175 lbs down. From Morbid Obese to Half Marathoner

Good Morning.

I thought I would share this with everyone in hopes of motivating maybe one person to keep up with their weight loss journey. I am including 2 photos. The first one is a pretty typical before and after photo. The photo on the left was from 2008. My heaviest- I hadn't realized how heavy I got and what I looked like. I didn't understand how always feeling tired, not feeling well and just being in a fog was all due to my weight. It wasn't until after much of my weightloss that I realized how much better I felt on a regular basis. The photo on the right is from last weekend- a 5k. The person on the left would have NEVER done a 5k and the person on the right has completed 2 half marathons this spring and has signed up for 3 more (not to mentioned I have committed to doing a full marathon in the spring).



The second photo is a body scan. I really wish I had one from the beginning of my journey. But the body scan on the left is from September 2012 and the one on the right is from April of this year. In the photo you can see what differences small changes can make on body composition. In that 18 month period- I lost 61.5 lbs- 10 points on the BMI scale, and doubled by fitness ability on a VO2 scale. I lost the following percentage of body fat in different parts of my body: 12% in my arms, 11% in my legs, 17% in my hips, 17% in my trunk and an amazing 23% in my stomach. Overall in this 18 months I lost 14% of my overall total body fat. Again, I wish I had this data/info from the beginning. Because even with 61.5 of the 175 its amazing to see the results and the photo.



But weight isn't the only thing that I have changed during this journey. At the beginning it was all about weight. Now its about health. I want to be healthy. I want to live a long life. I want to be able to make the most of what I can in life and I can't do that when I am at risk for some major health diseases. I feel lucky though- I didn't develop any health issues and I was able to make the changes before that took over. But I know this process works- I just ate less and moved more. At the beginning I refused to count calories- I thought it was horrible. SO I just focused on reducing portion size- I thought' what would I normally eat and just take some away. I moved more- started out with light activities. Over time I saw the changes that I was making and realized I could make more. So I started counting calories (which isn't that bad). I can pretty much tell you what most foods have in it. I am careful about what I put into my body and I have found exercises that I love. One thing that I was shocked though and I hear so many others talk about is about confidence and weight loss. I realized through this journey that confidence (for me) had very little to do with my weight- and more so with how I felt about myself. I realized that I had to get to know myself as a different person. Running has helped me do that-- it pushes me to the point that I want to break and then I learn something about myself. I have found my inner athlete and I strive to constantly do better. This journey has truly saved my life.

Some things that have helped me:
**Small steps- I was very resistant to change. So 175 lbs ago the things that I am doing now would have completely frightened me and made me not want to continue. But it took small changes over time and I don't miss anything.
**Being open about my journey. I saw the biggest changes happen when I was ok talking about my weight, my weight gain and my weight loss. I feel like an open book.
**Finding support. Throughout my journey I have had to change some of my support. Most everyone was supportive at the beginning. When you are over 300 lbs, most people are more than willing to support someone. But I noticed, the smaller I get, some people struggle with this. Some of my friends were a lot more supportive when I was way bigger than them, vs now that I am smaller than them.
**Find a workout that you love. I started out with water aerobics, walking, the elliptical. I loved these- now they drive me crazy. I found zumba and kick boxing and spinning. Now my new love is running and being outside and being active in life.
**Life is about moving more and experiencing more. I was always a believer that my weight didn't define me. But looking back it did. There were life events that I didn't try and subconsciously it had everything to do with my weight, I just didn't want to admit it. For example- I never kayaked until last year-- I said it was stupid, looked boring, etc. After I got outside my comfort zone, I loved it and realized that I would have NEVER done that when I was overweight. NEVER. So for me, it was admitting how much it stopped me from completely enjoying life at times.

Hopefully this helps someone. My journey has been about 5.5 years. It will be 6 years this fall. I have learned to enjoy the journey and trust in the process. If I make good decisions, change will happen. If I struggle today, there is always tomorrow. There is no time limit on health. It my life and I need to take control back. The only thing that can stop me, is me and today that is not an option. So please have faith- that exercise and diet alone can make HUGE changes.


Bobbi Jo