Hey Everyone!
If you known me for at least several years you’ve probably seen my weight fluctuate anywhere within the range of 30 pounds. I have PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome), hypothyroidism, and adrenal fatigue. These factors together along with stress, bad eating habits, genetics, etc have resulted in my life-long struggle with my weight. I’ve always been that chubby kid even though I played every sport my small school offered as well as danced ballet/tap/hip hop outside of school for many years. I’ve tried a variety of diets with varying successes and failures ever since 8th grade.
Even though I’m only 25 I’ve definitely noticed my metabolism slowly dying and felt helpless against my own body. It really makes you feel helpless when you’ve been with a personal trainer for 5 months while watching what you ate and at the end you’ve gained three pounds…. #notcool
When I was a freshman in college my dad (who has also had his own weight issues) went on Medifast and lost 40 pounds! He looked completely different when he came to pick me up at the end of Spring semester. Within the sphere of my community I started to see more and more people joining the Take Shape for Life movement (which uses Medifast) and having awesome results. Almost a year ago I decided to give it a shot. I had just had a terrible doctor’s appointment where they were basically telling me that I was on the brink of being pre-diabetic, which would then put me at risk for a multitude of other future health problems. I felt like I had nothing less to lose so what the heck, why not?
My friend Michelle became my health coach since she had already gone through the program and wanted to help other people with their health journeys. I reached out to her at first just with some general questions about the program since I had a small knowledge of it from my dad. It seemed pretty simple and would fit my lifestyle. I chose the 5 and 1 plan where I eat 5 of their meals a day and then one healthy meal on my own. That one is referred to as a “Lean and Green”. Each of their products is between 100-110 calories and comes complete with a ton of vitamins and minerals that your body has been needing.
I started it and immediately started losing weight. I had just seen some friends the weekend before I started the program for a pub crawl (healthy way to start, I know). I saw them three weeks later for a birthday party and had already lost 15 pounds. People didn’t even know that I had been starting something, but they were all like WOAH WHAT HAPPENED. After that initial weight loss it did slow a bit and then I had some life stuff happen so the weight loss slowed and stalled for a bit due entirely to my choices. I would be really good for a few weeks and then kinda fall back into some of my old ways.
However, within all of that I have lost 36 pounds in almost a year and feel the best I have in a long time. I’m off of caffeine (essential to people with thyroid problems and adrenal fatigue), which as a coffee-lover is really sad, but good for my body and my teeth. I’m drinking so much water it’s insane. I PEE ALL OF THE TIME (tmi??), but I feel amazing. My skin looks better than ever #praise I aim to drink at least a gallon of water per day. I read that everyone needs to drink half their body weight in ounces per day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, then you should drink at least 100 ounces of water. That may sound like a lot, but if you have a reusable water bottle that you carry along with you all day then it’s really not that hard. I drink between 16-24 ounces on my commute to work every morning, around a gallon at work, and then an estimate 32 ounces at night. Tip: try to stop drinking an hour before bed or else you’ll have to get up in the middle of the night.
You may say to yourself that 36 pounds isn’t that much. I would argue that for someone with the weight loss issues I’ve had that 36 is better than nothing. 36 is less than what I weighed last year. The end goal right now is 80 and I am aiming for July. It’s scary to put that out there on the internet for whomever chooses to view it, but that is yet another thing to motivate me. On my old blog from college I wrote about trying Visalus, which my roommate had used to get amazing results. It didn’t do much for me, sadly, as did Plexus, which I also tried with no success.
In all honesty, it should have been more by now. It is entirely my fault for getting sidetracked once in awhile, but with the start of the new year I have rekindled my passion for changing my life. I’ve made a lot of changes and tried some new things these past two months. So far 2016 has been challenging, but totally awesome. I am really excited to document the rest of the year with some trips I have planned, changes I’m making, and my weight loss journey.
After I had lost around 20 pounds it was time to go back and get my blood work done again. I passed with flying colors and that was the first doctor’s visit where I didn’t leave crying that I had had in a long time. Best feeling ever. That is what we like to call a #nonscalevictory
I would also like to point out several things though that I don’t want people to misconstrue from my personal life. I am in no way ashamed of the way I looked 36 pounds ago. I did this because my health was starting to spiral out of control and I didn’t want to end up with diabetes and heart disease. I am very body positive and just because you are a larger person does not automatically mean that you are unhealthy. One of my inspirations is plus-size model Tess Holliday. She is nowhere near the “normal” model size, yet has been signed by an agency and is a leader for the body-acceptance movement. Ashley Graham has also recently made a big move by being one of the first plus sized models to be features in the latest Sports Illustrated swimsuit magazine. I am proud to say the least. It has bothered me for a long time that the media only portrays one type of beauty when that’s not real life and that’s not even what a lot of people prefer. Beauty isn’t this one-size-fits all thing. It’s also more than skin-deep, which is also forgotten most of the time.
This is going to be an ongoing thing. I don’t know if I will reach the goal by July, but eventually I will reach the goal. I feel like putting this out there for the world will potentially help me stay on track with everything. Not gonna lie, sometimes it’s hard. I go to birthday parties and I can’t eat the food or drink the wine. Week days are way easier, but sometimes weekends kill me. I enjoy schedules and this diet works really well with that since you eat small meals every few hours. Weekends don’t always lend themselves to set schedules…. There are many pre-prepared snacks that are very portable and I usually keep a box of snack bars in my car just in case there is a change of plans. Always plan ahead!
If you have any questions about the diet or you’re thinking about about trying it out let me know! I would love to be your health coach even though I am still going through this journey. I can relate to your struggles and be someone for you to call/text when the struggle gets too real.
Thanks for listening and let me know if you wanna chat!
-Savvy