Where it Began... and Why

I'm asked a lot about fitness and nutrition.  Partly because I promote America's #1 fastest-growing health Challenge, but mainly because the people in my life have seen the transformation that I have gone through myself.  I am not perfect in any way, nor could I stand on stage and compete against women with incredibly low bodyfat and veins popping out.  Those women work hard and look amazing yes, but this is just me.  I'm simple and have a pretty full plate.

My Stats Before

When reading the following weight statistics, keep in mind that I'm 5'5".

In November 2004, I weighed 125 pounds when I took my wedding vows.


Egagement, 125 pounds

  

In February 2006, I weighed roughly 175 pounds at full-term pregnancy.  Oh yeah, it was bad.  Hey, it was pregnancy so yes, something beautiful came from it, but I should have never let it get so out of control.  I am cringing while posting this photo, but I might as well be real.  



Near full-term pregnancy, 175 pounds



The Cause

I never knew how to eat properly.  As newlyweds, we were going for the cheaper items at the grocery store; the frozen burritos and the mac-and-cheese, and the frozen pizzas were all simple favorites for us.  Especially after Celeste was born; I usually popped something in the microwave while doing her mounds of laundry, and that normally meant frozen corn dogs or the cheap frozen meals.  I only paid attention to the price at the grocery store and knew nothing about nutrition.  I mean between the new house payment, diapers, wipes, baby clothes, socks and shoes, baby cereal and food, etc., we were pretty strapped and well, Celeste's needs always came first.




2 years after childbirth, 155 pounds

 

Wake-up Call

Then one day, when Celeste was about three years old, I stepped on the scale only to find that I weighed nearly 165 pounds, and there was no baby in my belly to share the blame for my weight.  True, 165 pounds isn't horrendous, but it was my wake-up call.  It was completely unacceptable that 4 years after being married, I weighed 40 pounds more than I did walking down the aisle.  And as most women can relate who've had children, your anatomy changes somewhat just with childbirth so let's just say I felt pretty gross and unhappy with myself. 



3 years post childbirth, 165 pounds


It was then that I realized I needed a change; but like most people do, I just looked at the scale and thought, "What I wouldn't give for those digits to at least be in the 130s again!"  I was desperate; I'd reached my breaking point emotionally and I just didn't care what it took, even if it meant starving myself, I was going to do it.

Step 1: Portion Control

Well okay, I didn't end up starving myself at all!  But I did implement portion control.  I didn't know much and I had no idea where to start, but I knew that when I was smaller in size, I ate a lot less each time I sat down to eat.  In fact, whenever I'd gone out to eat as the skinnier me, I use to eat about half of what was on my plate, maybe a little more.  So I made it my goal to only eat half of what was on my plate.  And OH EM GEE that was hard to do.  At first, my stomach would still be growling, but I dealt with it by drinking more water.  No, it didn't sooth the craving I had for more french fries or pancakes, but it did provide a small distraction; something I could focus on while trying not to think about the delicious goodness still sitting on my plate.  And I started making sure that if I ate within a few hours of going to bed, it would be something extremely light, and just barely enough to stop the hunger.

I also implemented calorie counting.  After a month or so of just portion control, I learned that fewer calories in meant less fat that was stored on your body.  Now in reality, you should get 1,100-1,200 calories a day minimum while dieting, but this wasn't my problem at all.  At the time, I was use to consuming much more than that so calorie counting combined with portion control kept me just near 1,100 calories a day.

This is not the best way to go because I didn't realize what you eat matters almost more than how much you eat, but after nearly 6 months of this, I'd lost roughly 25 pounds and weighed 140 pounds. 

But then, I reached a plateau and couldn't seem to make it into the 130s at all.  Nothing I did was working, and I decided that perhaps it was time to do the other thing that everyone thinks of doing when losing weight, join a gym.  (This was progress in the right direction.)

Step 2: Join a Gym

Spring of 2011: I was so nervous walking into the gym for the first time that I think I burned more calories with my heart racing while walking to the locker room and then the elliptical than I did the entire workout. 

Did I look stupid?  Could people see my fat going crazy while I exercised?  What if I fell on the elliptical?  What if my shoelace got stuck?  What if I broke it?  Or worse, what if I couldn't figure out how to turn the thing on?

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but somehow, I made it through that cardio session on the elliptical.  It felt so amazing to be able to accomplish something like that!  So I kept going.  It was only a few days a week at first, and I really enjoyed it.  Plus, I started to see the pounds sloooooooowly coming off.

By July 2011, I weighed 122 pounds and was ecstatic!!

July 2011, 122 pounds

 

Step 3: Take it Up a Notch... Weightlifting?

So for those of you who don't know, I have a brother who has most always been hardcore into fitness.  Gabe competed in bodybuilding competitions and did pretty well.  He married my beautiful sister-in-law, Luwannah, who also competed and did well in shows. 

