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Me at my heaviest weight
When I started gaining weight I looked into every weight loss product on the market. I tried Metabolife, a diet patch, Adipex, and Hydroxycut to name a few.
I power walked in my neighborhood and joined the gym. The few pounds I lost came right back because of my eating.
It wasn’t until I learned about eating healthy that I was able to see a noticeable difference.
I am a junk food junkie so mini muffins, cakes, cookies, donuts, and chips have always been a major part of my diet.
At my heaviest, I weighed 191lbs I looked at myself in the mirror and said: “Aleta it’s time to do something about this you cannot gain any more weight, and you do not want to start having health problems.”
The uphill battle
I bought a treadmill and started walking on it daily. The treadmill became a clothing rack and I was back to eating all of the wrong foods again.
Re-focused and working harder, I got a trainer at my gym. I worked with him twice a week for 30 minutes. Things went well for a while but didn’t last long.
Doing more research, I learned about juicing and the many benefits it offers. Losing weight once again, I started seeing more desirable curves. I slowed down on that and the next thing I know I’m on the scale and it said 191 AGAIN!!!!
Each year I’ve managed to lose 10-15lbs while participating in my church’s annual Daniel Fast. I pick up my bad eating habits again and the weight piles back on after the fast.
My turning point
My weight is dropping
This time, while I was on the fast I made the decision to hire a personal trainer. A friend told me about a trainer that focuses on nutrition as well as exercise. I went for a consultation and got started the following week.
My initial weigh in with her was 182. Six weeks of eating healthy, working out with her, and following the workout schedule she gave me I lost 11lbs. At 171, I’m feeling good about this again.
Stepping it up a notch, I worked out 6 days a week, 3 days of strength training and 3 days of cardio only.
On my strength training days, I spent 3 hours in the gym. I did a total body strength workout and 1 hour of cardio, I saw the results of my hard work but I got burnt out on that very quickly.
A grocery store opened up not far from me. Somehow I discovered these m & m cookies in the bakery section. Before I knew it, I was at the store twice a week buying m & m cookies.
I’m still going to my trainer, but I’m not eating right.
My cousins and I started a weight loss challenge. I talked more mess because I worked out more than they did. I just knew I was going to win the challenge.
The cookies kept calling me. I wasn’t eating right, needless to say, I did not win the challenge. As my trainer said: You cannot out train a bad diet!!
At the beginning of this year, I said THIS IS IT!! No more weight gain. I am going to finally make my goal this year!!
My progress to date
Using my knowledge on nutrition and my trainer in addition to consistently working out. I am now 165lbs.
I’m not at my goal weight yet, but I have gotten my weight down 26lbs and the feeling it has given me is enough to keep me motivated to keep pushing for my final goal.
I know that if I can lose the weight with all of the times I have fallen off I know you can do it too!!!
You are not on this journey alone, I am right here with you working every day to become a better me and you can too. Join in with me as I work to reach my final goal of 150!!!
How did you start your weight loss journey? What struggles have you experienced? Please share your obstacles and how you have overcame them in the comments section.
10 Comments
You are truly an inspiration to us that are overweight. I appreciate you taking the time out to tell us your weight loss journey and healthy tips as well. I wish you the best on your continued lifestyle change!
Thank you for commenting. I am happy that my journey can be an inspiration for others, while it’s not easy, it is something that can be achieved and with support and proper resources you can also be successful. I have not reached my goal weight yet so please feel free to join me as I continue working hard to eat clean and exercise!!!
Hi Aleta! I also have a love/hate relationship with food, especially sugars and bread! appreciate the healthy tips, inspiration and recommendations. Congratulations on your journey thus far! I will continue to follow your blog posts. God Bless 🙂
Hi Stephanie! The love/hate relationship is something I believe a lot of people experience. I will continue sharing tips and recipes to inspire everyone and I am looking forward to your comments, as well, as they inspire me. Thank you for your kind words and support. God Bless you as well
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Hi Aleta! Thank you sooo much for sharing your journey, healthy tips, recipes & giving us the inspiration that we too can achieve our goals of weight loss, exercising & eating healthy just as you did! Keep up the good work & stay away from the cookies lol ? & I wish you continued success on your journey!
Hi Nicole, thank you. My journey is not over and it is often a struggle but I am sticking with it. I have been doing really well staying away from those cookies lol. Thank you for sharing.
Hey Aleta, thanks for sharing and being transparent. Once you passed the usual threshold of weight loss (15-20 pounds) did it become easier to continue with the nutrition part? Eating right? I have felt the same way, with regard to eating what I want as long as I work out. Lately, that has not been the case. I’ve noticed over the last 2 years that the weight is sticking more profoundly and I’m tired of buying new clothes because the older ones are too tight! As well as the motivation to work out has decreased drastically. I believe stress has been an issue as well but all I can see is the scale climbing! I’m thinking about juicing but I don’t want the weight to come back when/if I stop. What are your suggestions? Congrats on this blog, it’s appreciated!
Hello, for me the nutrition part is a little easier. I still struggle with making healthy choices though. Once you start eating healthy foods you begin wanting those healthier foods more. I don’t want to say crave because I still crave cookies, cake, and chips but not as much. I have found myself wanting asparagus and green beans a lot, I don’t have to eat meat all of the time now either. When I do cheat and eat something sweet I no longer go overboard with it and I don’t find myself wanting it every day but honestly, it took me a while to get to that point. Juicing is great but unless you are doing a cleanse I would recommend trying 1 a day and add protein powder to it to help you stay full. If you can handle that then increase it to 2 a day and have 1 meal and 2 healthy snacks. The best thing to do to prevent the weight from coming back is to do it at a level that you will be comfortable continuing long term. It is a lifestyle change, I completely understand wanting the weight to drop ASAP but to prevent from weight gain, binge eating from crash diets and potential health issues the best way is to start to determine how many juices you can realistically see yourself drinking every day and if you are going to use them as a meal replacement or a snack. Thank you so much for sharing and I love the questions. If you have any other question do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you. Aleta
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