Status: Achieved!!! However, I'll always be striving to achieve more!!!
This story is dedicated to all the individuals who supported me from the beginning and along the way.
Many people looked beyond my many layers of unhappiness and supported me through thick .....
and thin!!!
To those individuals, words will never be able to express the unconditional love that I felt over the past five and a half years...I'm so grateful to be surrounded by so many caring people!This experience of redefining my daily, weekly and monthly habits has been life altering and has molded the values and beliefs that I currently live by.
Please consider that what you're about to read, is an extremely personal story of both how I persevered through what I consider to be some of the lowest points in my life and was rewarded with some of the best moments of my life!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
To really appreciate where I'm at now, you first need to understand where I've been...
10/08/2003 - I'm preggers! Weighed in for my first prenatal visit! (134 lbs)
With a major craving for bread, macaroni & cheese, and enchiladas, I ate like there was no tomorrow. Fooled by the thought that mothers always shrink back to their prepregnant size, I just figured that I was simply gaining water weight.
07/07/2004 - Huge and ready for Gracy to come out! I weighed in for my last prenatal visit! (194 lbs)
Gracy was born three days later, weighing in at 6 1/2 pounds. I felt so blessed to bring such a beautiful baby into this world... yet shocked when I realized that I had gained 53 1/2 pounds in less than a year. Technically speaking, I gained nearly half of what I used to weigh in 1/23 of the time.
Although I was very happy to be a new mother, I was upset about my weight as well as heavily disheartened that my marriage was crumbling pretty quickly. I'll never be able to pin point one cause, but I do know that the lethal combination of my low self-esteem, subtle paranoia, and lack of ability to trust my own husband, made a big impact and ultimately swayed our marriage towards divorce.
This was one of the most harsh realities I've ever had to confront in my entire life.
06/16/2006 - Divorce finalized! (200 lbs)
Although I was disappointed in myself that I wasn't even 25 when I experienced divorce, I suppressed it all with food and alcohol...enchiladas, beer and liquor to be specific.
I tried to convince myself that my ex husband was the reason for my depression and lack of self-esteem because... "everything is his fault and I didn't do anything wrong!"
So once my divorce was finalized, I did a lot of soul searching. I started to restructure my social circle by calling some friends of mine, rekindling some friendships from high school and just make myself available.
Eating out, drinking at the local watering hole and avoiding the gym...my problems didn't seem to be getting any smaller and...unknowingly I was getting bigger!
Little did I know, I would be faced with yet another rude awakening...
"How far along are you?"
"Boy or girl?"
"Isn't beer bad for the baby?"
I had become the ugly, fat girl; the one whom the hot guys would talk to only to get closer to my hot skinny friends!
So fat that I was constantly getting mistaken for being pregnant and even worse, one that drinks at a bar!
***On a side note, SERIOUSLY! C'mon guys, are you really that dense to think that a pregnant girl would be out at a bar drinking??? "I'm just really fat, asshole!"
Thinking that it couldn't ever get any worse than going through a divorce...I was mortified about how people saw me and I cried more from from these comments than ever before!!!
02/26/2007 - First day in my new role, as a trainer! Woohoo! Time to go celebrate with dinner and drinks!!! (211 lbs)
By no means was I drinking every day, BUT I wasn't doing anything to counteract all the calories I was consuming...Nor was living a healthy lifestyle. Little to no exercise, sleep or nutritional value...I was literally gaining a pound a day!
03/05/2007 - Biggest Loser round 1 starts in my department. (214 lbs)
I knew that my weight was out of control, but it wasn't until money was waived in my face that I would consider gaining control over my weight...and of my life!
Secret #1 - You have to want to lose weight...for WHATEVER reason!
Money was the very first thing to motivate me to lose weight!
"Uggghhhh!" I reluctantly handed over my $10 to put in the pot with ten other participants. I just figured it was money to spend that was otherwise burning a hole in my pocket!!!
Still...I thought about ways that I could lose weight the quickest and the first thing to pop in my head was to stop drinking soda because I'd heard this from a bunch of different people!
One week later without a single drop of soda and I had already lost three pounds! I was in disbelief that cutting out soda made such a difference.
