Why did you come to the conclusion to lose weight?

305 wasn't fun. 216 is still not fun enough, but much better!

My son died April 2017. In November I made a spontaneous decision to join a gym and do more with my life than just breathe air. I'm down 100 pounds.

i was a fat depressed loser weighing with about 230 lbs of pure fat in the past. but one day, i woke up in the morning, i saw myself in the mirror and i thought "i look miserable, my hair isn't cut, i'm not shaved, my gut is sticking out. the person in front of me is not who i want to be, i need to and i want to make a change and i'm going to do it this time" during the day, i was looking online for information about how i can become better, but all the information i could find was relating to bodybuilding, getting jacked/ripped, trying to sell me diet pills or diet plans and it's not what i'm looking for. but while i was just randomly browsing on youtube but i happened to come across a video of a powerlifter at his first powerlifting meet.

after watching his entire video of his first meet, i was moved and inspired. since that day, i know a powerlifter is what i wanted to become. shortly after starting my fitness journey for a while, my mentality slowly started to change for the better, while always reminding myself to keep my ego in check so i don't end up as a ego lifter. i invest as much time as i can into researching proper techniques, and doing trial and error until i got it right, as i could not afford a trainer. people at gym have laughed at me, made fun of me, put me down for lifting such small amounts of weight but i didn't let that deter me as i have a goal i want to achieve and if lifting less weights allows me to complete each rep with full range of motion, then they can laugh at me all they want.

after half a year in to powerlifting, the amount of weight i can lift has gone up to a bit less than my own body weight. but i wanted to be more than just a regular powerlifter, so i started incorporating other styles of lifting from bodybuilding, physical therapy, resistance bands, calisthenics, and gymnastics to use as accessory and mobility work. turning myself to become more of a hybrid lifter but still always remain as a pure powerlifter with discipline by heart. in order to do that i came to the conclusion to lose the fat i have in order to improve my cardiovascular system to be able to do those things. ever since then my weight as slowly started to drop off on it's own from exercising and a change in my diet.

I’ve had a lot of starts and re-starts over the past 10 years but I’m more serious about it this time around than I ever have been because my husband and I decided to try for a baby in about a year and half and I want to be as healthy as possible before we start.

I've been steadily gaining 2-3 pounds per year since college and had many false starts with my nutrition and fitness. However, last spring I gained 25 pounds in the span of a couple months. My belly started looking so round that I actually took a pregnancy test! Even though I was still having my period... (Denial is a funny thing Lol) It was very eye opening and depressing to realize that the culprit of my new body shape was simply indulgence and a sedentary lifestyle! It was shocking to accept that I was in the "obese" category for bmi and have 40 pounds to lose to be "healthy" and over 50 to be at my comfort weight. Within the month of September I had a culmination of many life changes. I became an empty nester, celebrated a birthday and started a new job (in the public eye). Those changes have been the push I needed to finally focus on myself and put my health and happiness first!