Talking about 130+ pound loss, publicly.
marlabelle
Posts: 55 Member
Hi there! I was invited to be a guest speaker to a group of people at my gym participating in a Biggest Loser type challenge this Tuesday. This will be my first time publicly speaking about my weight loss and I am hoping to get some feed back. I will be using note cards based off the writing below, so please don't bust me on my grammar. Also, if you want to see progress pics feel free to creep on my profile. Thanks in advance!
I’ve struggled with food issues all my life. Obesity doesn’t run in my family. I don’t have a thyroid issue. I had tried so many diets over the years, losing and gaining but always gaining back more. Then I gave up and quit trying to lose. Ultimately I became morbidly obese. No explanation other than I was lazy and I ate too much. The day before my son was born in April 2009, I had a doctor’s appointment and I weighed 319lbs. I had gained 60lbs during my pregnancy. Miraculously I didn’t develop diabetes or have any complications. I was under the impression any weight I gained during my pregnancy would just melt off after delivery, especially if I breast fed. Believing it would be that easy/lying to myself I ate like I was pregnant with a litter, it was delicious. However, I remember being at the doctors for my 6 week post baby checkup and she looked so disappointed in me that I hadn’t lost more weight. I was still 303lbs. Nothing was melting off. I knew I had to do something but didn’t know where to start.
I had heard on a morning show about how beneficial counting calories were in losing weight and so I searched the internet for a free tool and found myfitnesspal.com to help me count calories. I dusted off my Wii Fit and began to actually use it. In 3 months I had lost over 50lbs. I was doing the yoga and strength training exercises on the Wii and was so excited about the progress I was making. I felt great and I weighed about 25lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. The weight seemed to have come off quickly and I felt confident. I took my son on a trip to visit my family and when I returned two weeks later I hit a wall. I stopped counting calories and I stopped moving. Over the next 17 months I regained 35 lbs and was hovering around 280.
I was depressed and I was claiming my unhappiness was caused by everything else I believed to be wrong in my life. I knew I had to start eating better because my unhealthy life style was killing me. I have a culinary degree and up until that point I had been using my knowledge to self-sabotage. I decided to start using my powers for good, not evil.
About 3 weeks in to 2011, I decided I was going to eat healthy. It was kind of an uphill battle at home with this decision. At the time my husband was unemployed and we were living off my small salary. Money was tight and buying special diet foods was not in the budget. My husband has always done all the shopping and meal planning so I really had to push to convince him to let me break away from the norm and to let me do my own thing. After a week passed I was shocked to see that I had actually gained weight. Instead of getting frustrated, I logged back on to myfitnesspal.com and started counting calories again. About a week later I was invited to a family wedding on April 9th. I knew I had nothing in my closet to wear to a spring wedding but I did have a dress in the basement that would work the only problem was it was a size 16. At the time, I was a 20…22 on a bad day. I decided then I was going to wear that dress and I needed to get moving.
Now, In the early 90’s my parents bought a Nordic Track and it had been sitting in their basement collecting dust for over a decade. In 2007 I had decided for a minute I was going to get healthy and I rescued Nordie from their basement to assist in my quest. What actually happened was I just moved it to my basement to collect more dust for another four years. I knew using the machine would burn calories and the first time I used Nordie in Feb of 2011, I was disappointed and stopped after a few minutes because the monitor on it no longer worked and couldn’t see how many calories I was burning. Then I thought about it. Maybe the monitor not working was a good thing. Maybe I shouldn’t look at my work out in the terms of how long it was, how far I went or how many calories the machine said I was burning. All those tools in the past had discouraged me and made me feel like I didn’t do enough, made me feel like I wasn’t good enough and I would give up. I decided at that point I needed to base my work out on how sweaty I got. So I loaded up my iPod with a mix of upbeat music and started using the Nordic Track every day after work and on the weekends. At first I could only do 15 min and I built it up in 5 min increments. By March 30 I was able to do 60 consecutive minutes on the Nordic Track. In two months I had not only quadrupled my endurance but I also lost 35lbs. I didn’t have a trainer in my face telling me I could do it either. I had finally developed that inner voice that told me I was capable, I was strong and I could do anything.
