Ahh January… the time of year when gyms are overcrowded and diet commercials abound! Some people take January seriously, and others are totally annoyed by the so-called “January joiners” who invade the gym and produce section. When people roll into the gym with jeans and water bottles full of Diet Coke (bless their hearts), I have to force myself to remember one thing: that was me 3 years ago. Lost, unhappy, 250 lbs, but trying to fix it.
Yep, 3 years ago today I started to change my life on my own terms. As I’ve written about before, my dad died in November of 2008. Here is a picture of me from my mom’s wedding, just a day after his funeral:
Shortly after this, I finished my semester and had about a month of winter break to process things. Slowly, the wheels of change started to spin in my brain and I found blogs about healthy living and weight loss. I investigated my choices. I invested in myself. I started Weight Watchers on January 12, 2009.
I learned about making smarter choices with my food. I liked the burn I felt in my muscles when I exercised. I knew that I had to do something proactive to become a happier person and turn things around for myself. It all started to click.
I started on the elliptical, moved to running (using the Couch to 5k program!), and ran my first 5k! I then ran a 10k and a handful of other 5k’s. I got back into swimming, my childhood sport and first love. I took spin classes. I was healthy.
Over the next year and a half, I lost 80 lbs. I was happy. I was a new person.
In the 1.5 years since I’ve moved to Texas, I gained 10-12 lbs back (depending on what day you asked me). I got a little disheartened after falling out of some new habits and back into some old habits. But since August I’ve been trying to pick myself back up by my bootstraps (because I actually have bootstraps now) and I’ve gotten back on the bandwagon and lost the “moving-weight”. Now, I’m looking forward to getting rid of the final 15 lbs I want to shed. Full disclosure: I’m using Weight Watchers again and have been since November.
So why am I sharing all this with you? I wanted to write it out for myself as some positive reinforcement and motivation for me, as well as anyone out there looking at the calendar and wondering if this year is the year. It is! I did it. And not to sound like one of those tv commercials but… if I can do it, so can you. It wasn’t always easy, and it certainly wasn’t always pretty, but I did it.
My advice: pick some small things you can change and go from there. One change will snowball into another. You’ll be amazed at what you continue to accomplish. Find yourself a mantra (the one I’m using these days was 100% stolen from the Minute Maid orange juice slogan, but it works): “Put good in, get good out.”
Are you using this January to change things up? Are you looking for ways to get healthier? Did you already find a better lifestyle? I want to hear everyone’s stories! I need the motivation and I know other people want it, too!
You are a big inspiration for me!! Your tweets and posts about going to the gym are all that gets me there on some days. I lost 25 toward the end of 2011 and am looking to drop another 30-40 this year. And I do (quite often) have the thought that, “Meredith did it, so can I!”
I’m on WW, too! And it’s worked super well for me, the lbs are falling off fast. I quite like it, even though some parts are annoying. Keep it up, lady!
Well you look great so it must be working! You keep it up, too!
Congratulations! Those last pounds are always the hardest. I haven’t followed any particular program, just knew a few years back that things needed to change. I started slowly cutting back on certain things and then cutting them out completely. Then of course I added exercise. I am fortunate that I have a physical job at this point as well, but that doesn’t help when all I want to do is go home after a long day and eat junk! Best wishes on your journey
Thank you! I mainly follow the program because I figure if I’ve paid for something it will make me stick to it… otherwise I feel like I wasted my money! But I am not super strict and definitely feed myself more when I need it (like after a long run, I have no qualms about eating something I wouldn’t normally indulge in!). Best wishes to you, as well — it looks like you’re already making the right changes and getting where you want to be.