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My Story-Why Are Some People Successful And Some Aren’t?

I have had a lot of questions about how I lost all of my weight. At my heaviest, I weighed in at 233 pounds. I don’t think I have a single picture from that time since I was embarassed about how I looked and didn’t want any pictures. I managed to lose about 30 pounds with Weight Watchers at Work and then we remodeled our kitchen and I gained some back from eating out and not being able to cook.

I started Tae Kwon Do with my kids, thinking it would be a good actvity for them and since my lessons were “included” in their entry fee, I figured it couldn’t hurt. It was the best decision I ever made. Not only did I meet a bunch of new friends, but I finally found an activity I loved. I adored my instructor and did everything he made us do – not only tae kwon do curriculum, but cardio too! I started there at 218 pounds and pretty much stayed there – not being able to lose much more weight. I was stuck. I didn’t know what to do and figured I was just a failure and wouldn’t ever lose the weight. I got very down on myself and was tired of being heavier than everyone else.

I started back on Weight Watchers and managed to get down to about 185 pounds – I considered that a huge accomplishment! Then my position at work was eliminated, I tested for my Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, and ended up having to take a full time position in another department so I wouldn’t lose my seniority at the hospital where I work. I gained 15+ pounds and was back up to 202 in January 2011.

My sister had introduced me to a free weight loss/health website called sparkpeople.com and I had signed up, but wasn’t willing to re-enter all of my favorite foods since I had them all logged in to Weight Watchers. January 2, 2011, I finally made the decision to track on both WW and SP to see what the difference was. I had been reading a bunch of articles on Spark People about getting healthier but wasn’t using the SP tracker so I bit the bullet and started entering all of my foods on both websites.

What an eye opener! WW had zero points of both fruits and vegetables so that meant you could eat any amount of either of these food groups without logging any points. I found out that I was within my points for WW every day, but when I tracked on SP, I was over my calories! No WONDER I wasn’t losing any weight! So I canceled my WW account and went full time with Spark People.

Around March 2011 I had lost a few pounds and was feeling some success but was really finally sick of being the “big girl.” I decided that I was going to work out 7 days a week and nothing was going to stop me. That is when things really changed and my weight loss started really kicking into gear. Gee – what a concept – eating right AND workout out consistently! It was WORKING! I did stall a bit in July 2011 at 165 pounds when I started P90X and my eating got a little more confusing since the P90X program suggested I eat a lot more than I was previously eating, but I did drop two pants sizes while only losing about 5 pounds, so I was doing something right!

I had a lot of people asking me how I lost my weight and even though I would refer them to Spark People, many of them still didn’t want to really use the site and I started thinking about how I love talking to people about becoming healthy and how I could help them personally. I looked into being a Registered Dietician or Nutritionist, but what I really wanted to do was be a Weight Loss Coach. That’s when I found The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, signed up and never looked back!

Today, I am at 157.7 pounds, after reaching 154.4 a couple of weeks ago. Darn holiday eating! Now it’s the first day of 2013 and I am really happy to be getting back to a normal schedule and back to my regular eating. No more parties, sweets and extra snacks for me! I finally realized that I feel good when I eat a salad every day and start to really get worried if that’s not on the menu! I LOVE working out, although I have definitely found the wisdom of taking at least ONE rest day a week so I’m down to 5-6 days a week with my workouts. I’m happy, healthy, and loving my new nutrition school venture. I can’t wait to start seeing clients!

The moral of my story is this: you will never be successful unless you make the specific decision to take care of yourself. You have to finally be willing to do the work and do whatever it takes to be healthier and to lose any extra weight you want to lose. You have to be willing to forgive yourself and speak gently to yourself if you mess up. You have to hold yourself accountable. There is no magic pill and every person is different and has different nutrition and spiritual needs. If you can’t get started on your own, that’s what I am here for! I can help you!

Contact me to schedule a free Health History today. I can’t see clients until some time in April, but I can get your free session done, start you on my newsletter when we get those going, and keep you posted for when I can start seeing clients and make a real difference. You don’t have to live near me, we can do everything online or over the phone if necessary. Just take the first step for yourself and contact me. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

Chris

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