What Weight Loss Is

Weight loss is change- Change is so scary! You never really know what the change will bring and that is why some of us don't like it. We turn a cold shoulder to change because it's shaky and unsure and that is something no one wants to face head on. But I promise that the change will be positive! It may not affect you in the areas you once thought it would, but it will be positive in some way for your life. Just give the change a chance to work it's magic!

Weight loss is eating- Yes, you still have to eat! You almost have to eat more!!! {{of the healthy stuff}} You have to realize that losing weight means changing the way you think about eating. Ask yourself, Are you LIVING to EAT? OR are you EATING to LIVE?? If you raised your hand when I stated the first option, step away from the plate!!! We NEED to eat to live, people, not the other way around. Does food make you feel good? Does it make you happy when you're sad? Then guess what? You have the wrong relationship with it. Dump that pizza box boyfriend before he steals away your health!  LIFE should make us happy, life should make us feel good. This was and continues to be the KEY to my weight loss success, I had to tell myself that I can't keep thinking that food makes me happy. Chick-fil-A and I had a big falling out over the last six months let me tell ya.... I kept thinking this is Chicken, this place is a "healthy" fast food place {{never mind that right along with that "healthy" grilled chicken sandwich I was ordering large waffle fries, and eating both of those with the Chick-fil-A sauce and ranch dip}} they use natural peanut oils to fry their stuff, so it's not bad for you!!!...right?? My stomach pleaded with my brain to believe those foolish things... Did I feel good while I ate it? YOU BET. Did I feel good ten minutes later when I realized I had just undone all of my workouts for the week AND I felt like puking?? NO I DID NOT. Just keep telling yourself IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

Weight loss is exercise-- AND LOTS OF IT. When I first started this journey I was the type of person who went to the gym 3 days a week, got on the treadmill, got off 30 minutes later {{hardly breaking a sweat}}, went home.... and I called that exercise. Sure, that's exercise... for someone who wants to maintain their weight maybe... NOT for weight loss!!! These days, I go to the gym at LEAST four times a week now and every exercise that I do, I push myself... and I mean hard... there are days where I am almost in tears because it hurts so bad, or I want to give up and drop down from plank position after 15 seconds, but NO, I push myself and don't give up just because it gets hard. When I lifted weights before, I would do bicep curls and think, "ok I've done one rep of 10, and it kind of feels like it did something" and I would stop. Now I keep going and do a couple of reps of 25 or 30, and during those last 5... I am sweating and breathing like crazy trying to find the strength to lift that 10 pound weight in my hand just one more time, but I DO IT. When you really want to get into shape and lose some serious weight, you have to learn how to exercise in the right way for your body and you have to keep your body guessing every time you hit the gym floor. My trainers have really worked miracles for me, and you can continue to do it on your own once you have the tools to know how to push your body!

Weight loss is finding yourself-- When I weighed 250 pounds I would tell myself, "this is who you are, it's who you were born to be, and who you will always be for the rest of your life" I WAS LYING TO MYSELF. That is a quintessential excuse people who are overweight use, along with "it's my body type" or I'm "big-boned" No, it's not your body type to carry around 100+ extra pounds on your body that weren't there when you graduated high school. Now I don't mean to be rude to people who truly are just big and tall people! But I was a slim 5'4" girl growing up and when I gained almost 100 pounds from the time I was in 9th grade to the time I was 20, that DOES NOT constitute that my body was just "made that way" It surely WAS NOT and I know that I can be that 125 pound girl again, at a healthy weight for my body. I had to tell myself that I was only 21 and there is no possible way that I have to live my life being this "fat girl" I had to FIND MYSELF, I had to remind myself that there were things I want to be able to do now and as I get older, like compete in marathons, go skydiving, play sports, wear a tiny bikini on vacation, feel beautiful and healthy on my wedding day with my husband easily whisking me over the threshold on my wedding night, and one day be able to chase my kids around the yard instead of sitting on the porch too tired to play.... sitting on the couch watching TV and eating Taco Bell would NEVER NEVER get me to where I wanted to be in life. It took a lot of tears, a break up, getting toxic people who didn't support my goals out of my life, for me to finally be on the path to finding who I am. It's hard, I won't kid you about that, but just keep telling yourself you can do it, and with each pound you lose, with each minute you keep going when you want to give up, every day you will look in the mirror and see someone that you are proud of. Someone who will get you to where you want to be in life.

and finally remember....

Weight loss is just your beginning. :)