What would *you* know about being overweight?

If you’ve only known me for the past couple of years, you may be asking yourself “What does she know about being overweight?!?”  Well as a matter of fact I know quite a bit.  You see, that was me in 2006 when I started college.  My 5’3’’ frame was tipping the scales at 180lbs and I was struggling to fit into a size 15 pair of jeans.  A few years of some medications, poor nutrition habits and eating my feelings had destroyed the petite body I had at the beginning of my teen years.  Every look in the mirror was disappointing.  But it wasn’t just my body image, it was my health.  I had several instances of hypoglycemia episodes, headaches and my knees ached.  Struggling to climb the four flights of stairs to my class, I knew I needed to make a change.  My loving boyfriend (turned fiancé, then husband) was studying physical education as well as preparing to be a personal trainer.  He agreed to show me a program that wouldn’t exasperate my then very troublesome Fibromyalgia symptoms but would get me where I wanted to be both for my body image and to salvage my health before it was too late.

The first step was to cut out junk.  No more hoarding Little Debbie snack cakes in my dorm, no guzzling a soda before class and no daily trips to DQ for a chicken strip basket and an Ale-8 (that’s blasphemy, right!)  I was successful in tweaking my diet but by 2008, the year I got married, I had only lost about 15 lbs.  Looking at myself in all my wedding photos, I wanted needed more. It was time to start working on the fitness aspect.  I made myself get up every morning, 5 days a week and head to Seabury Center at Berea College.  I did cardio on the treadmill and utilized the various free weights and machines for the strength training.  By the time we went on vacation to Jacksonville in 2009, I was down to 150lbs.  Happy?  Yes.  Satisfied?  No.  Our bodies are remarkable machines, capable of so much.  I wanted mine to be as fine tuned and as powerful as it could be.  I kept hitting the gym, and tried to eat healthier than I had been. 

By the time I reached college graduation, I was down to 140 lbs and proudly wore a size 8 dress across the stage to receive my diploma (covered by an over sized gown that hid all of my hard work of course).  My health had improved greatly and I spent less time aching and more time “aching” to get out and run.  After graduation, my husband and I moved to Florida in the Summer of 2010.  I had achieved a lot in weight loss, now it was time to tone up (Beach body time, right!)

In the past two years, I have tweaked my diet to fit my metabolism needs.  I eat 5-6 small meals a day to keep my metabolism fired up.  Two days of strength training a week, plus my favorite cardio (who would have thought I would ever say that!), running.  I supplement that with group fitness classes such as Spin and Bootcamp at BullFitness a couple of blocks from my home.  Running has become my new passion.  Since my move, I’ve completed 3 half marathons and plan to complete a full one in December of this year.  I have also competed in various mud runs and obstacle courses, the most recent being the Super Spartan race in Miami, Florida.  My first mile I completed at the beginning of this journey took me 16 minutes.  I have come a long way, but I’m not finished.  I am still tweaking my diet, still changing up my workouts and still striving for more.  I am so happy with how far I’ve come but I want more.  I want to be my best.   I am still on the journey to being healthy and fit.  Won’t you take this journey with me?