Sz. 20/22 to a size 0! 126 pounds lost. Now loose skin?

A little over 3 years ago I reached my heaviest weighing in at 252 lbs on a 5 foot barely 3 inch frame. This weigh in was just a couple months after having our youngest daughter, Havyn; creating now 5 children to raise up. At that time I was also struggling with severe post partum depression which was completely taking over my life. I had no control; not in my health, weight, mental stability, marriage, relationships, etc… Everything was completely out of hand. So bad it led to a major breakdown; I literally was so unhappy and felt so awful inside and out at just 22 years old. When I had my breakdown I knew the only way to change anything was going to be completely up to me. My children, my faith, my desires, my drive of whom I was before 'life' knocked me on my *kitten*… those along with the breakdown pushed me to change my mind, or shall I say change my LIFE.

First thing I did was looked for free apps to track everything I was currently consuming. In order to make any improvements you got to first know how bad the problem is. Oh it was bad! Anywhere from 600-1200 carbs in just a days' time, say 3500 calories plus some days, I had no idea what I was inhaling. What is sad is most of it was just what I would grab and go or pick off of the kiddos plates, what you would think would be small and less was doing the most damage of all. Downloading the MyFitnessPal app was my greatest tool in tracking for the first 2.5 years of this journey. Now I don’t have to track, simply because it's just natural to me to pick the best option available and proportion it correctly to what my body NEEDS not what my mind is wanting. View food as your energy source not your comfort!!!! Find other comforts, be better than me and make them healthy comforts please. Food is your bodies gas, you really don’t want to put crap gas in your tank otherwise you're going to screw it all up right!? So why do that to your own temple.

Next I changed all my serving plates to child size or salad size plates. My meals I always proportioned. Yes it takes time, effort, more than you want to give most days… but face it this is not easy in any way. Eventually I promise measuring and tracking every little thing will not be necessary because what you consume you will know like the back of your hand! So yes track, measure, proportion, and you must always give yourself enough respect to be honest with yourself. Every bit matters!. Next major tip water, water, water. For real even if you think you have drank too much water I can almost guarantee you have not. Always drink a full class of water before eating and wait 10 mins or so after drinking it. Our bodies tend to mix up hunger with true thirst. This helps with appetite tremendously. With these immediate changes was also restricting all or as much sugar as possible ( I have always allowed myself some natural sugars throughout this process - as in I use fruit to curb my sweet tooth -- mainly berries), refraining from breads, flours, starches all together pretty much. I can't remember where I got this bit of info from, most definitely during one of my late night internet research sessions; however it said, "all form of white starches process into sugar once consumed." Honestly I took that and ran, that meant no bread, sweets, pastas, all that. I AM ITALIAN PEOPLE!!!!!!!! THAT’S ALL I KNEW. So I just flipped my eating lifestyle upside down and did everything the opposite way of what I was currently doing, which led me towards the Keto lifestyle. My goal has always been to get to a strict Keto lifestyle but I knew I wasn’t capable of doing it all at once, I was already tired of being a failure. I had to do this right if I was going to do it at all. Quickly I found out about whey protein and knew since I had a very poor metabolism this could be a very beneficial addition to aide my new lifestyle.

That’s when I quickly learned I didn’t like protein powders of any form (trust me I have tried) and found premier protein at Walmart. I fell in love with them and I truly love the taste. You can even make shakes out of them!!! My children even use them to keep their vitamin and protein intake up. Cost wise I feel they are best out there, I drink one every day after my morning workout. Before I started working out, I would drink one mid-morning and then one as a mid-day snack as well. They are 30g of protein per drink and truly fill you if you drink water after as well. Another quick tip our bodies can only process 30g of protein at a time, not a huge deal to take in more at one sitting just kind of pointless when thinking of it as fuel. So to make this more of a meal instead of a snack you can always add your side veg salad, good fats, simple natural sugars or fiber options, etc… I'm big on fiber and yes it falls under carbs. That freaked me out at first since in the beginning I just assumed all carbs were bad and I was so fixated on low carb no sugar. After educating myself a little more, I realized there are good carbs just as good fats. Fiber me up baby!!! So with that being said if something is 20g total carbs but 15g of fiber then you gobble gobble. My rule of thumb quickly became making my magic range 8-10. What I mean with that is on your nutrition labels if next to carbs, sugars, and fats if it was higher than 10 grams per serving I would look at considering half a serving, or finding a better substitute. If lower than 8g per serving I would grab it up if it was affordable or learn to create my own, which I tend to Pinterest all those versions and modify sometimes. I am by no means a fancy cook and try to keep everything simple, quick, and convenient. I just stick to what works best for my home and family; but I am so always up for new advice on different options out there because I am still learning new things every day as well and want to strive for great healthy clean options for my whole family without them going to waste.