In that time I had also shrunk to a size 14. I hadn’t been that size since my junior year of high school. I had to go and buy a new dress. I was so excited to go to that wedding and show off my shrinking butt but no one said a word to me. At first I was upset and couldn’t wrap my head around why no one commented but I quickly realized it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about them, this was about me.
I remember coming home on the plane and being so nervous that I would hit a wall once I returned just like I did 3 years before and then gain the weight back. I told myself I wasn’t going to let it happen and as soon as I got home, before I even unpacked, I was back on Nordie and continued counting my calories. And I did it the next day and the day after that and continued until it was habitual. Over the next 8 months I stayed on track with eating right and working my butt off and I lost another 60lbs. and shrunk to the size I am today.
I have to say, that in retrospect, I am still shocked I was able to change my life. I was the queen of excuses. I was also the queen of the kitchen, my own worst enemy, I didn’t need to go buy donuts, I would just make them. Also, I am the quintessential emotional eater and once I learned to manage the emotional piece of why I turn to food to cope, weight loss became nothing more than a numbers game. Calories in vs calories out, it’s that simple. I also got real about what I ate and started to connect the dots that food is in fact fuel. I learned to block out the diet food industry hype. I hate to tell you this but surprise, those fiber enriched pseudo brownies are not going to help you lose weight and just because it comes from Whole Foods or is gluten free, sugar free and fat free doesn’t mean it is good for you or will get you to your goals any faster. One of the biggest and most beneficial changes I made to my diet was cutting out sugar, especially processed sugar. The first time I attempted no sugar, day 1 & 2 were hard but on day 3 I had the worst headache and was so grumpy but I stuck with it and like magic, by day 4 all my cravings for chocolate and ice cream had vanished.
Because I had so much weight to lose, there were a couple things I did that I believe helped keep me motivated. First, I tried to focus on losing in 10lb increments. For me it was too overwhelming to look at the big picture and focusing on the smaller number helped. Second, I would go to the store and find a pair of jeans on clearance that were two sizes smaller and I would call them my dream jeans. Every time I felt like the scale wasn’t moving fast enough, I would go to my closet and try them on to see my progress. The same effect can be done with measuring tape but having a tangible piece of clothing I felt made it more exciting. Take the following two statements for example “my hips are finally 38”!” vs “I’m finally a size 10!” The third thing was when I worked out I would visualize what I want to weigh or size I wanted to be or what piece of clothing I wanted to be wearing. Your mind is a powerful tool. Make it an asset and not an obstacle. Fourth get real about food. I constantly ask myself “is this something a healthy person would eat or am I just eating my feelings?” It’s hard to stay focused but life throws curve balls in the form of holidays and birthday parties and sometimes it really helps to tell yourself that cake and ice cream is going to taste like broken dreams and regret.
Also don’t be afraid to let your goals evolve. You might be saying to yourself “I want to lose 50lbs in 5 months.” Which isn’t a bad or unattainable goal but if you get to month 4 and you’ve only lost 20lbs and you are still hell bent on 50, how will you feel when month 5 rolls around and you didn’t meet your goal? My point is set yourself up for success and if a goal isn’t working out to your advantage, don’t be afraid to modify it.
Finally, block out all the noise. Stop listening to your inner noise, you know, that voice that tells you that you can’t do it, it doesn’t know what it’s talking about. You have no idea what you are capable of until you try and trust me you will surprise yourself at what you can accomplish. Stop listening to your coworkers or family members telling you how to lose weight. Everybody seems to have an opinion on weight loss and what you “should” do, pay no attention to that. Noise also comes from comparing yourself to others. That person at the gym who you feel is going faster with ease isn’t doing it in spite of you. You can’t let others get you down. Last week, in a class here, a woman asked about my Heart Rate Monitor and how many calories I had burned. When I told her what my number was she said “I bet I’ve burned more because I’m working harder than you.” I could have easily let that get negative, I felt like I was working really hard but really who cares what her opinion is? I know I was pushing myself and that is all that matters. I also had a puddle of sweat on the floor, which was proof enough for me. Push that negative noise out and replace it with positive. That is the best thing you can do to achieve what you want.
