People ask me ALL the time in one form or another “How did you lose all that weight?” Well, I’m going to share my story.
I’ve always liked working out, though I do have a tendency to get pretty lazy. And I love eating healthy food. But I also love unhealthy food. Well, I just love food.
When I was in the USAF, I was in a position where exercise was required, so it wasn’t that hard for me to become motivated, because I always had that one goal in mind… to pass my PT test. I also had some pretty cool people around me that liked working out as well. In my mind, they were a challenge to me, because I’m not one who wants to be outdone. Mind you, I never felt that I was competing with them; they just made me realize that I could be doing better than how I was. Because of that, I was able to develop a fitness standard for myself that worked for me and actually kept me healthy and in shape.
Once I left the military however, I hit a slump somehow. The stress of adjusting to civilian life did not motivate me to care about too many things. I was busy trying to figure out how I was going to survive. I would still go running, but I was not paying attention to my diet. I would eat whatever was around me because for one reason or another I did not care.
About a year later, I began interacting with someone who soon became a good friend. I knew he stayed energized and he stayed in the gym. During one of our conversations, he mentioned that he had trained people in the gym in the past. He told me a few success stories, and I was immediately impressed. I shelved this knowledge like the human catalog that I am and stored for future use. During this time, also, he knew of my desire to lose weight and get fit, but he also knew that I was lacking motivation and was not very serious about my intent.
Well, one day, a few months later (after having gone clothes shopping and realizing that I went up yet another size), I came back to him and asked him if he was willing to train me. The first time I asked he said I wasn’t ready. That’s all I needed to hear. How dare he and how does he know??? I wanted to make sure he wasn’t right, so I prepared my mind for what was ahead of me in my quest to get fit. A couple months after that, I asked again. This time, he said it again, but he added, “Only if you’re serious. Don’t waste my time.” I took that to heart. He instructed me to begin doing cardio and to hit him up in a couple of weeks.
This takes me to January 2010. I signed up for membership at his gym and there, we began a personal trainer/trainee relationship. My very first day, I did not expect it to be so vigorous (he really was serious!!!). I had not eaten all day and was somewhat dehydrated. I almost PASSED OUT!! I know he thought “This woman is crazy!” I stuck with it because I was determined to get back into the size that I desired to wear. I continued working with him for the next 12 months!! It took six of them for me to lose 40 lbs! I was further amped by my co-workers, family, and friends constantly remarking about the significant changes that I could not notice at first. After awhile, even I had to admit that my clothes were simply too big for me. I think I shocked even myself at how serious I had become. That year consisted of me working out six days a week. 3 days, I ran 5 (and later 6) miles and the other 3 I did cardio and strength training. I also monitored my eating habits and made sure whatever my intake was did not interfere with my progress. My story is that I was only exercising 1 HOUR a day and I was able to reach my goal.
My hope is to inspire others and to show that it is truly possible to develop a healthy lifestyle. I still thank everyone who helped in this journey. Because of a few key people, this was not hard. In fact, it was actually fun. I got to the point where I looked forward to the gym in the evening and felt bad if I wasn’t able to make it that particular day. My PT would tell you… I would fight many obstacles (even him sometimes) to get to where I wanted to be. I’m glad he was supportive of that.
Several things I learned are:
· It’s VERY hard to do it alone—support definitely helps.
· Even if motivation is external, true dedication and desire has to be internal.
· Persistence and patience over even the toughest obstacles is very necessary.
· Achieving personal fitness goals happens in small steps—the ultimate achievement is awesome.
· Tending to your personal well-being is a lifestyle, not a hobby… it’s not temporary, it’s for life!
The benefits are wonderful. It feels so good to be healthy. It feels good to look fit. It feels good to know that I can tell people that it’s not impossible. It feels good to know that others have been inspired and look to achieve the same goals knowing they are within reach. When I first started, I had so many doubts, but I chose not to give into them.
I’m a firm believer that we are responsible for taking care of each other. But I also believe that this is tough to do if you are not taking care of yourself first. Taking care of your health IS taking care of those around you because you can’t help them if you aren’t making it a priority.
And THIS is why I’m hot! :-)
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