I was inspired to write this blog from my friend Megan B. She is a fellow Beachbody Coach that wrote a blog and she wanted real success stories from real people. I offered my story to her and I felt what she wrote was amazing and inspiring, so I thought I would do the same.
You hear a lot from me about my success with my weight loss journey, but sometimes you need to see and hear the struggles from others who have given up many hours of time, sweat and tears to jump on board with becoming healthy and fit. We always think it’s easy to convince ourselves that losing a dramatic amount of weight is next to impossible. This attitude forces many of us to give up before we have even started.
I know weigh loss looks so dreadful that many of us don’t want to change our lifestyles in the hopes of dropping a few pounds. The beginning of this process requires lots of dedication and hard work following a strict diet, and finding workout plans that fit our needs and schedules. I have some fabulous friends who I have asked to share their struggles and accomplishments with their lifestyle changes. They were all asked the same three questions. None of their answers were edited. Just copied and pasted as they were sent to me.
Let’s start off with Dan and Chelle D. They are a wonderful happily married couple who decided to take this journey on together.
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| Before |
What was it that made you decide you needed to change something?
Dan: I have always been overweight, but always was able to still do the things that I should be able to do for a man my age. As I past 35, I started to notice that I was not the “athlete” that I once was and that I was unable to do the things that I wanted to do. It was harder for me to play with me son. It was harder for me to do the things I should be able to do. I attributed it to my weight. Joint pain, fatigue, overall lethargy were all creeping up on me and it was time to go a different direction.
Chelle: I became incredibly interested in childhood nutrition, school lunches, homemade meals, and organic products and figured if I wanted to encourage my child to eat healthy, I needed to lead by example.
What was/is your biggest weakness or struggle?
Dan: I love food. There is no doubt about it. I have always loved food and will always love food. The worse the food is for me, the more I love it. For most of my life, events have always been planned around food. Celebrations have included going out to dinner, or having ice cream as a treat. Finding ways to enjoy life without things being centered around food has and will continue to be a struggle.
Chelle: Trying to exercise on my own was the hardest. Finally, my friend Dallas and I became early morning workout buddies and that got me going in the mornings. Next my husband jumped on board which kept me going, and now we are part of a workout class with lots of people to motivate me. At this point I feel bad on days I DON’T get to go to class.
What have you accomplished this far? What has helped you the most?
Dan: I have lost 82 pounds so far on my journey. I started out weighing 388 pounds, having a 58 inch waistline. I now weigh 306 pounds and have trimmed down to a 48 inch waistline. Without a doubt, the reason I’ve been successful is because of my wife.
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| May 2012 |
Chelle. So far, I’ve gone from 282 pounds to 213. I’m only 10 pounds away from my first mini-goal (to no longer be considered “obese”), and my ultimate goal is to be around 165 pounds. It’s slow and steady. Nothing about what we are doing is fast. I want this to always be a lifestyle change, therefore we don’t use any diet tricks…just eating clean and having fun growing a garden, cooking, and produce shopping, and exercising. Nights that used to be watching TV are now nights that we go on bike rides, play tennis, and basketball as a family. The best part to me is knowing my son knows about nutrition labels, how to make healthy choices at the snack counter at the movie theatre, and that his Mom and Dad are losing weight because we want to have as much time as we can with him. The things that have helped me the most is my support group, seeing how much easier life gets with every pound lost, and the desire to be a good role model for my son.
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Before
2011 |
Next up is my friend Elizabeth H. Our weight loss story is similar. I have known her for many years and I know she struggled recently with constant stopping and starting new “diet” plans. She was a yo-yo dieter like me. She wanted a quick fix and it finally hit her that quick and easy is not sustainable. Some people need that daily motivation to push them through the day and I know Elizabeth is one of them. For her, a quick motivational tweet or post is all I know I need to give her to keep her pushing play or hitting the gym.
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Work in progress
2012 |
What was it that made you decide you needed to change something?
I hated when I looked at myself in the mirror, I was disappointed in myself for getting to this point.
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Work in progress
2012 |
What was/is your biggest weakness or struggle?
Food. I love food--I do, and I know that it's OK to eat now. In the beginning I wasn't feeding myself enough to fuel my body and hit a standstill and almost gave up on myself again. I don't think when I eat anymore. I know my body will thank me later when I have ridiculously high burns and I can keep going.
What have you accomplished this far? What has helped you the most?
Since January I have lost 11lbs--I know it might not seem like much but it's been hard--I've lost major inches and I can tell that I am making progress--still have 13 more to go--but I'll get there! I have such a great support system from my family, friends, and MFP (myfitnesspal) friends I don't know how I could do it without them. I have wonderful support from my husband-to-be Kevin and my main source of motivation and inspiration is Mrs. Christy Weiler.
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Warrior Dash 2012
Size 8 |
Another great story is from Bridget A. I met her in Combat Fit class. I have gotten to know her and her family. She is a super mom who combines Tae Kwon Do, Insanity, P90X and is now an avid runner.
What was it that made you decide you needed to change something?
I decided I needed to change something when I became sick of looking at pictures of myself. Also I do a lot of sparring at taekwondo and kept having asthma attacks after just one match. I knew I needed to get my cardio to the point where I could spar without wanting to die.
What was/is your biggest weakness or struggle?
My biggest weakness is still sweets. I really like to stress eat jelly beans or any kind of candy. The funny part is that I didn’t really want or even eat candy before I started dieting.
What have you accomplished this far? What has helped you the most?
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| Size 12 |
I have lost almost 21 points. I was never able to figure out how many inches because I never measured in the same place I don’t think. More importantly I went from a size 12 to a size 8 which was my goal. The support in the Combat Fit Group combined with logging everything (and support) in MyFitnessPal has been a huge help. I never really wanted to track calories before but MyFitnessPal makes it really easy. I have logged on for 140 days so far!
Lastly I give your Kathy D. While she is the oldest out of all of us, she is one spunky gal. I absolutely love her. She is the most heartwarming and giving person I have ever met. While Kathy doesn’t have any photos to share, she has some inspiring answers.
What was it that made you decide you needed to change something?
I honestly don't know that there was a single "aha" moment. But throughout the past several years I have gone on and off several exercise and diet plans. I seem to get off kilter when there's a big change in my schedule or some other event sets me back. I think what I've finally learned is those changes and events can no longer be an excuse to fall back into old habits of poor eating and little to no exercise.
What was/is your biggest weakness or struggle?
As I've gotten older, it is just harder to drop weight. My metabolism has really slowed down and I simply cannot consume as many calories -- but I still love to eat! (And drink!)
What have you accomplished this far? What has helped you the most?
What has helped me the most is having a true network of people who are encouraging and supportive. And I really like the hard work that is a part of combat fit. I like the routine, yet it is hardly "routine".
What great stories, right? The main focus on this blog is that even though our struggles and motivators are all different, we all are striving to reach one ultimate goal: to be happy, healthy and fit. All of my friends and me included realized putting in the dedication of working out; eating right, making things fun and finding a connection with groups of people with similar goals is what keeps us going.
Being an inspiration to all of my friends and family is what keeps me going.
Will you be someone's inspiration and motivator?
What will it take to get you started?
