The Evolution of Me!

Losing weight. Two of the most dreaded words in the English language for many. For me, my weight has been a struggle for the last 15 years. Growing up, I was always thin. I never had to diet or be active, it just came naturally. But when I turned 18 and moved out on my own, it all started catching up to me. It was time for me to be an adult and make my own choices, right down to every meal I was going to prepare for myself and consume. I had no idea what nutrition really was or the importance of it. Within a year of living on my own, I had gained a significant amount of weight. Now, here I am, 33 years old and still overweight. On-and-off yo-yo dieting has been a way of life for me since I was 19  years old. I have had stints of weight loss a few times along the way, but I have always ended up gaining it back. 

A few months ago I found out that one of my aunts lost two of her toes to diabetes. I come from a long family history of diabetes, among other things. We lost my Grandma to diabetes about ten years ago, my Mom is a diabetic and most of her siblings are too, if not all of them. Even after being around diabetics most of my life and losing my grandmother to the disease, the severity of it never quite sunk in with me for some reason. But when I found out about my aunt and her toes, it hit me like a ton of bricks. "What am I doing? Why am I living this unhealthy lifestyle? What have I been doing to my body all this time? Is this really the life I want to live?" are all things I started to ask myself. My clothes were always tight and so restrictive, I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, my confidence was almost non existent and I felt sickly all the time. My relationship with my wonderful boyfriend suffered, I never felt sexy and was ashamed for him to see me naked even though he never said a judgmental word to me about it. Moving off of the couch to get another Jack and Coke was my idea of exercise. I drank every weekend, usually both nights...and when I say "I drank" I mean, I got drunk. We ate out all the time, pizza every single weekend (and lots of it), fast food...you name it! I never had energy. We have a house with stairs and I remember it feeling like such a struggle and a hassle whenever I had to go upstairs to get something. By the time I got back to what I was doing, I was winded and exhausted. The sluggishness...oh, the sluggishness! It was so not good. So, I started thinking to myself "How am I going to change this? Something's gotta give here!"

A few days later, it just so happened that a friend posted her "before and current" pictures on Facebook. I had only seen her one time in person over a course of many years, and I was so excited about her accomplishment. Like most, I had seen peoples' before and after pictures on TV and the internet all the time, but there was something about seeing that someone that I actually know, in the flesh, can make such an amazing achievement that really brought a spark to my eye. It was that moment that I decided it was time. Once and for all, I will lose the weight...and not only that, I will get fit. I will live a healthy lifestyle...for the rest of my life. I will do my best to encourage and inspire others along the way, and that is what brings me here today. I wanted to document my story so I can share it with others. I hope others find inspiration from what I am doing and choose to make positive changes in their own lives. This is also a way for me to hold myself accountable, because accountability has become a very important part of my life over the last few months. 

I hope you enjoy my story and will follow my progress as I make my way through this journey. And most of all, I wish you the best on your own journey of health.