I decided to copy and paste this story. I linked to it the other day, but I decided a lot of my guests reading my blog are certainly drawn by the visual aspect lol. Please read this story. Please look at these pics. I have my pics, but I wasn't ever standing in a bikini at 152 pounds! Who would think THIS is the way I am going to lose weight and it WILL work and therefore, let me put my fat butt into a teeny tiny bikini (not even a one piece mind you!) and snap pics...............NOT ME!!!! I am so thankful she shared her story. She is right, NO MORE EXCUSES!
I
was 78kg at my heaviest when I decided one night that I had to do
something, that my weight was out of control and I didn’t like the
person I saw when I looked in the mirror. I’m 152cm tall and small
framed so that weight looked horrid on me. I didn’t like that I had no
nice fashionable clothes to wear. I felt alien in my own skin, I felt
older then I was because I was dressing older then I was. Still getting
around in maternity wear long after my baby was born. At that time my
clothes were getting tighter and I refused to buy more in a bigger size.
I had a bag full of ‘skinny clothes’ to inspire me and get me
motivated. Stuff that I wore when I weighed 59kg’s, before I had my two
children, clothes that I had held onto, believing someday I’d get back
to wearing them. Well I managed to fit into those clothes but didn’t get
to even wear them for long because the weight kept coming off so I
passed them on to a friend that was also losing weight at the time. That
was a moment when I realized how well I had done. I have a whole new
wardrobe of clothes now, size 8 and even some size 6, beautiful, sexy,
feminine, in fashion clothing…and some ultra-cute gym wear (I just love
Lorna Jane)
So that night at 78kg, I had decided, enough was
enough, I was going to make changes, I was going to lose weight and get
healthy. It all came down to choices and changes. The direction of
your life and of your health can depend on the choices you make. You’re
faced with them every day. Eat that cake, don’t eat that cake, do some
exercise or stay on the couch, just settle for take out again or prepare
a healthy home cooked family meal. I always took the easy way out. I’d
try to exercise, but in the end it just felt too hard, I’d rather settle
in front on the TV then get up and move my body.
I was an
emotional eater, I binged on sugary junk. I over ate, my portion sizes
were ginormous. If there was junk in my house, I had to eat it, and I
had to finish it. It was not uncommon for me to chow through a whole
packet of biscuits or tub of icecream in just a few days. I’d try to
hide my overeating, carefully disposing of packaging so my partner
wouldn’t see what I had done. But there was no hiding the fact that food
disappeared. I hated the shame I felt after I binged. I’d eat while he
was at work or in the middle of the night. I had no energy; I felt
sluggish, lazy and in a way unsatisfied with my life. Although I had all
I could ever dream for, a loving partner and two beautiful kids aged 4
and 1, I had no motivation. I was making all the wrong choices. I needed
re- programming and I knew that I was the only one who could change me.
My Dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I knew I was heading that
way if I didn’t do something. I’d tried in the past, and sometimes I
succeeded in losing a few kilograms, but then I’d have a little set
back, have a pig-out and it would be all over. I was the Queen of
self-sabotage; I was always blowing it and then waiting for a ‘Monday’
to start again.
So I decided to enter a ‘12 week challenge’
that I had been following in a magazine for years, reading all the
monthly success stories and telling myself ‘that could be me’, if I
could only follow through for once. I had entered a couple of times over
the years but could never finish. Never really even get passed the
second week! This time when I entered it something clicked, I wanted it,
I made that decision to commit, I made that decision to get healthy, I
wanted to be a good role model for my kids. I wanted to finally feel
good about my body. I wanted to be a yummy Mummy, not a frumpy Mummy.
In November 2010 I joined the local gym, and I went as much as I could,
but without conforming to a strict routine. I changed it up, weights
some days, cardio others. Sometimes I participated in the gyms classes.
Same with diet I didn’t set myself any strict plan, I just made
healthier choices and limited my carbs, especially with dinner. I
started doing a grappling martial art called Brazilian Jiu jitsu. It’s
my new found passion and it’s an awesome workout too! I use to do
Jujutsu as a teenager and I enjoyed it. I had always wanted to go back
to martial arts, but my weight had held me back. When I found out the
gym I joined held Jiu Jitsu, I was excited and pushed myself to go,
although I was so scared I wouldn’t be able to keep up! The class
instructor was great and he pushed me from the start, I use to really
struggle to do just few sit ups or star jumps!
When that 12
week challenge was over I had lost 9kg’s! I felt fantastic but I still
wasn’t ‘there yet’. So on the 27 March 2011, I started my second
challenge, an 8 week one my gym was holding. It was a ‘couples’
challenge, my partner was a girl I had met at gym. My start weight was
62.2kg and body fat 24.3%. During that challenge I changed my workouts a
touch, I added in some heavier weight training to build some muscle. I
did about 3x cardio sessions a week during the first 4 weeks and then
stepped it up to 5x a week for the last 4 weeks. The cardio I did was
mainly gym classes and walks on the treadmill on highest incline or I
used the spin cycles. I also tightened up my diet, making sure it was
clean and adding it a lot of protein. At the end of that challenge I
weighed 54.7kg and body fat was at 19%. I’m very proud to say that my
partner in the challenge also had a great reult and we came first in the
competition. We won a great prize that included free gym for a year, 20
free personal training sessions and a makeover & photo-shoot. But I
still wasn’t ‘there yet’.
I felt I wanted to lean up just a
little bit more. By this time my life was completely different, I felt
like a whole new woman. Full of life and energy and feeling like I could
achieve ANYTHING if I put my mind to it. So when my gym advertised for
another challenge, a 10 week one, I entered yet again. I was at a
healthy weight and looking great, people couldn’t understand why I’d
want or need to be doing another one. But I had my 20 free Personal
Training sessions to use, and I still wanted to tone a bit more, and I
had a goal of getting me some abs for summer. I wanted to challenge
myself, but it wasn’t about trying to win this time, it was about
pushing myself to new limits and seeing what I could achieve, how far my
body would go. I stepped up my cardio, I started to run. I had always
had made excuses not to run, I use to say, oh I CANT run, I have asthma,
I just CANT run.... but I found out I can run, and I enjoy it. I’m
still only beginning my running journey, but now I can run 10km on the
street in just over an hour and 10km on the treadmill in just under.
That’s a huge achievement for me. For my cardio I also did short
intervals with high bursts of intensity. I changed my weights training
to lower weights at higher reps. I used two sessions of Personal
Training a week, and my trainer Paul was fantastic, I don’t know If I
could have done so well without him. We did a lot of circuits with
supersets and plyometric training.
Last week I completed that
10 week challenge at 51kg and body fat 16%. My abs even came out of
hiding! I’m very, very proud of myself. I feel like a super woman. I
feel strong, I feel fit. I’m in the best shape I have ever been before.
And most importantly I feel like now I’m a good role model for my kids.
It took me just under a year to get to where I am, and now at my goal
weight, so what next for me now? I’ve decided I want to become a
Personal Trainer so I can help and motivate others. I’ve started my
certificate in fitness and I’m going to put a lot of my time and energy
into getting that completed.
So, to all the ladies out there
that have struggled for years like I did, yo-yo dieting….I say to
you…You can lose weight without starving! You can lose that weight
without fad diets, diet pills or living off meal replacement shakes. You
can do it with a good clean food, and good old fashioned exercise.
Indulge in that chocolate or ice cream every now and then. Everything in
moderation is the key. Hey, go for it, if I can do it, so can you! ……No
more excuses.
