It Was Time To Make A Change. Bye Bye McDonald's!

Making changes in our life can be scary.  They can be especially scary when you don't feel good.   Many do not realize that the food we put into our bodies, the processed foods/fast foods affect our brain function and the way our body itself functions.  The word weight loss turns many people off.  It turns them off because it means CHANGE.  Change can be scary can't it?  But, when is enough, ENOUGH?

I want you to meet Lori. Lori has changed her life and watching the changes are simply amazing!  Lori's going to share with you, the journey that she is now on.

*     *    *

Almost 5 years ago I changed careers. I went from a very active job to a desk job. Over the years I started putting on weight. I realized I was not my happy go lucky self anymore. I would get mad easily. I started to become real moody, sometimes asking myself why I let the little things bother me so much. It's very hard to explain, I wasn't sure why I was feeling this way. I had no idea that my weight gain over the years had brought me to this point. I had said for quite sometime that I needed to get healthy, but never had the motivation to do it. My daughter would always try to get me to eat better and workout, but I would never listen, I just wasn't ready.  I put up the excuses barrier.  I LOVED to eat out a lot. Double cheese burgers from McDonald's were my favorite.   Oh, it tasted so good.  After, I would go straight home and lay down.  I never did much of anything. Still at this point, I did not know my weight had any impact on the way I was feeling mentally, I did feel like crap physically and knew my weight played had to be playing a role in this. 

Physically I was a mess!  When trying to walk up the stairs, I would become out of breath. I didn't like that shortness of breath feeling at all!  Taking long walks just wan't for me.  I pretty much didn't want to do anything.   Trying to do the most basic exercise was uncomfortable to me and I didn't like it.  So I stayed in denial. I didn't think at the time my weight gain was playing a big role in the way I was feeling mentally.

Doing it alone?  I wasn't ready for that yet.   I text my best friend and told her let's join Fitness 19. Thankfully, she was all for it! March 26, 2015 I walked into the gym by myself and signed up.  I JOINED A GYM!   Keep in mind this is my first time ever joining a gym. My palms were sweaty I felt sick, but I knew I was ready. On that same day I met with a personal trainer. I knew going in that I wanted a personal trainer because I had never been a member of a gym before and I didn't know what I needed to do to accomplish my goals. I did not know how to use the gym equipment, I was afraid people would look at me crazy because I wasn't doing something right. But thankfully, a couple days later my best friend joined too!  She became my motivation. She had been down this path before and assured me everyday that I had this! I never worked out, only for short periods of time. When I say short periods I mean,  two week would be the maximum, in a little gym in my apartment complex.   Now that I think about it, actually joining a gym was a huge step for me! 

On that day my personal trainer took my measurements and got me on the scale. OH THE SCALE!!!  I weighed 180 lbs. My waist measured 39.5 inches my hips measured 44.5 inches. I set my goal with my personal trainer to lose 15 to 20 lbs and build lean muscle.   

Here we go!  I started off at the gym with four, one hour sessions. My first personal training session was on March 29,2015. I did this training by myself as my best friend worked out on her own. I broke it up into one day a week sessions with him. My personal trainer was great! He guided me and gave me routines to do the rest of the week. I started off learning cardio techniques that would activate my metabolism (the one that somehow got lost). 

On July 25, 2015 my best friend and I bought a one month group training session with him. We started progressing, at this point I am proud to say I had lost 20 pounds!! I reached my first goal!!! Now I just needed to focus on building lean muscle.   My personal trainer started us on light weights so we could build our strength and progress.  But, at the end of July we joined a new gym.  This time it felt different.  I had lost 20 pounds and we went in knowing we wanted to continue with a personal trainer because we were starting to see results! We signed up with a personal trainer and he put us through high intensity circuit training. Wow!  We train with our personal trainer five times a month and do circuit training two to three times a week. The other days we're on our own. Our new personal trainer started us off with weight lifting. I was scared as I had never lifted before, I thought I was going to hurt myself. It took me some time to start enjoying it, but as soon as I started seeing my body change I loved it!  I can truly say, I never thought I would be one to enjoy the gym as much as I do today. It has changed me! In fact when I went to Hawaii for work, when I got off the plane and checked into my hotel room, I put my workout clothes on, and went and found the hotel gym.  The old me would've plopped down on my bed and either played on Facebook or watched television and ate food that wasn’t helping my health.

I'm back to my happy self again, I do not let the little things bother me like they use too!  I love myself again!  Wow, I never realized I stopped loving myself.   It is sad for me to think about it.  To really confront how I was truly treating myself.   I feel like a whole new person, it's hard for me as I sit her and type my story out.  The tears are flowing down my face because I did not know I was damaging myself.  I was not living. I was existing.  I am not that woman any longer!     I love my results thus far, I feel more confident and I am so glad that I have more energy.    The couch is no longer winning!

   

I last weighed myself about two weeks ago.  I'm happy to report that I weighed 157.2 and my measurements reflected that my waist was down to 33 inches, my hips were down to 42.5 inches. This has been the best change I've made in my life!!!    I'm learning new things everyday.  I'm still going, I'm not done!  I'm a work in progress.  My eating habits aren't perfect, but they are my choices are healthier and much better than they were.  I realize now that it's true,  this is a lifestyle change.  I'm glad I pulled myself up off that couch and chose this new lifestyle!

