Ice Cream that goes straight to your boobs?

Once again, thank you everyone for your awesome support of my blog and of myself! I have gotten a lot of feedback concerning what people want to hear from me next. One thing everyone wants to know is the exact, fine-print details of how I lost all the weight, so that is what I will give you all! I also want to let it be known that I do not claim to be any sort of health/fitness guru or expert. When I started on this journey I had no clue about anything health or fitness related, and I had no grandiose plans to lose all the weight. I just took it day by day and made choices that I thought would help better my health. So while some of the things I did could help a lot of other people lose weight, I am not claiming that if you follow my advice you will lose 300 pounds. But I can guarantee you will probably be a much more healthy and happy person!

When I first made the choice to lose weight, I decided that exercising would be the first key step to this goal! I'm not going to lie to you, I was a SCARED LITTLE PUPPY about starting to exercise. I had no idea where to start and I felt like a complete idiot. I was embarrassed to go to the gym, for fear people would stare at me and ridicule my body. All of the scary, vein popping, muscle exploding weight lifters intimidated the hell out of me. I could hear their thoughts in my head over and over: "What is that girl doing here?" "She looks so fat and stupid." 

"I like to lift weights and cuddle with birds?"

I voiced my concerns to a friend at the time, and she gave me some advice that I have never forgotten! She told me that I shouldn't care at all what the people in the gym thought of me. I could either overcome my fears now and prove them wrong, or I could wait till my weight became even more of an issue and I wouldn't even have the option to go to the gym because of my bad health. 

I also have a different perspective on the situation now being a gym rat myself. I want to let everyone know that there is NO NEED to be embarrassed going to the gym. All of those fit people that look awesome and sweaty that you think are making fun of you in their head--- they aren't! I promise! If any thing when they see you, they are thinking "Man that is really awesome they are trying to be healthy. Props to them!" Everyone in that gym really cares about their health, and so they respect others that have those same values regardless of where you are in your journey to being healthy. To be honest, most of the time while I'm working out I'm fantasizing about how to chemically alter ice cream so that it makes my boobs BIGGER instead of my ass. (I'll let you know when I figure that one out.)

So once you have worked up the courage to go to the gym, you have to decide on a routine for yourself! My biggest struggle was getting out of my "all or nothing" mindset. I felt like if I couldn't put in 90 minutes everyday at the gym, why should I even bother going? This is such a bad way of thinking! Any exercise is better than nothing! If you can only go to the gym for 30 minutes a day, then you should still go. Those 30 minutes a day really add up! That is 900 minutes a month that you are working out... and that is 900 more than you would be doing if you decided to not go! 

For the first month I started exercising, I went 30 minutes a day on the stair stepper elliptical after my last class. It was so hard! I was sweaty, disgusting, and grouchy for the rest of the day. I kept pushing though! It takes you doing something about 20 times before it becomes apart of your normal routine, but once I got that routine I CRAVED the exercise. I got a high from it! I slept better, was more focused in class, and was just an overall happier person. I slowly started adding more and more time to my workouts when I could, and I just got better and better results! It was such an amazing feeling. 

I think a really big part of my success was also that I was very adaptive! When school ended and I couldn't go to the University gym, I started swimming with my mom, jogging on our home elliptical, and walking our dogs. Today I am still really adaptive with my exercise! If I know I won't have enough time to make it to the gym that day, I will walk to class and back through out the day instead of taking the bus (which can add up to over an hour of walking up and down hills), and then do a little 20 minute cardio workout at night time. I may not be running at full speed for an hour at the gym, but I am still being active and healthy- and that is the main goal! 

To see what an impact exercise can have on preventing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, strokes and almost every illness out there you should do some research! Just from light exercise alone you can become almost 30% less likely to have a serious disease like the ones listed above in the future. The facts behind this are amazing to read! What better motivation is there?

"You maybe going slow, but you're lapping EVERYONE on the couch!"

Chocolate Seduction and the "21 Day No-Junk-Food Challenge"

First of all, I just want to thank everyone for your support of me and this blog! As uncomfortable as I am talking about myself, I'm starting to feel a smidgen better about it with the all the feedback I have been getting. So thank you all!