The last piece I want to share is that although I’ve had great success, I’m still not finished. I want to have a healthy BMI and I am about 30lbs away from achieving it. I still struggle with accepting the new me and my goals have now shifted to be more fitness based over weight loss. I get approached a lot by others who want to lose and I always get really annoyed when someone asks me “What app did you buy to lose weight?” I just want to shake them and say the app didn’t make me lose weight, I worked my butt off and counted calories. Most people out there want to do this the easy way and it’s not until you realize there is no such thing as a miracle diet or miracle pill and you don’t need to buy anything to lose weight will you make any true progress. So with all of that being said, my best advice is go out there and forget the past. Live in the present, not yesterday or tomorrow but today. If you focus each day on living a healthy life you will ultimately have one.
I’ve struggled with food issues all my life. Obesity doesn’t run in my family. I don’t have a thyroid issue. I had tried so many diets over the years, losing and gaining but always gaining back more. Then I gave up and quit trying to lose. Ultimately I became morbidly obese. No explanation other than I was lazy and I ate too much. The day before my son was born in April 2009, I had a doctor’s appointment and I weighed 319lbs. I had gained 60lbs during my pregnancy. Miraculously I didn’t develop diabetes or have any complications. I was under the impression any weight I gained during my pregnancy would just melt off after delivery, especially if I breast fed. Believing it would be that easy/lying to myself I ate like I was pregnant with a litter, it was delicious. However, I remember being at the doctors for my 6 week post baby checkup and she looked so disappointed in me that I hadn’t lost more weight. I was still 303lbs. Nothing was melting off. I knew I had to do something but didn’t know where to start.
I had heard on a morning show about how beneficial counting calories were in losing weight and so I searched the internet for a free tool and found myfitnesspal.com to help me count calories. I dusted off my Wii Fit and began to actually use it. In 3 months I had lost over 50lbs. I was doing the yoga and strength training exercises on the Wii and was so excited about the progress I was making. I felt great and I weighed about 25lbs less than my pre-pregnancy weight. The weight seemed to have come off quickly and I felt confident. I took my son on a trip to visit my family and when I returned two weeks later I hit a wall. I stopped counting calories and I stopped moving. Over the next 17 months I regained 35 lbs and was hovering around 280.
I was depressed and I was claiming my unhappiness was caused by everything else I believed to be wrong in my life. I knew I had to start eating better because my unhealthy life style was killing me. I have a culinary degree and up until that point I had been using my knowledge to self-sabotage. I decided to start using my powers for good, not evil.
About 3 weeks in to 2011, I decided I was going to eat healthy. It was kind of an uphill battle at home with this decision. At the time my husband was unemployed and we were living off my small salary. Money was tight and buying special diet foods was not in the budget. My husband has always done all the shopping and meal planning so I really had to push to convince him to let me break away from the norm and to let me do my own thing. After a week passed I was shocked to see that I had actually gained weight. Instead of getting frustrated, I logged back on to myfitnesspal.com and started counting calories again. About a week later I was invited to a family wedding on April 9th. I knew I had nothing in my closet to wear to a spring wedding but I did have a dress in the basement that would work the only problem was it was a size 16. At the time, I was a 20…22 on a bad day. I decided then I was going to wear that dress and I needed to get moving.