My best friend has been with me on this journey, having her by my side has been a tremendous help, we motivate each other! We hold each other accountable.  Especially when one of us has those "I don't want to" days.   I'm not a lazy person when it comes to everyday life things.  You mention the word, GYM, negative thoughts reflected in my attitude about it.  I had every excuse not to include the word GYM in my vocabulary let alone my life.  

I know it's hard to motivate yourself and go for it.  But,  if I can do this, I know you can too!  It's got to be for you.   You have to want it bad enough to get it, you can't make excuses, just like everything else you have to fit it in your schedule. In the beginning it was a real struggle for me to get off work at 5 pm get home change and head to the gym.  Working out is a huge stress reliever and I would have never believed that, although I would hear that all the time, had I not experienced it myself. If you set your mind to do it you can do it! You can accomplish anything, I was 38 when I decided to make this lifestyle change.  I believe that it's NEVER TOO LATE! 

Please join this site for free updates, weight loss tips, inspiration and also come follow me on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/That-GYM-GIRL-276374109138803/

The Unknown Can Be Scary

One of the things that I sit and  think about is that day, December 28, 1998.  My daughter was almost 12 months old and my son was 2 ½.  I unlocked the door to our old home.  Walking through the door made my heart drop. This was the home my song came home to from the hospital when he was born. As I was stepping inside this time without their dad, my heart broke.  It broke for all of us.

I had gained 70 lbs with my daughter during my pregnancy and again I was back at square one. I had lost 95 pounds after my son was born (that was so HARD!!!).   My knees couldn’t handle the weight, neither could my back.  I had everything you would think working against me.  STRESS of being a new single parent of a baby and toddler, not knowing how in the world we were going to make it.  That scared the crud out of me.  I had three jobs, so paying for daycare was going to be incredibly challenging.  I wasn’t feeling my best with the weight on my body.  Sleeping was challenging and my back always hurt.  My blood pressure could have been better.  Getting them both with me to my second job - THE GYM was also going to be a challenge ( a challenge that later reaped many benefits for my children in their lives).

I refused to let my inner voice sit on my left shoulder and talk me out of things that were important to me.  I just wanted to be healthy again.   I just wanted to feel comfortable in my skin.  I wanted to set the example as I lead in fitness/health and wellness.  I loved myself enough to shut the voice down and strive to reach three goals for my health.  1. Get my blood pressure to a better number; 2. Lose 35 lbs in less than 90 days; 3. Lose the rest 35 pounds in less than another 90 days.

Now don’t get me wrong, the mind games, they were trying.  The voice at times was RELENTLESS! Everyday I was exhausted at 5:00 p.m.  Driving to the end of town to pick my babies up from daycare, rushing to the gym to teach my class, get them settled in childcare - which both of my children LOVED going to the gym when they were little, then going home, bathing them, reading and playing with them before bedtime, getting dinner dishes done, put away, transcribing recorded statements for two insurance companies kept me up late at night, then to get myself cleaned up before getting up at 6:00 a.m.  annnnd take a deep breath, whew!   I was Mom and I was Dad in my household.    There was extreme pressure on me financially.  I had to keep us a float.

Stress can hinder weight loss.  I knew this.  But what I also knew is that when I lost the weight I had to keep in mind that my body was not going to look like it did at 21.  I loved myself no matter what my weight was or how my body would look - the important thing I had to keep in the front of my mind was, that being HEALTHY for my kids is what matters and is important.  The quality of their life is what drove me to reaching my goals.

You are going to be, or can be your own worst enemy.   Each day is an opportunity to keep moving forward  just one day at a time.  Shutting off that voice is something you have to practice.  Not allowing negative thoughts to control you and steer your day is challenging in itself.  BUT IT TAKES PRACTICE.  What I did, and if you can, practice only thinking positively of what you are going to achieve today and then do it.   If you can practice this, you will achieve your goals!   Love yourself no matter how your jeans fit.

Today, I am proud that I am healthier than I was at 21. I am in better shape prior to being pregnant with my first child.  My energy level just from exercise alone carries me.   The voice, is it still there?  Sometimes it tries to turn up the volume on it's own, and I keep pressing MUTE!

I'm no longer living paycheck to paycheck wondering how I am going to make it.  I'm proud that I can say that for myself because it was a struggle.  A REAL STRUGGLE!   I sacrificed a lot of ENTERTAINMENT time to keep plugging forward to reach my goals.  

Today, both of my children are working.  My son started at 17 and my daughter started at 16.  I think my work ethic may have rubbed off.  I thank my Dad, may he rest in peace for this.  He had a strong work ethic too.  I miss you Dad!

You have to STARVE YOUR DISTRACTIONS TO SUCCEED.  YOU CAN DO THIS!  Get out a good old piece of paper, not your phone or computer and WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS.  PUT IT IN YOUR FACE EVERYDAY until you reach them.