A lot of people have been asking me how I actually lost the weight. I honestly had no secret cure! There was no secret magic pill, and no I was not zapped by aliens. (Even though that would be AWESOME.) I put the hard work in every single day by eating right and exercising- and that is where the results came from! So many people are looking for a quick fix. To succeed at weight loss you need to have a lifestyle change, and major changes like that do not happen quickly. I worked for 16 months to reach my goal of losing 75 pounds. That is an average of only 1.17 pounds a week! While it can be aggravating to work so hard and not see immediate results, I promise you that a year from now when you could of been at your goal weight you will have wished you had started! Slow and steady wins the race is definitely the motto in this situation.

The hardest thing I encountered with my weight loss was my sweets addiction! I found that I had no problem eating really healthy meals, but I could not stop myself from craving sweets. Chocolate, candy, cookies, brownies, chips, cake, ice cream-- you name it, I would crave it. Most women I know seem to have this problem as well! My roommate and I would drive to Wal-Mart in the middle of the night to buy chocolate. I am ashamed to think about the things I might do for chocolate in an unstable mental state! We've all been there ladies....

Photo: My roommate and I's normal chocolate craving behavior. 

In December of 2011, after a year of weight loss, I hit a horrible plateau. I did not loss any weight for over 2 months. I decided to reexamine my eating and fitness habits to get over this hump. I realized that I was doing everything right, except for eating sweets! Through out my weight loss process I was a strong believer in portion control and moderation... but even if you only eat a kid's sized amount of ice cream every day (okay it was more than kid sized), it will still hinder your weight loss process! You're basically wasting calories on something that provides you with no nutritional benefit in return. 

I decided that if I ever wanted to meet my goal, I would have to find a way to conquer my cravings once and for all! I decided to go on a " 21 day, No-Junk-Food Challenge". I went into the challenge knowing that I could never fully cut sweets out of my diet, but learning to control my cravings for them could greatly benefit me. 

The rules for the challenge consisted of:
-No Chocolate
-No Candy
-No Biscuits or Gravy
-No Cakes, Muffins, or Donuts
-No Pastries
-No White bread
-No Chips
-No Fast Food
-No Nutella, Peanut Butter, or other "Naughty Spreads"
-No Ice Cream

I'm not gonna lie to you, the first half of the challenge was LIVING HELL. I may or may not have gotten weird looks from people in the cafeteria for smelling pizza an abnormal amount of time. I was also as grouchy as could be! But my reaction to not having junk food just made me realize all the more serious my addiction actually was. I started replacing the calories I had spent on sweets with vegetables, fruits, and low fat yogurts. Slowly but surely I stopped feeling like a CRAZY WOMAN. I didn't even crave sweets anymore. I had also broken my plateau! During the three weeks of the challenge I lost 10 pounds- just from not eating as many sugary, processed foods. The crazy thing was that I was actually eating more, but just really healthy things like fruits and cheeses!

Once it was over, I was scared that once I tasted sweets again I would immediately go back to my old ways. After I finished the challenge my roommate bought me a big bag of M&M's to celebrate. I took a handful and slowly cherished being reunited with an old frien-emy. But after 2 candies I stopped. I mean it tasted good, but I didn't have the same animal instinct to devour it anymore.While I still think that chocolate is God's gift to women, my crazy love/hate relationship with it is finally over. Hallelujah! Now I just don't feel the need for sweets anymore like I use to feel. I will get a small piece of chocolate, or some Fro-Yo while downtown with friends every few weeks- but it's not something I HAVE TO HAVE anymore. I'm no longer the girl that has 3 pieces of birthday cake at a party...... just because she can. And it's great!

Good luck to anyone who tries the challenge after reading this! It may be hard at first, but you will notice a huge difference and thank yourself when you are done!

Weightloss Journey photos!

Before Photos:

  After photos:

The final product!:

My Story

Throughout my life I have struggled with being overweight. I was always the chubby girl out at recess trying to keep up with other kids. While I had lots of friends growing up, I never really felt truly comfortable. I went through life not being okay with myself. When I looked in the mirror I hated what I saw, so I let that affect all other aspects of my life. I felt worthless. Like I was good for NOTHING. Why would anyone want to be my friend, date me, or even be my teacher when I was just the awkward chubby girl? I kept this state of mental abuse towards myself up for so many years, it was just a normal routine through out my schooling.

After a string of hurtful incidents with high school bullies that left me insecure and depressed, and a toxic relationship that followed me into college- I was not only chubby, I was becoming obese. With my 5 foot 6 inch frame, I clocked in at 215 pounds. I coped with my feelings towards my life the only way I knew how: food! (And lots of it). I would come home from school after dealing with mean high school girls, and eat a whole tub of cookie dough. BY MYSELF. Food was my coping mechanism, and it was the only way I thought I could survive that environment.