Now, In the early 90’s my parents bought a Nordic Track and it had been sitting in their basement collecting dust for over a decade. In 2007 I had decided for a minute I was going to get healthy and I rescued Nordie from their basement to assist in my quest. What actually happened was I just moved it to my basement to collect more dust for another four years. I knew using the machine would burn calories and the first time I used Nordie in Feb of 2011, I was disappointed and stopped after a few minutes because the monitor on it no longer worked and couldn’t see how many calories I was burning. Then I thought about it. Maybe the monitor not working was a good thing. Maybe I shouldn’t look at my work out in the terms of how long it was, how far I went or how many calories the machine said I was burning. All those tools in the past had discouraged me and made me feel like I didn’t do enough, made me feel like I wasn’t good enough and I would give up. I decided at that point I needed to base my work out on how sweaty I got. So I loaded up my iPod with a mix of upbeat music and started using the Nordic Track every day after work and on the weekends. At first I could only do 15 min and I built it up in 5 min increments. By March 30 I was able to do 60 consecutive minutes on the Nordic Track. In two months I had not only quadrupled my endurance but I also lost 35lbs. I didn’t have a trainer in my face telling me I could do it either. I had finally developed that inner voice that told me I was capable, I was strong and I could do anything.
In that time I had also shrunk to a size 14. I hadn’t been that size since my junior year of high school. I had to go and buy a new dress. I was so excited to go to that wedding and show off my shrinking butt but no one said a word to me. At first I was upset and couldn’t wrap my head around why no one commented but I quickly realized it didn’t matter. This wasn’t about them, this was about me.
I remember coming home on the plane and being so nervous that I would hit a wall once I returned just like I did 3 years before and then gain the weight back. I told myself I wasn’t going to let it happen and as soon as I got home, before I even unpacked, I was back on Nordie and continued counting my calories. And I did it the next day and the day after that and continued until it was habitual. Over the next 8 months I stayed on track with eating right and working my butt off and I lost another 60lbs. and shrunk to the size I am today.
I have to say, that in retrospect, I am still shocked I was able to change my life. I was the queen of excuses. I was also the queen of the kitchen, my own worst enemy, I didn’t need to go buy donuts, I would just make them. Also, I am the quintessential emotional eater and once I learned to manage the emotional piece of why I turn to food to cope, weight loss became nothing more than a numbers game. Calories in vs calories out, it’s that simple. I also got real about what I ate and started to connect the dots that food is in fact fuel. I learned to block out the diet food industry hype. I hate to tell you this but surprise, those fiber enriched pseudo brownies are not going to help you lose weight and just because it comes from Whole Foods or is gluten free, sugar free and fat free doesn’t mean it is good for you or will get you to your goals any faster. One of the biggest and most beneficial changes I made to my diet was cutting out sugar, especially processed sugar. The first time I attempted no sugar, day 1 & 2 were hard but on day 3 I had the worst headache and was so grumpy but I stuck with it and like magic, by day 4 all my cravings for chocolate and ice cream had vanished.
Because I had so much weight to lose, there were a couple things I did that I believe helped keep me motivated. First, I tried to focus on losing in 10lb increments. For me it was too overwhelming to look at the big picture and focusing on the smaller number helped. Second, I would go to the store and find a pair of jeans on clearance that were two sizes smaller and I would call them my dream jeans. Every time I felt like the scale wasn’t moving fast enough, I would go to my closet and try them on to see my progress. The same effect can be done with measuring tape but having a tangible piece of clothing I felt made it more exciting. Take the following two statements for example “my hips are finally 38”!” vs “I’m finally a size 10!” The third thing was when I worked out I would visualize what I want to weigh or size I wanted to be or what piece of clothing I wanted to be wearing. Your mind is a powerful tool. Make it an asset and not an obstacle. Fourth get real about food. I constantly ask myself “is this something a healthy person would eat or am I just eating my feelings?” It’s hard to stay focused but life throws curve balls in the form of holidays and birthday parties and sometimes it really helps to tell yourself that cake and ice cream is going to taste like broken dreams and regret.