"Well, since I've lost three pounds, I can reward myself with a Pepsi!"
That's right! Instinctively, I gave myself a reward for not drinking any soda! To my surprise, rewards were one of the MAIN reasons that I was successful in losing 80 lbs!
Secret #2 - Reward yourself when you've earned it!
Six weeks later... It's time for the final weigh in! (203 lbs)
"What the heck! I've only lost 11 pounds???"
Although I was disappointed that I had only lost 11 pounds, I was still the biggest loser and won $100!!!
"How did I do it?", you ask...
Along with motivation and rewards, I had to keep reminding myself that "this" weight wasn't going to come off over night!
Baby steps...you have to make small changes by focusing on one bad habit and one goal at a time!
Secret #3 - "Cold turkey" now = Binging later!
My state of mind... Unwanted weight is just like bad debt! One bill at a time by making one sacrifice at a time!
Come to the realization that you have to make sacrifices, HOWEVER not all at once or you'll just find yourself in same or even worse position than before.
Now that it had been six weeks, I had completely cut out soda so much that it wasn't even in my thoughts anymore. However, I still rewarded myself with it twice during that six weeks so that I didn't binge after that six weeks.
Reminder: You have to have some sort of motivator to keep you going, but don't forget to reward yourself with whatever it is that your sacrificing (craving)!!!
Secret #4 - Have some self-discipline!
Although you've been so good, don't reward yourself to often OR for the wrong reasons! I had what I called my "breaking points!" Whether it was a bad day at work, a fight with the sibling or Gracy was misbehaving...I broke down and ate whatever I wanted! I was reacting to these outside influences with food which was a huge indicator that I was weak and lack self-discipline!
When you're weak, that's when you think about what makes you happy or what takes your mind off of those outside influences! Usually you'll revert to what you had "cut out" or plan to "cut out" because you "just need it [whatever your craving] this one time to make yourself feel better!"
From the very first breaking point, start building some self-discipline! It doesn't just appear and you don't just all of the sudden have self-discipline...you need to build it.
Tap into your emotional intelligence so you can anticipate when you're gonna have a breaking point...then divert it with something other than food that you enjoy (more on this under Secret 10!).
Two weeks after I won the first round of Biggest Loser, I weighed in for Biggest loser round two, to only be disappointed with a weigh in of 208 lbs...all thanks to my lack of self discipline during those damn breaking points.
Secret #5 - Understand the consequences!
With a major craving for bread, macaroni & cheese, and enchiladas, I ate like there was no tomorrow. Fooled by the thought that mothers always shrink back to their prepregnant size, I just figured that I was simply gaining water weight.
07/07/2004 - Huge and ready for Gracy to come out! I weighed in for my last prenatal visit! (194 lbs)
Gracy was born three days later, weighing in at 6 1/2 pounds. I felt so blessed to bring such a beautiful baby into this world... yet shocked when I realized that I had gained 53 1/2 pounds in less than a year. Technically speaking, I gained nearly half of what I used to weigh in 1/23 of the time.
Although I was very happy to be a new mother, I was upset about my weight as well as heavily disheartened that my marriage was crumbling pretty quickly. I'll never be able to pin point one cause, but I do know that the lethal combination of my low self-esteem, subtle paranoia, and lack of ability to trust my own husband, made a big impact and ultimately swayed our marriage towards divorce.
This was one of the most harsh realities I've ever had to confront in my entire life.
06/16/2006 - Divorce finalized! (200 lbs)
Although I was disappointed in myself that I wasn't even 25 when I experienced divorce, I suppressed it all with food and alcohol...enchiladas, beer and liquor to be specific.
I tried to convince myself that my ex husband was the reason for my depression and lack of self-esteem because... "everything is his fault and I didn't do anything wrong!"
So once my divorce was finalized, I did a lot of soul searching. I started to restructure my social circle by calling some friends of mine, rekindling some friendships from high school and just make myself available.
Eating out, drinking at the local watering hole and avoiding the gym...my problems didn't seem to be getting any smaller and...unknowingly I was getting bigger!
Little did I know, I would be faced with yet another rude awakening...
"How far along are you?"
"Boy or girl?"
