Lisa’s weight loss story…
This starts off as a typical desire to lose weight. I came to Weight Watchers again (lost 20lb before having my kid, or as I like to say B.K.) to lose the baby weight. I started right away when she was really still a baby and now my baby is 7 years old. I held onto that baby weight like it was my best friend and my worst enemy! Sure I would have my ups (when my big girl clothes started being tight, yikes!) and my downs, but never quite making my goal (which is back to lifetime at Weight Watchers--where you don’t have to pay for meetings!). And I was never at a healthy weight/BMI for my height and body type. I believe when you are trying to lose weight, there are so many things that have to sync up, your food intake, your exercise routine, your will power, motivation and your attitude. All these things happened for me at one time or another but until recently, not all together! This is my journey of losing the pounds and making my goal.
The story I will share is the 12 week journey of our first contest. There were about 10 of us looking for a different motivation, in addition to our weekly meetings. We decided to put our money where our mouth was and do a 12 week contest with a winner and runner up. We were all psyched up for this and raring to go! There! I got myself motivated! I followed the plan to a tee, came up with a big loss the first week. I planned my meals…AHA…I was controlling my food!
I want to say that around week 2 or 3 of the contest, I did an activity challenge. I found a site that challenges you to do 100 squats. So, I thought “why not? I can do that!” This lead me to the gym on my lunch break where I first met my personal trainer, Chris. He helped me with the squat challenge (I was doing them wrong!). Then he worked with me, found my strengths and weaknesses and built on that. He pushes me past my limits and has me doing exercises I never thought I could do like boy-planks and boy push-ups! (On my toes, not on my knees!) I also had a goal to run a 5k from start to finish and I did that in September 2011. I know that he was instrumental in preparing me for that! Now I had my exercise routine in place!
This is not to say I did not hit a couple bumps in the road. I did have a few weeks where I gained, but I really tried not to let it bother me. Well, let’s be honest here, I am an emotional eater, and to say I did not have times when I pigged out on doughnuts or ice cream wouldn’t be true. I did! But instead of eating the entire container or box, I would stop before I got too far gone into the “binge black hole.” I think we can count this as my will power!
I think it also helped that I was running this contest and I saw the results of everyone’s hard work. I also came up with the challenges and cheered everyone on so it was almost like I was cheering myself on. Looking back on my record of this contest, I just realized I was never in first place…I was always chasing someone! I was always eager to catch up, who knew I was this competitive?? Could that be where I got the positive attitude??
At the end of this contest, I was 11.8 lbs lighter and the runner up of the contest! Yay! That did not stop me, though. My journey was not over! I felt like I was at the top of a hill on a rollercoaster and I was about to take that first drop. And did I ever! I kept up my routine (through the holidays, no less!) and dropped another 12 pounds to reach my goal. On December 24th, 2011, I reached Lifetime again at Weight Watchers! The best Christmas present I could ever give myself.
Of course this is just one destination in my journey, I am looking to dump another 10 pounds!