Also don’t be afraid to let your goals evolve. You might be saying to yourself “I want to lose 50lbs in 5 months.” Which isn’t a bad or unattainable goal but if you get to month 4 and you’ve only lost 20lbs and you are still hell bent on 50, how will you feel when month 5 rolls around and you didn’t meet your goal? My point is set yourself up for success and if a goal isn’t working out to your advantage, don’t be afraid to modify it.
Finally, block out all the noise. Stop listening to your inner noise, you know, that voice that tells you that you can’t do it, it doesn’t know what it’s talking about. You have no idea what you are capable of until you try and trust me you will surprise yourself at what you can accomplish. Stop listening to your coworkers or family members telling you how to lose weight. Everybody seems to have an opinion on weight loss and what you “should” do, pay no attention to that. Noise also comes from comparing yourself to others. That person at the gym who you feel is going faster with ease isn’t doing it in spite of you. You can’t let others get you down. Last week, in a class here, a woman asked about my Heart Rate Monitor and how many calories I had burned. When I told her what my number was she said “I bet I’ve burned more because I’m working harder than you.” I could have easily let that get negative, I felt like I was working really hard but really who cares what her opinion is? I know I was pushing myself and that is all that matters. I also had a puddle of sweat on the floor, which was proof enough for me. Push that negative noise out and replace it with positive. That is the best thing you can do to achieve what you want.
The last piece I want to share is that although I’ve had great success, I’m still not finished. I want to have a healthy BMI and I am about 30lbs away from achieving it. I still struggle with accepting the new me and my goals have now shifted to be more fitness based over weight loss. I get approached a lot by others who want to lose and I always get really annoyed when someone asks me “What app did you buy to lose weight?” I just want to shake them and say the app didn’t make me lose weight, I worked my butt off and counted calories. Most people out there want to do this the easy way and it’s not until you realize there is no such thing as a miracle diet or miracle pill and you don’t need to buy anything to lose weight will you make any true progress. So with all of that being said, my best advice is go out there and forget the past. Live in the present, not yesterday or tomorrow but today. If you focus each day on living a healthy life you will ultimately have one.
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Replies
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THANK-YOU !!!!!0
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great job, share it everywhere.0
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Oh I love that line about icecream and cake tasting like broken dreams and regret! You're going to be a fab, inspirational speaker! Good for you for helping others. Some great advice there!0
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Inspiring! Because I have the same amount to lose. You will do great with that speech and you will inspire so many people.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!0 -
this. is. amazing.
you hit it right on the nose, sister! testify!
self-love, hard work, honestly, determination, and consistency. the keys to any life changing process.
you inspire me! 0 -
Well said.... and very well done!!!0
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That is a great story. The only suggestion I have is to put a lot of emphasis on how you progressed in your exercising and the time it took. I think if a lot of people who've yet to start getting on the ball with activity don't realize that even though RIGHT NOW they can barely do 5 minutes on an elliptical at a slow pace with very low resistance, in a certain amount of time they'll be able to do A LOT more if they just start and keep going.0
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Great story!0
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Wonderful story that definitely needs sharing. Well done. Well written. What a great change you have made. Can't wait to get there myself with the exception that for me it's only 50lbs to lose.0
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Typical Marla: thoughtful, realistic, no BS, no excuses. I'm super-proud of you for putting yourself out there to help people. I know you're going to do great on Tuesday. Just be yourself and it'll be perfect!0
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Great story! Happy for your success. (:0
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Fantastic. Well done to you.0
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i think your speech sounds great ! you have done amazingly well on your own. You should be proud. My only critique for your speech ... maybe think about adding in some funny or silly stories/examples of things that happened along your journey. if not it still sounds great - very inspiring 0
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Outstanding! Inspirational and very REAL! I wouldn't change a word. Congratulations and thank you for sharing your journey ... Many of your comments were right on target for me. I have been on MFP for a month and I really am enjoying it ... It works ... But of course it works because I am doing the work ... MFP is a great tool to help me on my journey to taking back control of my body, mind and spirit.
