How I Went from Fat to Fit

Ok, so after all this time, I realized I've never really told my full story of how I came to write a blog about fitness and nutrition. My entire life I've been active and part of most every sport you can play...softball, swimming, track, basketball, tennis, horseback riding, volleyball, etc. I played sports year-round in both indoor arena leagues, summer travel leagues, and in my own back yard. So you read this and probably think, well she's been in shape her entire life. Not quite.

While for the most part, yes, I have been active and in shape, I've fallen off the wagon a few time in my life. But the biggest fall was when high school ended, all the activity ended and the partying and eating at all hours of the night began. When I graduated at 18, I weighed about 125lbs and I was solid muscle from all the years of conditioning. Throughout college, I knew I had put on weight, but didn't really think it was that bad. Not until I was 25 and the day I stepped on the scale and almost had a heart attack because I all I saw was a huge 1-6-0... That was my breaking point. Over my seven years of weight gain, I had tried to diet here and there and I had tried to form a fitness plan but I never stuck to it. I kept telling myself that if it ever got out of control and I hit 160lbs that my life would do a complete 180.

So it happened to be the holidays when this "I'm fat" discovery hit me, so of course this was my New Year's Resolution for 2008. My parents had bought me a Wii for Christmas along with My Fitness Coach game. And this is how I started my weight loss journey. My goal was to ultimately reach 140lbs and I was hoping to achieve it by the time my sister was getting married, which gave me 6 months.

January 2008, I started playing the Wii, watching what I ate, and taking supplements. I started slow with 30 minute workouts 3 times a week. I think because I hit my breaking point I was so self-disciplined and motivated. I drastically cut the amount of alcohol I drank, I quit eating out and declined any dinner night outs with my friends, and I closed my kitchen at 8pm. I had also added some supplements to my routine, including a multivitamin and LIPObind fat binder. Every breakfast was plain oatmeal, every lunch was a turkey sandwich on wheat with celery sticks on the side, every snack was a few pretzels, cherry tomatoes or fruit, and every dinner was a lean meat or fish with veggies. I really don't know how I didn't get sick of it, but I really had more motivation in those 6 months than I ever had in my entire life. I was going to succeed whether or not it killed me.

I upped my workouts on the Wii to 4 times each week and lasted about 45 minutes. I was surprised at how quickly the weight seemed to start coming off. And I remember getting so excited to shop for new and smaller clothes. When it came time to shop for my maid of honor dress, I could believe I had gone from a dress size 8 to a 4 in just 5 months!

The wedding came and went and I knew this was a lifestyle change and that I'd have to continue it. To my surprise, I hit my 140lbs mark and kept going and losing more weight. After one year of my routine, I was down to 130lbs. Most of my workouts were with My Fitness Coach, but I decided to sign up for Pilates and Total Body Classes to change it up a bit. Come the summer of 2009, a year and a half into this new lifestyle, I somehow managed to get back to my high school weight, which was really never my intention... But none-the-less I was excited. I even held onto a pair of my jean from senior year, and when I put them on again, man did it take me back to being 18 again... lol Never did I think that weight was possible again.

My 2008 "Before" pic and my 2011 "After" pic

Let's fast forward three years to the present day... I'm not 125lbs still, and I don't think as a 29 year old that's 5'8 that this would be healthy or normal. But, I'm still proud to say I'm at 138lbs and still exercising regularly and eating healthy, but also indulging every now and then. And even though I've been doing this religiously for almost 5 years straight, I still have rough weeks, I'll still gain weight when I fall off the wagon, but that's life. It's always an uphill battle and I have to work at it every day. Do I wish I was just naturally skinny, hell yes!! But that's not the hand I was dealt. So I've learned to embrace my body and realize I'll never have the metabolism of an 18 year old again and it's not likely I'll hit 125lbs again unless I'm sick.

With that being said though, I've learned more about strength training instead of just doing cardio and I am now working on building more muscle and toning my body. I also take a whole new realm of supplements including recovery drinks for my muscles, protein shakes, fat burners, and a multivitamin still.

All this just proves I'm human and I hope others can relate to my story and journey. I know this was a long entry, but I figured I should share this so when you read this post or any of my other posts, you realize I'm speaking from experience and from my struggles of losing weight and what worked and what didn't. The key is support, knowledge and motivation. These are three MUSTS if you are going to succeed.If you are looking for tips, motivation, or support, just ask and I'll help!