Cupcakes, Cookies, Candy ! OH MY !!!!!

Today was a rough day. I have been craving to have some kind of sweets. Sweets are absolutely my favorite things in the entire world. When I first started my diet I completely cut them out of my diet, but then I cracked. There is only so many cravings that I can take before my sugar meter explodes, and a binge happens.  Then comes the guilt, and possibly the extra pound that you previously ran on the treadmill for even though you really didn’t want to.

Moral to this story is that it is okay to let yourself have a sweet treat every once in a while. If you don’t, more serious consequences will occur. We are all human, we crave sugar and sweets. It is a really good thing not to eat these types of things in large amounts. It is really good that you don’t eat these things every single day, but I feel that it is not okay to cut them out of your life totally.  I have to tell myself these things. It is okay to have a small piece of cake at your little sister’s birthday party.  It is okay to eat ONE bite size chocolate bar, or in my case it is okay to have a S’mores Blizzard after months of not eating ice cream.

For me, I still strive to try and be okay with letting myself indulge once and awhile. I want to be okay with letting my human self be okay with eating what I carve. I know that the leading diet people may not agree with me, but I have been able to keep off the weight this long. I don’t indulge all of the time, but I have planned to work hard all week, and celebrate my new jobs of the summer with a mini S’mores blizzard with my family. I have been craving it for months!!Yum!  Remember tomorrow is always a new day, so be human and treat yourself once in a while.

Ditch the Diet... Live the Life

When you decide to lose weight , you usually decide that you are going to go on a diet. I like millions of other people decided that I was going to diet to lose my weight.  You watch what you eat really close, exercise, and really watch for a certain period of time. People may even do extreme diets where they only eat certain shakes and lots of water.  Not saying that these things don’t work, but will it work for the rest of your life?

I quickly realized that this was not going to be a diet. Like everyone says when you decide to lose weight and get healthy, it really needs to be a total life style change. At my highest weight I ate what I wanted, drank what I wanted, and spent a lot of my time watching T.V. I wasn’t involved in sports, and so I just was not an active person.  The first step in my lifestyle change was getting active.  Like I have said before, I loved Zumba. Once I seen the first pounds start shedding off, I started to change other aspects of my life. I revaluated what I was putting into my body, and really started to see why I was at the weight that I was.  Drinking more water instead of juice, not eating tons of candy and sweets ( my total weakness) , and watching my portions were some of the things that I started to do to help elevate my weight loss. I wanted to get an overall healthy life that I could continue with.

Two years later and 150 pounds lighter, I really think I have created a lifestyle that I can live with.  I eat my breakfast every morning, drink lots of water throughout the day, and always try to find some way each night to get active for 30 minutes or more. Fruits, whole grains, and vegetables became my best friends. I use my hand cellphone app to track my calories, workout, and water intake. And labels became a must see. I will allow myself to indulge, but know that tomorrow it is time to get back on the bandwagon. I can’t turn my back on my healthy lifestyle, because I know what is always lurking in the shadows.

So when people say that they want to lose weight, think of it as you want to improve your lifestyle.  You want to start making the steps that will help improve your life, and to create a change that you can keep going day to day. Eventually you will start seeing the results. You will feel better, look better, and create a you that is healthy and full of life.

 

I like to Move It Move It !!

Movement. It is the biggest and one of the hardest components to a healthy lifestyle. We all see it everywhere. There is no easy way to maintain a healthy weight, feel good, and maintain weight loss without getting out and being active.  The number one thing to think about when it comes to getting active is to find something that you enjoy doing. If you are like me, I didn’t think that I would I would ever set foot in a gym let alone work out in front of people. I didn’t like to get sweaty, I  didn’t want to make a fool out of myself, and a for surely didn’t want the buff people at the gym to make fun of me while I was “ working out”. The key to success is to find something that you feel comfortable doing, enjoy doing, and it will never really feel like working out. Finding someone that you can go find fun movement things to do is a great way to get out and keep motivated to keep moving.

For me, Zumba was my outlet for movement. I was nervous at first, but decided that I was going to get healthy and move for me. I found a friend that wanted to try it with me, and we held each other accountable to going to the classes. It didn’t matter what people thought about me. In reality they were probably thinking the same thing that I was. Eventually I found many other ways that I could get out and be active and move. I love going for walks, recently started running, playing outside with my sister, doing lawn work, and so much more just to get moving!

 You don’t have to be the person at the gym the benches 100 pounds, or runs on a treadmill for 3 miles. You could go for a walk outside with your friend. Go for a swim; walk on the tread mill, play basketball, just anything that gets you moving. Getting started is the hardest, but making it a part of your daily routine will have you looking forward to having that time to be able to let your stresses go, and work on getting YOU healthy. I know that during my busy college days this is a saving grace.  I count down the hours where I can shut down and just work on getting out my stresses from the day.

When in doubt think like Dory from Finding Nemo. Just keep moving, moving, moving!

The Struggle From Within



Before on the Right

It is not easy to be bigger in a society that favorites people of a smaller stature. I had been obese since I was very young. No matter what I did, the struggle to try and lose weight ended the inevitable fail. There are no amount of words that people say that can propel you into losing weight. It is a dramatic change in one’s life that requires a person to find that little light within themselves. The light that shines out for the person to finally realize that it is time. Time to take the light that has been found within yourself and turn it into something that is hard mental, physically, and emotionally. It is not until the person looks deep within themselves that they finally realize that things need to change.

I found my light after years of struggle with my weight during my senior year in high school. I made it through the toughest years of my life being a severely obese person. What sparked my light was Zumba. I went to Zumba religiously, and seen the results. By my senior prom I was fifty pounds lighter. This is what sent me into my journey to health. My light was shining bright as ever, and as I went into college I continued in stride. I added calorie counting, label reading, and other various things that propelled me into a healthier lifestyle overall. Now I am proud to say that after two years of hard work I have lost 150 pounds. It hasn’t been easy, and it is still really hard. However, my light has not shut off. I am determined to never go back to the person that I used to be. It is the fear of what my life used to be that propels and  fuels my light within me to keep going. Being healthy is something that is crucial to my wellbeing. I have fought the struggle from within and succeeded. Can you?

 



 

After 150 Pounds Lighter