I am so excited to share with you this week’s Success story!
I met Rae Ann when we sang in the church choir together. She has an incredible story and she graciously agreed to let me share it with each of you. I hope you are as inspired by this amazing young lady as I am!
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old. I have struggled with weight loss most of my life, but it never started
affecting me until my health-starting going down hill a year ago.
unhappy with myself until I reached my highest weight of 177lbs. With my weight
being this high, I was sick most of the time with stomach issues, and what they
thought to be gallbladder symptoms. I went through rounds of hospital and
doctor visits trying to figure out why I was in so much pain.
there was no answer that any test or doctor could give me, so I gave up until I
had a routine check up with my family doctor before I started college. When I
told her everything that had been going on she simply looked at me and stated,
“You need to lose weight.” Never in my life had I ever had anyone be so blunt
about this situation. I left her office upset, but what I didn’t know is that
she had just sparked a fire in me to change, and to become someone I never
thought I had the chance to be.
A few
days later, I asked Adrian (my fiancé) if he would support me by going to the
gym with me and help me set goals for healthier eating. “Of course!” was his
reply. So, in August, a week after visiting with my doctor I had started going
to the gym, and I had given up soda and sweet tea. With these two steps I
noticed a huge difference in my energy level, and I was not having as much pain
in my stomach. A month finally passed by and Adrian and I were going to the gym
three to four times a week, and I had not had a soda or sweet tea. It was finally
time to step on the scale, and to my surprise I had lost seven pounds!! This
thrilled me, and it only made me want to lose more.
Months quickly passed by. I lost on average about ten pounds a month during the
first 3 months. The holidays were extremely hard for me, considering they only
come once a year. Thanksgiving and Christmas put me behind about eight pounds,
but I quickly worked them off to reach my goal.
Once January arrived, I worked
hard each day to lose twelve pounds by March because that is what I set my goal
for. Happily when March came I jumped on the scale only to see that I had reached
my goal! I now weighed 132lbs. Seven months in and I had lost 45lbs!!
I can’t
explain how it feels when you are happy with your body, and when you are happy
with the person you are. It’s an experience that has truly changed my life, and
it has changed my outlook on life. I never knew what it was like to wear a size
small or wear one-digit jean sizes.
My
future goals are to continue this journey, and I would like to lose 5-10 more
pounds, but that will be a few months to come. I’m thankful for the words of my
doctor. Sometimes, it takes an honest person and honest words to set a spark in
someone to challenge him or her to do great things!
The eating habits that I changed were no soft
drinks or sweet tea. Only water! I challenged myself to eat more fruits and
veggies as well, but mostly I portioned my meals. Portioning meals is the key
to losing weight!
My workout routine consist of a method I call 20-20-20.
20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical, 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill,
and 20 minutes of weight lifting. This way you are in the gym for a total of 60
minutes, and you still get a great workout!
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| APRIL 2013 MARCH 2014 |
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| MAY 2013 MARCH 2014 |
To anyone reading this that is ready to get started, take her advice. Pick a habit that you know you can master such as cutting out soft drinks and portioning your food. Baby steps add up to BIG progress.
wonderful! But she is already pretty skinny and still wants to loose more weight…I hope she doesnt get too caught up in this.