Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of my story. Ok, where was I, ah yes…

The Party Years

As I proceeded through my college years, I started to get into the “partier” mode, which is ironically what lead me to my husband, now fellow health and fitness fanatic, Ryan. I won’t go into too many details about his story, because his fat loss journey is even better than mine. In time I am hoping he will guest blog and share the details himself. Anyway, I spent most …wait, ALL… weekends out drinking with friends. My beverage of choice? Smirnoff Ice, weighing in at a whopping 228 calories per bottle. Yikes. And you know I didn’t just have one or two. Then, what do you do after a night of drinking?? Hit the local fast food joint, of course! By night I was partying it up, by day I was at the gym, frustrated to hell with the cellulite forming on my tummy and the saddlebags I saw on my thighs.

Welcome To Reality

Eventually I started to realize that if I was going to continue to surf the net and the shelves at GNC for the newest “quick fix answer”, I was never going to reach my goals. After Ryan and I started dating, our party-scene nights got fewer and farther between and our focus on health began to strengthen. We read the book, “Body For Life”, and joined a gym together, making morning workouts part of our routine. We started learning about what foods really are the right foods to eat for fat loss and what are not. I thought I was finally getting myself on the right track. Before our wedding in 2005, I was able to lose 15 pounds by working out 6 days a week, eating 1200 calories per day during the week, and “splurging” on weekends. After our wedding, I hit a weight loss plateau, or should I say, brick wall. I had gained a few pounds back after a honeymoon of luxury, and could not get my efforts to budge. Slowly I crept back up, unable to figure out why my previous methods were no longer working. I was tempted to go back to my old ways - diet pills and Weight Watchers. Why, I don’t know. They didn’t work for me then, but for some reason I thought maybe they would work now. That is when it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I knew that I needed to find a long term plan. A plan that wasn’t quick, wasn’t promising anything pie in the sky, and wasn’t too good to be true. If I really wanted to improve my body, it was going to take some hard work, some serious dedication, and some time. I knew that I was probably not eating enough calories, but was afraid to raise them, for fear of gaining even more weight. I also wasn’t sure if my workouts were the right combination for the type of body I was looking for, but there is so much contradictory information out there, it was so difficult to know what I should be doing! I posted my saga on a fitness forum one day as a cry for help, looking for suggestions on how to fix the mess that I created. Enter Leigh Peele, aka my fat loss guardian angel. Leigh responded to my post and gave me a few suggestions. She wasn’t judgmental and didn’t give me the same ole’ answer of 1) its probably muscle, or 2) eat more protein and less carbs. I went to her website and Ryan and I decided to give her a try for a month. Worst case we planned to cancel if it didn’t work out. Best fat loss choice I have ever made!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I will continue the Leigh Peele portion of the story here in a moment, but there is an integral part of the journey that was also going on behind the scenes that I need to note here. The image I saw of myself in my mind was beginning to change. Slowly but surely, I was starting to respect myself for who I was, no matter if I was overweight or not. As cliche as it sounds, I thank my husband for that. Now, without going to total mush here on you, he was instrumental in allowing me to see that my self-worth has nothing to do with how I look physically. He came into my life at a time when I was fairly out of control (for those of you that know me now, shocker I know) and I had no idea who I was. He was a friend, and one of the only people in my life that didn’t expect or ask for anything in return. I have come a long way since then. I see myself truly as a different person. Over the course of this journey I learned that a huge part of successfully reaching a healthy weight is being ok with who you are on the inside. And once I started putting that into motion, the rest just started to click.

A New Beginning

Back to Leigh. We began our plan with Leigh on New Years Day 2007. We made sure to document our body measurements, weight, and took pictures from all angles. Week one was a week of rest, no workouts. It was our first rest week in over a year.

This was THE turning point for us. We began learning how to be completely honest with ourselves. We started using a food scale and measuring portion sizes. We learned the right foods to eat when, and how to track calories correctly. We learned how a “weekend off” can negate your entire week “on”, so our splurge weekends became strategically planned splurge meals instead. We learned that healthier versions of our favorite foods taste just as good, and sometimes even better, than the high calorie options. We learned that sometimes you have to sacrifice in order to get what you want. We learned that if you have a slip up, you don’t beat yourself up about it, you just get back on the wagon and keep on riding. I learned that hormones play a crucial role in fat loss, and I personally have some seriously sensitive hormones, which were not always willing to cooperate, but I figured out how to be a little delicate with them, and then eventually they decided to play along. We accepted the fact that our friends and family might think we are nuts for a little while, but the feeling of accomplishment is so much sweeter when you have worked your ass off for it.

I started my fat loss plan with Leigh at 152 pounds. Today, I am easily maintaining a weight of 128 pounds.

Here I am world, sans make-up and all…about oh, 5 minutes after waking up.

It was by no means easy to get here but I did it. And not only have I achieved my fat loss goals, I have also achieved a healthy relationship with myself. I have grown a thicker skin. I have stopped placing my own self-worth in the hands of others. I respect myself for who I am. I’ve quit analyzing everything I do or say and whether or not I might have made a person upset because I didn’t do what they wanted me to do. I’ve forgiven myself for my own past wrongs or hurt that I may have caused others - things that other people probably let go of years ago, but I was still hanging on to them, feeling guilty. I live for myself now, because I am the only who can! I can’t tell you how good that feels.

I look back on the mixed up 16 year old girl that I once was and for a moment I wish that I could go back and talk to her, to tell her all that I have learned along the way. But then I stop and realize what I just said. I am who I am today because of these struggles, these life lessons, and I appreciate them for what they are. There is a feeling of power that comes with true self-respect that could knock over a redwood with one swift blow.

I believe in the notion that once the voices and the vision on the inside become stronger than the opinions on the outside, you have mastered your life. Today, at 27 years old, I am not claiming to have “mastered” life in general, but I feel like I have a pretty strong grip on it. I am entirely grateful for what I have gone through in order to get to this point in my life. I realize now that this body is a gift, and its the only one I’ve got, so I need to take care of it and treasure it. I feel blessed to have figured this out so early in life. I hope that hearing my story will help you to see that we all have our own struggles, our own journey. So now the question is - what is your journey? Have you started your path to wellness?

If you liked that post, then try these...

Your Guide to Meal Planning Series:

Over the next few weeks I am going to be writing a series on food pairing and meal planning (meal....

Can You Really Turn Your Nutrition Around in 8 Days?:

A huge part of my struggle before discovering my path to wellness, was finding good, reliable information. Now that I....

Your Path to Wellness:

So...what do you think? How do you like the new layout and Live Well 360° logo? I am really excited....