One year later, 118 Pounds down, 10 to go!!

So here I am on my one year anniversary (to the day, started April 4, 2012) that I made the conscious decision to lose weight. When I started I didn’t have a goal weight in mind, the only thing driving me was that I needed to get healthy, and I knew I needed to do it now. I got a blood test result back from the Dr. that had an indicator for heart attack and my results were on the very high end, so that is what kick started this change.

I started out doing Optifast, which is a Dr supervised program. I did the modified version because a liquid diet for three months was way too harsh and didn’t fit my lifestyle. So I did two shakes a day a meal and snack. I thought it was going to be the most horrible thing in the world, but it turned out that I really enjoyed it and it made making breakfast and lunch so much easier. I only had to figure out what I was going to have for dinner.

After about 7 months (Nov 2012) on the two shakes a day I graduated to only one shake a day, two meals and a snack. This allowed me to learn and gradually add back in food, so I was learning how to eat properly as I went.

In mid Dec 2012 I was totally off of shakes and back to eating regular food. I totally changed what I ate, how much I ate and when I ate. I now eat every 3 hours and I ensure I am eating proper food.

Don’t get me wrong I still treat myself to the food we shouldn’t eat (McDonalds, chocolate, chips etc) but I make a very conscious decision to do so and do it in moderation, rather than mindless eating.

As for exercise I started out walking and it would take me a good 45 minutes to do a lap around one of our local parks, but I am now walking 7.5 miles twice a week in about an hour. I make sure I do cardio at least 5 days a week and I also got a personal trainer and do that twice a week which I really enjoy and it has really helped reshape my body and add strength.

So for any of you out there that think they can’t do it, you can, you just really need to figure out why you want it and go for it. Allow yourself treats along the way or else you will not be successful and don’t be hard on yourself, this is a total lifestyle transformation and it takes time.
Good luck to all.