First of all, I'm a total skeptic of blogs. There are very few blogs that I actually take the time to read and even less that I actually enjoy reading. I guess I'm just not the blog type... not emotional enough to gush everything to the world so they can read it. But I've seriously had SO many people the past 18 months ask me about the "right" way to lose weight, that it's getting almost exhausting! It's not an easy 1-2 sentence response you can tell people. And most people want to hear "I still ate cookies and drank beer". Well guess what peeps - I DIDN'T. I didn't take any miracle drugs. I didn't take a magic pill that made me shed 120 pounds overnight. I didn't "cheat". I didn't "let loose" on the weekends at Applebee's. I didn't "reward" myself for a good week of losing with some cheesecake. I stuck to my guns, worked my ass off, and sweat more than you can believe. So if you're looking for some other kind of answer to my "Secret" weight loss, you might as well stop reading right now.
Let me start from the beginning. As many of you know, yes, I did lose the weight. But how many people know the story from the beginning?
September 2009
The above picture is from a trip to Medora ND in September 2009. At this point i was at my heaviest. I'm 5'9, and weighed 270 pounds. I ate out just about everyday, drank all the beer I could get my hands on, and didn't know that fruits and vegetables existed. I had constant stomach issues, which were magically cured when I stopped eating all the JUNK I was eating. My BMI or Body Mass Index was 39.9. BMI calculates what weight range you're in based on height and weight. a BMI of 40.0 under most insurance qualifies for Gastric Bypass weight loss surgery.... if that gives you some kind of idea of how far I had let myself go.
The first weekend that November (2009) I went to my brother Dan's house for the weekend. Him and his wife and my niece and nephew live in northern Wisconsin. They own an Anytime Fitness and are obviously a very active family. They're very healthy - they are almost completely self sufficient. They have their own chickens to produce eggs to eat, have honey bees to produce their own honey, tap their own trees to make syrup, make their own bread, etc etc. They have rid their lives of processed crappy food. Love this.
Anywho, I was at their house visiting. We were sitting in the living room and my brother mentioned we should watch a movie. The movie they picked? "Super Size Me."
I had heard of the movie before but never really know what exactly it was about. Its a documentary that follows this guy for a month. He can't eat anything but McDonalds for 30 days straight, 3 meals a day, and he had to try everything on the menu at least once. And, if he was asked if he wanted to Super Size it, he had to say yes.
I couldn't believe my eyes watching this movie. His body literally shut down. His organs were shutting down, he became depressed, moody, and his blood pressure sky rocketed. He became lethargic and dreaded everyday. The only time he was happy was the first few minutes of eating his next meal of McDonald's. It opened my eyes to the addictive tendencies of fast food. Watching his entire body shut down and the doctor monitoring him during this whole thing that he needed to stop the documentary or he was going to kill himself, stopped me in my tracks. McDonald's was killing him! I ate that crap several times a week, without a second thought. Everyone else was doing it.... so it couldn't be THAT bad, right?? wrong.
When the movie was over, I just sat there in disbelief. I finally understood it. I was killing myself, slowly but surely. My brother then said "How about this. If you run Grandma's Half Marathon in June, I'll run the Full Marathon." He told me think about it, which is exactly what I did for the next month. I asked my sister in law for tips on eating "healthy" - I had no idea what was healthy. People without knowledge in this area see a box of wheat thins that say "healthy snacking choice" or "Low fat" and think it's okay to eat. Well guess what folks... 98% of the time, it's NOT okay to eat. Look at the ingredients. If there are more than 5 ingredients, it's garbage. Processed garbage. Just because something claims its healthy, doesn't mean it is.
My sister in law has seen every weight loss plan under the sun since she's a personal trainer. She suggested starting by watching my fat grams. I had no idea what a fat gram was. I had no idea how to even read a nutrition label. But I learned. I scoured the internet, bought books, did the research, asked questions, and learned a ton. I kept under 20 grams of fat a day - to put it into perspective, 1 serving of Ranch dressing which is 2 Tablespoons (and lets be honest, if you're eating Ranch you're not eating only 2 Tablespoons), has 14 grams of fat in it. 14!!! That certainly makes the healthy choice of a salad no so healthy anymore, eh? More on the food thing to come.....
I went home to Winona the next day, and immediately went to the gym. I should mention I had a membership at Anytime Fitness since the previous May, and had never stepped foot inside. It was tough. It was terrible. I wanted to cry. I wanted to lay on the ground and kick and scream. I wanted the skinny girls and big weight lifter guys to not judge me. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to run away. It SUCKED. Working out when you're that big isn't easy. It's f*cking hard. I was determined though, I knew what I wanted and I knew how I had to get it.
From November 10th - December 25th I worked my butt off. I lost about 20 -25 lbs or so in that time. This was before I started recording my weight every single day, so the first few months I don't have the exact weights. For Christmas, I gave my brother an entry fee of $85.00 for Grandma's Marathon, along with a "voucher" that said "Pick the sister of your choice to do Grandma's Half Marathon". Funny because our other sister was 6 months pregnant at the time. he he.
So this is how it all started. One little challenge to run 13.1 miles on June 18th, 2010. I know this is corny and lame sounding, but that challenge and that race saved my life.
I guess once I got started writing here I realize now that I do have a lot to share. I've had 5 people in the past few days ask me for tips on weight loss and healthy lifestyles and running... so maybe this blog will help those of you that need the extra push or motivation to do it. I guess if you have specific questions or want me to talk about a certain topic, leave me a comment on here or on Facebook. Or if you want it to be anonymous, shoot me a message. I'm living proof that hard word and determination WILL work. This is me... 19 months later, 120 pounds gone, f o r e v e r ! ! ! ! !