During several of my cardio sessions that I mentioned above, Gabe would come over, remove me from the machine and encourage me to do some weightlifting.  He would give me pointers and tips, and he can be pretty motivational.  :)  

But I didn't have any consistency with this method, and my curiosity was piqued.  So I started Scivation's 12 Weeks to Your Hottest Body Ever: the 12 Week Women-Only Plan to Transform Your Body.  It's free and downloadable on the link given here, so since I wasn't spending any extra, I thought hey, what is there to lose?

Let me back up by saying that I had previously been completely determined not to lift weights.  I mean there were soooo many reasons why I shouldn't; I would get bulky like Gabe was with his huge traps, broad shoulders and veiny arms.  Plus, only women with mustaches would do that, or so I thought. I love being a woman; God knew exactly what He was doing when He made me.  So there was absolutely no way I was going to lift weights.

Yet because I have some friends and family that are heavy into fitness, I began researching what they were telling me; that the only way a girl would ever get bulky (think mustache and broad jaw) is if she were taking steroids.  I began researching on bodybuilder.com, and more importantly, I purchased The New Rules of Lifting For Women, by Lou Schuler.  It is an absolutely amazing read and I highly recommend it to any female who is looking for a total change in her shape.  This book scientifically dispels those common misconceptions that we women have about lifting weights.  I remember reading it while on the elliptical and getting so excited that I felt like running over to the weight rack immediately.  (Hah yes, I'm a nerd!)

So while reading The New Rules of Lifting for Women, I began following the workout plan in Scivation's  book referenced earlier.  And since I was a newbie at all of this stuff, I looked up every single workout by name on bodybuilder.com and printed out the little pictures of how the workout is done.  I took those with me to the gym in the beginning, and my sister-in-law, Luwannah, came with me for a few months to help keep me company.  This is when the 5am workouts started.

Working out with Luwannah was great, absolutely great.  She would tell me if my form was bad and encourage me to do things in different ways to improve the workout.  She'd seen a total transformation herself so of course I completely trusted everything she said.  Luwannah was a huge blessing to helping me get started; there were never any dull moments and she helped me build my confidence with the weight room side of the gym. 

After a few weeks of weightlifting, I began to notice things taking shape that use to not have any.  My arms were slimming up and getting some curvature; my hips were becoming slightly narrower (can I get an amen?) and there was definition where there use to not be anything but glob.

Baby triceps showing after a few weeks of weightlifting

Step 3.5: Good Calories vs. Bad Calories

Pretty much as soon as I began weightlifting, I began changing my diet.  The New Rules of Lifting for Women talks a lot about good vs. bad calories, simple carbs vs. complex carbs, healthy fats and bad fats, fiber and it's importance, etc.  I have to say that this was one of the toughest things for me to learn about.  The more I read each day, the more I found out that the "healthy meal" that I'd just eaten was actually not all that healthy. 

I'm not going to sugar-coat it, there were times when I felt like giving up.  I mean rice is rice, right?  Who cares if it's fried rice?  It's BROWN after all!!  But it does matter, and I learned a lot about myself as I began working on my diet. 

Was it easy?  Not. At. All.  I had to make myself change the way I'd eaten all my life and that is absolutely never fun.  There were times when I cried from frustration because I felt like I wasn't gaining any ground here, just treading water.  (This is one of the simple reasons I love Vi; it actually makes nutrition a no-brainer for you.  But I hadn't been introduced to it yet.)

The days got easier though.  I learned more about what I liked and didn't like, and I slowly transitioned myself into a lifestyle of healthy eating.  I feel better.  I have more energy and don't feel sluggish when I'm eating right.  It just makes sense to make it a lifestyle.

Now don't get me wrong, every now and then I do have my indulgences.  I absolutely love the Chocolate Bar, Cheesecake Factory and Starbucks.  But they aren't regular occurrences for me anymore.

The Result

In December 2011, after 5 months of weightlifting, I weighed more than when I'd started (126-8 pounds vs. 122 pounds), but my skirts went from a size 6 to a size 4.  I was smaller all over, even though I actually weighed a bit more.  And for the first time in my whole life, I felt confident with myself.
 

December 2011, 6 months of weight training, 128 pounds



So the purpose of this blog is simply to help give others the information that I've found that has helped me with my transformation.  It took determination, and it was a total struggle.  There were times when I felt like the fattest, ugliest girl in the world, but I was determined to reach that seemingly unreachable goal.  Sure, people told me that my skin would never pull back in (yeah, they lied), people told me that I would look like a guy and some even said I was getting too skinny (until they saw how I can put away food like nobody's business). 

So what I'm saying to you is that no matter where you are now and no matter how impossible your goal seems, you can reach it.  Don't listen to people who tell you "you can't do..." or "you are not going to be able to..." etc.  Be the person you want to be.  Set that goal.  Reach for it with all that you've got, and one day, you'll be soooo glad that you did. 

=) Amanda