"Isn't beer bad for the baby?"
I had become the ugly, fat girl; the one whom the hot guys would talk to only to get closer to my hot skinny friends!
So fat that I was constantly getting mistaken for being pregnant and even worse, one that drinks at a bar!
***On a side note, SERIOUSLY! C'mon guys, are you really that dense to think that a pregnant girl would be out at a bar drinking??? "I'm just really fat, asshole!"
Thinking that it couldn't ever get any worse than going through a divorce...I was mortified about how people saw me and I cried more from from these comments than ever before!!!
02/26/2007 - First day in my new role, as a trainer! Woohoo! Time to go celebrate with dinner and drinks!!! (211 lbs)
By no means was I drinking every day, BUT I wasn't doing anything to counteract all the calories I was consuming...Nor was living a healthy lifestyle. Little to no exercise, sleep or nutritional value...I was literally gaining a pound a day!
03/05/2007 - Biggest Loser round 1 starts in my department. (214 lbs)
I knew that my weight was out of control, but it wasn't until money was waived in my face that I would consider gaining control over my weight...and of my life!
Secret #1 - You have to want to lose weight...for WHATEVER reason!
Money was the very first thing to motivate me to lose weight!
"Uggghhhh!" I reluctantly handed over my $10 to put in the pot with ten other participants. I just figured it was money to spend that was otherwise burning a hole in my pocket!!!
Still...I thought about ways that I could lose weight the quickest and the first thing to pop in my head was to stop drinking soda because I'd heard this from a bunch of different people!
One week later without a single drop of soda and I had already lost three pounds! I was in disbelief that cutting out soda made such a difference.
"Well, since I've lost three pounds, I can reward myself with a Pepsi!"
That's right! Instinctively, I gave myself a reward for not drinking any soda! To my surprise, rewards were one of the MAIN reasons that I was successful in losing 80 lbs!
Secret #2 - Reward yourself when you've earned it!
Six weeks later... It's time for the final weigh in! (203 lbs)
"What the heck! I've only lost 11 pounds???"
Although I was disappointed that I had only lost 11 pounds, I was still the biggest loser and won $100!!!
"How did I do it?", you ask...
Along with motivation and rewards, I had to keep reminding myself that "this" weight wasn't going to come off over night!
Baby steps...you have to make small changes by focusing on one bad habit and one goal at a time!
Secret #3 - "Cold turkey" now = Binging later!
My state of mind... Unwanted weight is just like bad debt! One bill at a time by making one sacrifice at a time!
Come to the realization that you have to make sacrifices, HOWEVER not all at once or you'll just find yourself in same or even worse position than before.
Now that it had been six weeks, I had completely cut out soda so much that it wasn't even in my thoughts anymore. However, I still rewarded myself with it twice during that six weeks so that I didn't binge after that six weeks.
Reminder: You have to have some sort of motivator to keep you going, but don't forget to reward yourself with whatever it is that your sacrificing (craving)!!!
Secret #4 - Have some self-discipline!
Although you've been so good, don't reward yourself to often OR for the wrong reasons! I had what I called my "breaking points!" Whether it was a bad day at work, a fight with the sibling or Gracy was misbehaving...I broke down and ate whatever I wanted! I was reacting to these outside influences with food which was a huge indicator that I was weak and lack self-discipline!
When you're weak, that's when you think about what makes you happy or what takes your mind off of those outside influences! Usually you'll revert to what you had "cut out" or plan to "cut out" because you "just need it [whatever your craving] this one time to make yourself feel better!"
From the very first breaking point, start building some self-discipline! It doesn't just appear and you don't just all of the sudden have self-discipline...you need to build it.
Tap into your emotional intelligence so you can anticipate when you're gonna have a breaking point...then divert it with something other than food that you enjoy (more on this under Secret 10!).
Two weeks after I won the first round of Biggest Loser, I weighed in for Biggest loser round two, to only be disappointed with a weigh in of 208 lbs...all thanks to my lack of self discipline during those damn breaking points.
Secret #5 - Understand the consequences!
Losing weight doesn't happen over night, but gaining weight sure as hell does!