I believe in the power of "self-talk". It is a lot like eating habits ... What you feed your mind and spirit is just as important as what you feed your body.
Congratulations and here's to you, to me and to everyone out there who is working every day to be a healthier, happier self! We all deserve it!
Aloha from Kauai, Hawaii
Lynn Maile Taylor0 -
I read the whole thing, thanks for posting this. I like the idea of the buying the small pants, thats what I did 0
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Amazing! I am inspired Thank you!! 0
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i think your speech sounds great ! you have done amazingly well on your own. You should be proud. My only critique for your speech ... maybe think about adding in some funny or silly stories/examples of things that happened along your journey. if not it still sounds great - very inspiring
I agree with this advice, too. If you can make people laugh they will be a lot more likely to take in what you're saying.0 -
You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can't have it. - Dr. Robert Anthony
If you're not failing every now and again, it's a sign you're not doing anything very innovative. - Woody Allen
It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop - Confucious
Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful. - Mark Victor Hansen
Stop sitting there with your hands folded looking on, doing nothing; Get into action and live this full and glorious life. Now. You have to do it. - Eileen Caddy
"There is pain in change and there is pain in staying the same. Pick the one that moves you forward."
Author Unknown0 -
What an excellent presentation! Well said, authentic and wise! You really captured the experience and challenges. Lucky audience to get to meet you! Thanks for putting yourself out there!0
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Thanks! You are going to do well with your presentation. It is my hope that anyone in the audience that need that extra kick/jump start on their fitness journey...this does it for them.
I bought a pair of size 16 jeans today (from the thrift store)! I will try them on and see how it goes.
All the best in all you future endeavors.0 -
I do a LOT of public speaking, and I have to say your presentation is SUPERB! It's well written, speaks from the heart, and is entertaining as well. The audience is going to love it. Just remember, they'll probably ask questions afterward...so don't be afraid if you don't know an answer. Just say, sorry, I don't know. You're going to do great, I can tell :happy: And congratulations on your weight loss and life changing success! :flowerforyou:0
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Thank you for all your kind words! I literally cried (in a good way) reading your comments. I appreciate the feed back. The addition of funny stories is on my agenda as well as delving more in to the struggle. - This is essentially my sloppy copy and I needed to make sure the nuts and bolts were accounted for first.
Many, many thanks!0 -
Awesome! Very motivating. The reason why is because it tackles some of the major excuses people use like a shield. Not having a gym/trainer, being on a tight budget, being too out of shape to workout for hours, not having accessability to specialty products like gluten free, not having anyone to do it with them. You did it, and you did it for YOU. Share your story!0
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YEAHHHHHhhh I love that you broke your goals down to 10 lb. increments. Sometimes, 2 pound goals get me through. I love that you learned to ask yourself if you are eating your emotions. I love you asking yourself if that was something a healthy person would eat. I love you ignoring some crazy competitive commentary. I love that you began where you were, used physical goals such as fitting into clothing (I have plenty of smaller sizes I could use as goals), accepted responsibility AND MOST OF ALL.. kept working on your dream. Congratulations on being a good example of how we have to be kind to ourselves as well as hard on our rationalizations! Best wishes!0
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Inspiring story, you have definitely motivated me with a number of the elements in your story Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! 0
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Well said and best of luck0
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Great job on your success. I have lost 134 pounds, but I still like hearing other people's stories to use as motivation and inspiration. I'm pretty much at my goal weight now so I mostly focus on exercising & being active so that I can maintain this current, healthier weight.
I'm not super skinny... I never will be! And even though I've lost all that weight there are times that I am still unhappy with the way I look now, but I have to remind myself that I look better than I once did! I won't go back to that old me.
Alot of people ask me what I did. When i tell them diet & exercise, hard work & dedication, they seem very disappointed. everyone wants a magic, quick fix.0 -
Honet, real and powerful. :flowerforyou:0
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awesome, thanks!0
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Well spoken! You are an inspiration and your presentation is bound to be a success! Thank you for sharing.0
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