Just by staying within my macro goals on the MyFitnessPal app I was seeing results, however I was losing only 1-2 lbs. a week. I am not very patient; yet that is something else I have gained with this transformation as well. Once I got proportioning down making better choices became necessary with that I instantly started losing 3 plus pounds a week for several months. About 6 months or so into changing my eating habits (which I used the KETO lifestyle as just my guide mind you) I started walking my middle daughter, Piper, to preschool and back every day. Just a brisk walk with a stroller and our 3 youngers, totaled to about 2 miles a day but 1 mile at a time; I was only 22 and experiencing shin splints, cramps, exhaustion, all from a walk and one hill that became my enemy lol! Not being able to keep up with my very energetic bunch depressed me more than anything else. That’s when it became more about my health and self-demons than just weight loss and being pretty again for my husband. Side note - I have the most amazing supportive husband ever! He never ever once made me feel big, or unattractive…. I just knew. You can feel it, as I changed we changed and only for the better; but he is truly incredible. Just had to give that quick shout out.

Ok so after hitting my next plateau about 9 months into eating better I restricted more and added gym time. I started incorporating hour workouts at least 3-5 days a week. Working out soon became my healthy comfort and I fell in love with fitness, truly that is where my passion lies! Hopefully one day I can train and or even manage or aide other weight loss journeys. I have big hopes and goals lol. Currently I am even strength training, and I am just in love with the challenge of becoming strong and lean. There has been a million different obstacles and challenges along the way, those will never come to an end. You just have to remember you are worth your effort and to take the time to be a priority. I know I know easier said than done. However, to succeed you really do have to maintain a no excuse type of mentality.

Also quick rule of thumb I am sure you have heard this before, shop the perimeter of your grocery store first or better yet buy from farmers markets if your able. Try to stay out of the majority of the middle isles unless shopping for your specific staple items that just are so convenient it becomes a must in your home, and at least helps towards your progress. I will say I do all my shopping at Aldi and Walmart for the most part. Those are just the most convenient and affordable for us .

Cravings are the worst and they happen and stick around. Push through they eventually go away; unfortunately it took me months for mine to diminish. I would always take my craving and try to find a healthy or at least low carb substitute to help curb it… or once again drink a large glass of water and find something to occupy yourself in that moment to get your mind off of that craving. All these little tips or tricks help tremendously; just remember to never give up!

I have fallen off track numerous times, even regained 35 pounds of what I had lost one of those times, just to have to lose it all over again. Get back on track as soon as you fall off. Don’t look back and just accept what you did and move forward. This is a lifestyle and we are all human surrounded by nothing but temptation. Keep your head high and work towards better, simply strive to be better than yesterday.

Continuing to use Keto as my guide was the smartest choice I ever made, and as I continue to make more and more strives towards achieving the strict keto lifestyle I only continue to lose, tone, and feel more incredible by the day. Today, 3 years later, I stand 126 pounds lighter. Dropped over 20 pant sizes, and more than 30 inches around just my waist. I am real, it is possible. Everything in my life has changed for the better. My marriage is on top of this world, my friendships are strong and stable, my children look up to me, I can run and play with them for hours in our back yard, I can now use a regular size towel, my babies can fit their arms around me completely, throughout this I have realized I am unstoppable and have a purpose. I have energy, patience, and understanding. I have gained so much from this change its impossible to put it into words. Honestly I can say I am developing into the best version of myself I can be, so I have basically turned into a whole new person with this.

The only thing I regret is that I didn’t start sooner. I now have met every one of my set beginning goals and have and will continue to make more. Support is crucial and you can never have too much; with that being said, I want to be some of that support or motivatiion for others now. All I know has been from honest trial and error and personal research.