Although I was surprised that two weeks of not focusing had caused me to lose sight of my prepregnant days, I knew exactly what I had done (or not done, for that matter) and completely understood why I gained weight again!
Reminding myself that this was attainable but that it will take some time, I got right back on track.
I knew though that I needed some help so I scheduled an appointment with my physician to talk to her about what I can do!
I walked in to the doctor's office, so excited to finally get some professional advice and create a solid plan!
Sitting in the lobby, I waited for about twenty minutes for the young and skinny bitch with a clip board to finally call my name.
First stop...that damn scale.
Second stop...the office where I would sit for another twenty minutes thinking about how I had to watch the nurse move the horizontal weight over and over again...100, 150, 200... to make the pendulum balance out! "Uggghhh I'm sooooo FAT!"
My doctor finally arrives, but greets me with a forced smile...and for good reason. I had no idea that I was about to be given some of the most shocking news of my 25 year old life.
"Angela. I need to inform you that your weight is considered to be obese, your lab work shows that you extremely high in cholesterol and you have extremely high blood pressure. You're in danger of having a heart attack [at age 25] if you don't lower those two areas!"
I left the office the most upset I've EVER been in my life...the life that was now in danger because of my weight!
Thoughts were flying through my head about Gracy growing up without her mother, my mother having to get word that her 25 year old daughter has just suffered a heart attack and passed away, my friends reading my obituary and saying "That's just too bad..."
Secret #6 - Set some realistic SHORT term goals.
My doctor came through with some professional advice and helped me determine some realistic short term goals to get me back on the road to being healthy and living a full life!
She told me that two pounds a week was very healthy and easy to track.
Six weeks multiplied by two pounds = 12 pounds by the end of biggest loser round two.
"But how do I lose two pounds a week?" She told me that for my size and height, I should limit my calorie intake to 1200-1600 calories a day.
What I loved about this limitation is that I could eat whatever I wanted so long as my daily intake was within 100 calories of 1200 calories. This method worked extremely well!!!
Since I had sacrificed soda all together...I focused on cutting out beer!
Secret #7 - Keep track by knowing exactly where you're at!
If you don't know how much money you have or don't have, how can you stay balanced!
(Another financial metaphor...I know! )
"How do you know you're losing weight?" Trick question??? NO! Get on the scale NOW!
Even though you're scared to see what you really weigh, you need to know in order to measure your success!
Ever since my life changing experience at the doctor's office, I got on the scale every day so I could track my weight loss! Every morning, I went pee (sorry!), undressed myself and stepped on the scale. I didn't write it down, although I would suggest that...I wish I had. But I did a fairly good job of remembering my weight from the day before and I was able to celebrate almost every other day! It makes your morning routine pretty fun!
After three weeks of staying motivated, rewarding myself with one beer a week, limiting my calorie intake, focusing on two pounds a week and tracking my weight loss daily...I came to the realization that I had actually customized my very own weight loss plan.
It wasn't a secret diet or some expensive celebrity secret...it was simply a plan that worked for my life!!!
I weighed in a week later, 11 pounds less than when I started and again, I won $120!!! (197 lbs)
Secret #8 - Losing Weight is like choosing a cellular service plan!
(If you haven't heard of what I'm about to say, you have homework!)
Think about the last time you heard three people all agree that they love the same cellular company's service! Never in my life had I heard more than two people agree on the same cellular company for phone service, customer service, pricing, insurance, cost....NEVER!
Now think about that same thing but with diets. Have you ever heard more than two people being happy and/or successful with the same diet plan? It could happen, but it's extremely rare!
Let me tell you why it's rare! You're body changes over time; something that worked 25 lbs ago, isn't necessarily going to work for the next 25 lbs! You're body will adjust and become used to the changes you made in the beginning.
Although I had finally broke 200 lbs and seeing results, Biggest Loser wasn't coming back around for a while... BUT I remained confident that I could do this on my own, I just had to set another goal and start getting to work!
Short term goal: Lose 20 lbs by Gracy's birthday, 7/10/2007
Reward: New clothes!
Secret #9 - Learn to get through "plateaus!"
Let's just say that I was NOT able to buy some new clothes! I hit what I called a plateau... the first of many through out the last two years!
