16 or 18. I get so many comments on how much healthier I look. I am being called names I have never heard when referring to me.....names such as "Slim" or "Skinny" or "Skinny mini" or even my favorite "Sexy"....names that put a smile on my face and bring light to my heart. I post all my progress pictures and workout routines on my Facebook page, and I even started a Facebook group called Healthier Lifestyle, Healthier You and invited my friends (click on the link and check it out if you have Facebook). I am currently working on setting up the same group on Instagram. The comments, and congratulations, and motivations that are posted when I put up a new pic have kept me focused and motivated. Sometimes they are funny as hell, such as the gif's that my high school friend Charley posts. They make me laugh, which makes me even happier. Charley and his wife have become to of my most vocal supporters.
I have had friends and colleagues ask me what I am doing. How I am doing it? They say that I have begun to motivate them. I am so overwhelmed that someone that could go years with being made fun of, degraded, made to feel worthless, someone that had doubted herself as a woman, could ever motivate someone else. Knowing that I do, that makes this journey even that much more amazing.
I want to share what I have learned.....some of the things I have learned I had been told for years but did not believe, but now I know they are true. (Those are marked with an *)
1. Drink lots of water (*) I add frozen fruit to my cup, then ice and water. The fruit gives it a little bit of flavor...my favorite is pineapple.
2. Smaller portion sizes (*) Yep, it is true, eat smaller portions and drinking water will help fill you up.
3. Eat 5-6 small meals a day. I take healthy snacks to school and count those as my small meals....like a small ziploc bag of grapes, a handful of nuts, a cheese stick, a healthy granola bar.
4. Exercise before dinner. I have found that for me exercising before I eat dinner, usually in the late afternoon or evening, helps to suppress my nighttime appetite. I eat less.
5. Hydrate after exercise (*) Usually I use water or Body Armour drinks. I tend not to go for Gatorade unless I am going to be participating in something that has extreme profuse sweating, because of the sodium.
6. Cardio, Cardio, Cardio (*) As much as I sometimes hate cardio...getting it in almost everyday is essential in burning fat. Get that heart rate up. Get to sweating. I googled it and I should be doing 30-45 minutes every day. In order to avoid getting bored, I switch it up between walking on the trail I use when its cool outside-the elliptical-the treadmill-or the Bike. When on the treadmill I always choose the pre-programmed workout for weight loss. It is called Weight Loss Hills, and I set my incline at somewhere between 8-10, speed starting out is 2.7 and then I up it to 3.0-3.2 depending on my ankle that day (as most of you may know I have had 3 ankle surgeries, which is why I cannot run).
I have been asked what diet I use. I don't. I don't believe in diets per say. Losing weight is different for everyone. I know that I don't need anything but willpower and motivation. I don't need to pay a weekly or monthly membership to someone else, buy their food, buy their diet drinks, or buy their diet pills. My reason---I DO NOT BELIEVE DIETS WORK LONG TERM!! I BELIEVE THAT ALL DIETS ARE DESIGNED TO FAIL!! Most people end up spending a lot of money on memberships and special foods, lose weight, go off the diet, and gain it back. It has a to be a healthy lifestyle change...
I can see my journey laid out in front of me and I know I can make it to the end. Is this something that I will stop once I reach my goal? Absolutely not...it is a lifelong journey and I am excited about what I will see, hear, taste, love, and do along the way.
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