As I grew bigger and bigger, I became more depressed. I was unhealthy and unhappy. The bad place I was in mentally isn't even describable in words. It scares me to think about what type of place I would be in now if I had not had a breakthrough. I thank God everyday for the wake up calls that came at this point that caused me to change my life.

In high school, I was in the top "show" choir that got to travel around and perform. Every girl wore a uniform- a red gown. My first wake up call came when I could no longer fit into my dress to perform. The night before a competition, I tried on my dress just to make sure it still fit. I tried and tried AND TRIED to get it to zip up all the way but it just wouldn't. I was mortified. My mother had to end up buying me another red dress at JCPenney's late that night. We took the fabric from that dress, and put it where the zipper would not zip in the back. We then styled my hair so that you couldn't see the mess of two dresses on the back of my gown. I was so embarrassed. I kept on thinking "Why me?", "Why was I born this way?" The amount of shame I felt still makes me cry to this day.

My second wake up call was when my obesity started to directly affect my health and well being. When I started college, I couldn't walk up one flight of stairs without being out of breath. My family doctor told me that my weight was making my blood pressure way too high. My highest blood pressure that I ever read was 142/85. I talked with my family about one day having to go on medications, and it scared the crap out of me! Finally, my eye doctor had to test me for glaucoma- a disease that can cause blindness. In young patients, glaucoma can be onset by being extremely overweight. The thought of becoming blind all because of my weight, once again made me so ashamed. I couldn't believe that I had done this to myself. I started to think about the future that was ahead of me if I kept down this path. Blood pressure medicine, potentially going blind, not being capable to walk long distances or climb stairs, and almost certain diabetes.

My final wake up call came in December of 2010. I was staying with my family over Christmas break, back from my first semester of college. My before photo was actually taken on this day. My little sister, Erin, is probably the most important person in the world to me. I love her so much. To me she is still a little baby that needs her big sister to protect her, and I will probably always see her that way. (Sorry Erin!) While on break, Erin asked me to go shopping with her at the Topeka mall. I found myself making excuses to not go with her. Mostly because I was embarrassed about my weight. Embarrassed someone would see me, embarrassed I wouldn't be able to fit into any of the clothes in American Eagle... I felt horrible about lying to her, but having to face my weight in a public place was just too daunting of a task. I started to realize that if I didn't change, this is what the rest of my life would be like. Always scared to just live life.  If I was willing to blow off the most important person to me because of my weight, what other parts of life was I going to have to give up in the future? I decided to not let my weight affect my life like that anymore!

When I went back to college for the spring semester, I decided to change. I first decided to get to the root of the problem. Why had I gained so much weight in the first place? Because I was unhappy, and the only way I knew how to deal with that was through food. I then took all the things that made me unhappy and cut them out of my life. I cut of ties with my ex-boyfriend, quit seeing mean friends (who were never actually my friends), switched majors, and switched universities for the next year! I realized my happiness was the most important thing in my life, and if I ever wanted to be healthy these were all necessary changes.

I then made very small changes over a long period of time with my eating and exercise. I started out going to the gym for 25 minutes a day, and switching my daily chicken strips and pasta to a salad and sandwich. After 2 weeks I had lost 5 pounds! I stuck with it, and kept getting awesome results. Some weeks were really hard, and I didn't lose any weight at all. But I knew that if I kept doing the work, I would eventually lose it all. After a year and a half, I finally reached my goal weight of 125. I lost 90 pounds! My blood pressure is now that of an athlete- 95/68, and my chance of developing glaucoma has completely gone away! I now work out for about 1.5 to 2 hours a day. And I ENJOY IT. I love being fit. Running, biking, swimming, lifting, etc...I love it all! I also eat extremely healthy, and love the way it makes me feel. I no longer feel the need to eat a ton of junk food, because I am satisfied with how amazing the nutrients from healthy food makes me feel. I am also more aware of my happiness! I'm not afraid to kick the negativity out of my life. If something ever causes me so much unhappiness that it affects my health- it's just not worth it! I have come too far in changing my life to let something make me unhappy.

Although my journey was very emotional and painful at times, I'm so glad I had the courage to start. I would not take it back for one second! It made me the person I am today- and I FINALLY love that person. I have meaningful, positive relationships in my life with great people that support me. Because of my experience I have the compassion to see people for who they really are, regardless of looks. And I just enjoy life to the fullest! Nothing holds me back from being my happiest anymore!