Now although I hadn't hit my goal weight, I'm very proud to say that I kept off the weight that I had lost since March 2007.
Even further, I had still managed to lose 14 pounds in four weeks = 3.25 pounds lost each week.
For the next two months after Gracy's birthday, I didn't lose more than two pounds!!! It was sooooo hard to deal with the routine weigh in every morning! I was so disappointed that my weight loss had just all of the sudden gone stagnant!
"WHY???" My body had adjusted to my new habits and arguably these habits had helped me sustain the lower weight, but it wasn't enough to lose more.
After that two months, I upped the anty so to speak...I increase my weekly goal to four pounds per week and because of that increase, I made two sacrifices per time frame, started to portion my meals, and didn't reward myself as much.
This was great that I revised my plan to become a little more intense, I learned something about myself that made a huge difference in maintaining this new diet! I had to keep myself BUSY!
Secret #10 - Stay focused and BUSY!!!
I mentioned earlier to divert your weakness with something other than food! This is where keeping yourself busy comes in!
I chose photography, school and snowboarding! I filled in my free time so that even when I was being bombarded with negative outside influences, they weren't become breaking points because I just didn't have time!
03/05/2008 - One year anniversary for my weight loss adventure! (175 lbs = 39 lbs lost)
"How are you doing it?"
"You've lost some weight huh?!?!"
"Okay, are you anorexic?" (Little side note: This comment may seem like a compliment, but I must admit, that it was more of an insult than anything else because I had worked very hard to changing my daily habits for a year now and they think that I hadn't done anything to lose this weight but not eat! On the contrary...!!!)
I felt SO proud of myself for the all the work I'd done to weigh 39 lbs less than what I did a year ago!
People were not only noticing the weight loss, but they were also making comments about how happy I was, how much confidence I exuded, how much I was glowing!
I not only respected myself, but I had gained the respect of others as well! It's amazing what control you have over other's perceptions of you by just knowing what you want, working towards it through the hard times and the good, and attaining it.
Sometime during that month, I set a long term goal of hitting 134 lbs by March of 2009. This meant that I will have lost 80 lbs if I meet this goal.
Although I was surprised that two weeks of not focusing had caused me to lose sight of my prepregnant days, I knew exactly what I had done (or not done, for that matter) and completely understood why I gained weight again!
Reminding myself that this was attainable but that it will take some time, I got right back on track.
I knew though that I needed some help so I scheduled an appointment with my physician to talk to her about what I can do!
I walked in to the doctor's office, so excited to finally get some professional advice and create a solid plan!
Sitting in the lobby, I waited for about twenty minutes for the young and skinny bitch with a clip board to finally call my name.
First stop...that damn scale.
Second stop...the office where I would sit for another twenty minutes thinking about how I had to watch the nurse move the horizontal weight over and over again...100, 150, 200... to make the pendulum balance out! "Uggghhh I'm sooooo FAT!"
My doctor finally arrives, but greets me with a forced smile...and for good reason. I had no idea that I was about to be given some of the most shocking news of my 25 year old life.
"Angela. I need to inform you that your weight is considered to be obese, your lab work shows that you extremely high in cholesterol and you have extremely high blood pressure. You're in danger of having a heart attack [at age 25] if you don't lower those two areas!"
I left the office the most upset I've EVER been in my life...the life that was now in danger because of my weight!
Thoughts were flying through my head about Gracy growing up without her mother, my mother having to get word that her 25 year old daughter has just suffered a heart attack and passed away, my friends reading my obituary and saying "That's just too bad..."
Secret #6 - Set some realistic SHORT term goals.
My doctor came through with some professional advice and helped me determine some realistic short term goals to get me back on the road to being healthy and living a full life!
She told me that two pounds a week was very healthy and easy to track.
Six weeks multiplied by two pounds = 12 pounds by the end of biggest loser round two.
"But how do I lose two pounds a week?" She told me that for my size and height, I should limit my calorie intake to 1200-1600 calories a day.
What I loved about this limitation is that I could eat whatever I wanted so long as my daily intake was within 100 calories of 1200 calories. This method worked extremely well!!!
Since I had sacrificed soda all together...I focused on cutting out beer!
