5 major lessons I learned on a journey of over 200lbs of weight loss!
*Not necessarily in order.
1. Attitude is EVERYTHING! Whether you think you can or think you can not, you are right. I couldn't find the author for that quote but I bet he or she is very smart ;).
I remember feeling very overwhelmed in the beginning, I had so far to go. It felt nearly impossible. Even the doctors were skeptical and suggested surgery.
I would tell myself that I could do it and I pretty much faked it till I believed I could. It took me losing over 100lbs before I really actually saw I could for sure get myself to a healthy place.
2. EVERYONE is a critic!
Before I began my weight loss journey, every function became a intervention. Guess what? Pointing out an emotional over-eaters weight causes more overeating. True story. You can not want it for someone else. I know how this feels, I have people in my life that I would love to help but they are not at a place to accept my help.
Along my journey there were people commenting how my weight loss was too fast, others commented it was too slow.
Now, I am on the high end of average, my goals are mostly to increase lean mass. I have friends and family who comment I should be skinny by now, or I deserve to be, like they assume that is my goal. I will tell you skinny is not even on my radar. The weight I am more focused on are my dumbbells. I am confident in my strengths these days so comments bother me far less. I am long past the day where I did a workout contest outside of a business because a random dude thought my fitness class would be a joke. For the record, I kicked his arse but it doesn't matter to me anymore. I only have to prove myself to myself, and guess what? You only have to prove yourself to you!
3. Find fitness that you like. Fitness is NOT punishment for the fat, it is for everyone!
I will tell you how out of wack my before thinking was, I remember thinking, why are all these thin people at the gym? Aren't they finished? HA. For real. Fitness is for health and everyone should attain it.
If you HATE biking, do not bike. Find something that is more enjoyable and do it. This is part of the reason I own my own fitness studio. I remember the day I took my first small group fitness class, I fell in love! It was motivating, rewarding and fun. Not every exercise was fun, but doing it in a group was really motivating. This is actually where I learned for the first time in my life that I could be competitive.
Disclaimer; When I started running I hated it but grew to love it, so make sure you give new things a solid effort!
4. Healthy eating doesn't have to taste like shit! (or rabbit food)
This is where I struggled the most. Learning how to cook healthily and still having it taste yummy. Now, I actually prefer the taste of my own healthy cooking! I learned to cook healthy when I was a stay at home mom. When I became a working mother with a hubby working out of town I had to become a meal prepper and this was my saving grace. It still is. I literally have my meals within seconds because I took a couple of hours on Sunday to prepare. Play with spices, find your favorite go to's.
When I started I was making salad with iceberg lettuce and heating frozen veggies. How unsatisfying! Yuck. It takes trial and error but this is so worth while. I mean, I actually love my food. How long do you think I would stick to it if I didn't like it? Remember I have kept extreme weight loss for over 8 years!
5. Do not fall for crash diets, wraps, pills, magic shakes or anything else that promises a quick fix!
I have done many of them before my actual health journey started. The weight always came back. I have had people come to my business just to meet me, I thought they were interested in my program but no, they thought that I must have some magic secret to share. I do not. Healthy eating, exercise and hard work. Those are the tough sells in the health industry. You will never see the hard work book fly off the shelf. 10 top exercises to lose the muffin top will though. FYI, you cannot exercise away fat. You eat healthy foods on a calorie deficit diet to reduce fat. Those exercises will help strengthen those muscles but you will never see them unless you eat right.
Lies sell. They seem appealing. In the past 8 years I have lost count of the number of people I know who have tried the gimmicks only to regain. It is hard to sell fitness classes when your neighbor down the road is selling cleanse packets which are basically just shit bombs.
Once you commit to leading a healthy lifestyle for life you are enlightened to the fact that healthy food can taste yummy, fitness takes effort but is rewarding and sometimes it is okay to eat the cake too!
