NAME : Val
BEFORE WEIGHT : 223
AFTER WEIGHT : 148
POUNDS LOST : 75
WHEN DID YOU START DEVELOPING A WEIGHT PROBLEM?
I have struggled with my weight since the birth of my oldest child.. 14 years ago. I was 17 years old, the weight gain from her pregnancy left me depressed and I did nothing about it except eat myself into (at that time 240 lbs) Back then it took me years to loose. I don’t even know how it came off back then. But by the time I had my second child 7 years later I was a much healthier person at 150lbs. I gained minimal weight and took it off with ease. I maintained that for years….. 4 years ago I decided I wanted a divorce, I took up running and started to get into shape and loose even more weight beyond the 150 I had maintained. I quickly fell into a new relationship after the divorce, where we were eating out a lot , drinking, and running slid onto the back burner. I packed on 30 to 40 lbs in a 7 month period. Without even realizing what had happened. But we were happy, and things were blissful. So, who cared??? Well, we decided why not have a baby of our own!!!!???? 7 more years and another baby….. ( I call my kids the 7 year plan ) By the time I finished out this last pregnancy I came home from the hospital at 223lbs.
HOW DID YOUR WEIGHT AFFECT ANY ASPECT(S) OF YOUR LIFE?
My weight has affected so many aspects of my life. Not having the energy to play with my kids, clean my house. Not wanting people to take picture. Seeing pictures when they do take them. All the days you don’t want to get out of bed because you are ashamed to walk out of your house. The times you run into people at the store and your heart skips a beat because you really don’t want anyone to see you, because even though you know you should not care what other people think, reality is it’s a cruel world and you know they are going home and talking about seeing you in such a state. it’s all so depressing. It made my PPD so much worse.
WHAT WAS THE “TURNING POINT” THAT GOT YOU STARTED ON YOUR WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY?
My total transformation took 19 months… BUT the turning point had to be my babies 1 year bday party. 9/26/13 After a year of yoyo diets and back and forth weight loss and gain. That day pictures were posted of the party. I cried!!! and cried. Seeing myself not much smaller than I was a year earlier really got to me. And then in November my middle child was hospitalized for a week. For what turned out to be a celiac type issue. Now we have not gone completely gluten free. However, the entire household did have to make enormous changes.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
I had already done so much research on proper nutrition, eating clean, water intake, ect. I just needed to commit myself and put it into action. Facebook is an enormous resource for people looking to loose it. I started filling my newsfeed with sites like yours that have inspiring stories, great recipes, and anything I could find to educate myself further about better nutrition. I opened myself up to new foods I would not normally eat. And, completely changed how everything in the house is cooked.
HOW LONG AFTER YOU STARTED DID YOU BEGIN TO SEE RESULTS OF YOUR WEIGHT LOSS EFFORTS?
Once I committed myself, it was a good six weeks before I could see a change. The scale would move but I didn’t see a change. I would set my goals small. 5lbs at a time some weeks..and I would nail it.. it was so exciting. Then, things would slow down 3 lbs some months…..
WHAT WAS THE HARDEST PART?
Hardest part…..overcoming the urge to weigh myself even now. In the beginning of my journey all i did to lose weight was diet. I did not exercise! That’s right I did it 75 lbs no exercise. BUT now I have joined crossfit and I am a runner. Since I joined crossfit I have gained 8lbs of muscle but dropped 3 pants sizes. I have ran two 5ks. and I have two more scheduled in May! IT IS SO SO HARD TO OVERCOME THE URGE TO PULL OUT THE SCALE AND WEIGH MYSELF!
DID YOU EVER WANT TO GIVE UP? WHAT KEPT YOU GOING?
Of course there were days I wanted to give up….. actually there have been weeks at a time I wanted to give up. My kids kept me going. I would remember the times, that i was sitting on the couch and just getting up was a challenge. I don’t ever want to go back to that. It’s so nice to be able to jump up and run across the room and tackle them to the ground when playing. Or go to the playground and be able to keep up, run around on the equipment, fit down the slide, swing on the swings. I know that if I sit on the couch stuffing my face with oreos every night I won’t be able to enjoy those moments with them. I don’t ever want to miss out on that ever again.
DID YOU HIT ANY WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAUS? HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM?
That’s when I realized I needed to exercise! LOL and weight train. Dieting was not enough anymore. I love running, always have, it helps me clear my head and focus on life. I had no clue what to do with weights so I decided to take a friend up on crossfit. I have completed my first month and it has been amazing!
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO LOSE MOST OF THE WEIGHT?
Total transformation was 19 months …however the past 7 months has been the most drastic change.
DID YOU HAVE ANY NON-SCALE VICTORIES?
SO many non scale victories!!!!
I think if I was to pick my favorite to share ….it has to be that this week I am wearing SINGLE DIGIT JEANS!!!!!!
something I have not done since high school. A size 7! OMG Just September I was in a 15
WHAT DOES YOUR DAILY DIET LOOK LIKE COMPARED TO WHEN YOU WERE HEAVIER?
223lbs
bacon egg and cheese croissant
hash browns
double cheese burger meal coke
shepherds pie
Italian bread with butter (several slices)
148-156lbs
banana
greek yogurt
green smoothie
salmon, asparagus, tomato slices topped with spinach cheese and garlic
^that’s what I ate yesterday
HOW DOES YOUR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COMPARE TO WHEN YOU WERE HEAVIER?
There is no comparison….. when I was heavier lifting the baby was my activity, getting off the couch actually hurt. Now if I do not get a run in or the gym , or cf, I literally shake inside like I’m having withdrawals.
MY WEIGHT LOSS TIPS & TRICKS
- WATER WATER WATER…. water yourself like it’s a fulltime job. There are water bottles all over my house. It’s available no matter where I am.
- EXCUSES PAVE THE WAY TO FAILURE.
- Everything your body needs is on the outer edge of the grocery store.
- I also quit drinking
- When I started exercising in January. I went off my anti depressant
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
The post 75 Pounds Lost: Losing it….to find myself! appeared first on The Weigh We Were.