Secret #7 - Keep track by knowing exactly where you're at!
If you don't know how much money you have or don't have, how can you stay balanced!
(Another financial metaphor...I know! )
"How do you know you're losing weight?" Trick question??? NO! Get on the scale NOW!
Even though you're scared to see what you really weigh, you need to know in order to measure your success!
Ever since my life changing experience at the doctor's office, I got on the scale every day so I could track my weight loss! Every morning, I went pee (sorry!), undressed myself and stepped on the scale. I didn't write it down, although I would suggest that...I wish I had. But I did a fairly good job of remembering my weight from the day before and I was able to celebrate almost every other day! It makes your morning routine pretty fun!
After three weeks of staying motivated, rewarding myself with one beer a week, limiting my calorie intake, focusing on two pounds a week and tracking my weight loss daily...I came to the realization that I had actually customized my very own weight loss plan.
It wasn't a secret diet or some expensive celebrity secret...it was simply a plan that worked for my life!!!
I weighed in a week later, 11 pounds less than when I started and again, I won $120!!! (197 lbs)
Secret #8 - Losing Weight is like choosing a cellular service plan!
(If you haven't heard of what I'm about to say, you have homework!)
Think about the last time you heard three people all agree that they love the same cellular company's service! Never in my life had I heard more than two people agree on the same cellular company for phone service, customer service, pricing, insurance, cost....NEVER!
Now think about that same thing but with diets. Have you ever heard more than two people being happy and/or successful with the same diet plan? It could happen, but it's extremely rare!
Let me tell you why it's rare! You're body changes over time; something that worked 25 lbs ago, isn't necessarily going to work for the next 25 lbs! You're body will adjust and become used to the changes you made in the beginning.
Although I had finally broke 200 lbs and seeing results, Biggest Loser wasn't coming back around for a while... BUT I remained confident that I could do this on my own, I just had to set another goal and start getting to work!
Short term goal: Lose 20 lbs by Gracy's birthday, 7/10/2007
Reward: New clothes!
Secret #9 - Learn to get through "plateaus!"
Let's just say that I was NOT able to buy some new clothes! I hit what I called a plateau... the first of many through out the last two years!
Now although I hadn't hit my goal weight, I'm very proud to say that I kept off the weight that I had lost since March 2007.
Even further, I had still managed to lose 14 pounds in four weeks = 3.25 pounds lost each week.
For the next two months after Gracy's birthday, I didn't lose more than two pounds!!! It was sooooo hard to deal with the routine weigh in every morning! I was so disappointed that my weight loss had just all of the sudden gone stagnant!
"WHY???" My body had adjusted to my new habits and arguably these habits had helped me sustain the lower weight, but it wasn't enough to lose more.
After that two months, I upped the anty so to speak...I increase my weekly goal to four pounds per week and because of that increase, I made two sacrifices per time frame, started to portion my meals, and didn't reward myself as much.
This was great that I revised my plan to become a little more intense, I learned something about myself that made a huge difference in maintaining this new diet! I had to keep myself BUSY!
Secret #10 - Stay focused and BUSY!!!
I mentioned earlier to divert your weakness with something other than food! This is where keeping yourself busy comes in!
I chose photography, school and snowboarding! I filled in my free time so that even when I was being bombarded with negative outside influences, they weren't become breaking points because I just didn't have time!
03/05/2008 - One year anniversary for my weight loss adventure! (175 lbs = 39 lbs lost)
"How are you doing it?"
"You've lost some weight huh?!?!"
"Okay, are you anorexic?" (Little side note: This comment may seem like a compliment, but I must admit, that it was more of an insult than anything else because I had worked very hard to changing my daily habits for a year now and they think that I hadn't done anything to lose this weight but not eat! On the contrary...!!!)
I felt SO proud of myself for the all the work I'd done to weigh 39 lbs less than what I did a year ago!
People were not only noticing the weight loss, but they were also making comments about how happy I was, how much confidence I exuded, how much I was glowing!
I not only respected myself, but I had gained the respect of others as well! It's amazing what control you have over other's perceptions of you by just knowing what you want, working towards it through the hard times and the good, and attaining it.
