Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Girl, I'm big boned.



Dear Readers, 
I asked Jennifer to guest blog for me because she's been a loyal follower of my blog since the beginning. And she's on her own lifestyle changing Adventure. 
Show her some Love!
-Becky




On Halloween 2011, I started my journey to a healthier lifestyle. 
Spooky, I know & oh so tempting with all those Tootsie Rolls.


There is a chair under me. Sadly I cannot float. 


I decided to start losing weight & making healthier lifestyle choices.

I learned the SECRET to weightloss! Eat less than you burn! What? Yes, that simple. Find something that drives your motivation, blogs, vacations, pinterest, fashion, children, etc. My motivation in October because of a family trip in January to Disney. I was petrified of having to use the dreaded extendable seat belt for rides or worse have to wait for everyone because I wouldn't fit in the ride. Fear motivated me. After the trip, I was motivated by adding my own progress pics like the ones I see on Reddit to be able to motivate other people. 


As you might be able to see below, I lost some weight. I lost about 30lbs at this point. I was wearing a shirt that I was wearing before I lost weight though so the photo doesn't show well how much I lost. 





I was cutting my portions to the actual portion on the side of the container & started counting calories. (Little did I know I was eating more than one serving of just about everything I was eating.) In May, I started eating organic since the number of chemicals on my veggies was alarming and the amount of antibiotics that are used in poultry when the animals aren't even sick was disturbing. This also helped me because eating out was no longer and option and neither was soda. It put me in a mindset that fast food grossed me out vs it wasn't good for my body. I'm not saying that someone can't lose weight while eating out, but I find it more satisfying to eat at home. 



I started counting my steps and would go for a walk if I didn't meet 10,000 steps. Later on, I started doing Couch to 5k.


Tracking where I was before I started making changes was a big eye opener to see how sedentary my life was and how many calories I was burning vs consuming. Simple math. It's no wonder I was gaining weight.


I took these steps to a healthier me, but not because I didn't think I was pretty. I was actually happy with who I was and what my body looked like, but not with how I was treating my body.


I saw myself as a beautiful person, inside and out, but I felt unHEALTHY. Not unpretty. 


I saw images that made me think being unhealthy was ok and was who I was. 




NEWFLASH: No one that's 5'6" is suppose to be bordering 300lbs. Being out of breath from walking into work from the parking lot is NOT ok. 


Now that I have lost 45lbs, I see these images and they annoy me.


The Work bathroom is one of my favorite places to take progress pics. 
Mainly because of the full length mirror. 


I feel like I was making excuses and images like this fed into my poor habits.


What images or thoughts feed/fed your bad habits? 








BIO: Jennifer likes long talks with old friends, long walks on the beach, long sleeve t-shirts, and long 80s songs. She is on a journey to making healthier choices despite her sedentary job and love for ice cream. She also dreams of one day being as clever and funny as Becky. 




7 comments:

  1. Great post, Jennifer! You are so right - the benefits of getting fit are much more than just "looking pretty" Fitness - unlike pretty - cannot be bought or sold!!! Oh, and I also dream of one day being as clever and funny as Becky :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fitness is definitely something you have to work for! Becky is a pretty awesome person to look up to.

      Delete
  2. Keep going Jennifer, so proud of you! Walking towards health is a good goal. Thanks for sharing.... Always Niki

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Becky! Does Jennifer have a blog too? Would love to add it. Way to go, Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
  4. She hasn't updated in a while, but here it is http://justjensjots.blogspot.com/ .

    ReplyDelete