Sometime during that month, I set a long term goal of hitting 134 lbs by March of 2009. This meant that I will have lost 80 lbs if I meet this goal.
Living by the same habits that I had solidified for over a year now, but changing the specifics of those habits, I started working towards that goal.
Month after month, I would...
1. Reevaluate my motivations
2. Consider how to reward myself
3. Consider what to sacrifice
4. Crack the whip when I started to get off track
5. Dealt with the consequences, but by the second year, there were little to none!
6. Set new short term goals which were more along the lines of eating healthier foods, not eating out, be active for a certain amount of time each day, week, month.
7. Weighing myself every day, going to the doctor to track my cholesterol and blood pressure.
8. Evaluate what's working and what's not. Discovering new likes and dislikes.
9. Perservered through plateaus of which the longest was April -July of 2007.
10. Kept myself busy through exploring photography, started college and started to become much more active with snowboarding, skateboarding, wake boarding, dancing....ALL things I enjoyed!
Secret #11 - Self Reflect and acknowledge your accomplishments!!!
09/03/2008 - Doctor visit. I weighed in at 147 lbs!!!
My good cholesterol was UP, bad cholesterol down, blood pressure down...she even said that I couldn't be in a better position with these numbers.
11/28/2008 - Day after Thanksgiving. Weighed in for the morning routine...151 lbs.
Is that okay? Hell yeah, it was Thanksgiving!
01/01/2009 - Started working out with aerobics!
01/22/2009
134 lbs! I did it!
02/02/2009 - Weighed in for the morning routine...137 lbs! Was I pissed? NO!
02/27/2009 - At a country club in Ocala, FL...wore a two piece swimming suit!
Thank you for taking the time to read about my personal story of losing 80 pounds!
Love,
Angela Lopez
angie, i hope you don't mind me commenting.. but that is a really great story and you look seriously AMAZING!!!! great job, you are a motivation for me! i need to hit the gym!!! congrats! all that hard work really paid off! :)
ReplyDelete-lindsay
Ang...VERY AWESOME JOB. And pretty great advise also. My weight loss was very similar. You probably remember, I maxed out around 260 right after high school. I was able to lose about 75 from 9/2001-11/2002. I have kept mine off since then. But it sure took me making daily decisions about waht I was going to do with my body and what I was putting in it. It is amazing how quickly you can form new "Healthy" habits that just become what you do. I have always known you as a strong, dedicated woman. Glad to see that you still exude those qualities.
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS and keep enjoying life!
-C.C.
Wow! I know that we have only just met, but I have to say that your story is really something special. Your beauty and strength is indeed more than simply skin deep.
ReplyDeleteReuben
loved this angie :) good for you!
ReplyDeleteWow Ang! That is truly an amazing and motivating story! You kept me captivated the whole time and I wanted to read more and more!
ReplyDeleteAng-i love you. I have always looked up to you because of your sense of adventure, passion for life, and ability to master so many things. Whether it was drumming on your dad's drum-kit one day ("What? you can drum?
ReplyDelete",) skating better than any dude I knew, making me laugh, or talking me into some new venture... I know i am a better person having know you. I feel bad that we went are seperate ways while you were dealing with all of this. But.. although your story is so amazing, it does not by one bit suprise me! If anyone could do it... I would know that you could! Also, nice writing skills!... maybe a book is next for you.
This may seem random and I know you don't know me from eve, but I saw this link from a friends FB page and the title intrigued me so I clicke to see more. I couldn't stop reading it, it was so awesome. Very inspiring for me to read too, thank you for sharing your story.
ReplyDeleteCassie Smith
Hey Greedster~ Thanks for your kind words and for having the courage to share a little insight about your story! It amazes me at HOW people come to a crossing - I'm so happy to hear that you could relate and feel a little more inspired to keep fighting your own personal battle! I got a little teary-eyed reading your comment...again, I'm both amazed and pleased to have crossed paths with someone new in such a unique way!
ReplyDeleteJust curious...How did your wife find out about my blog?
I can't wait to read the rest 9f this through out my night tonight. I have a feeling you are gonna be a support for me even if you are not near me. Glad to have you in my family.
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