Alternative Route: Weight Loss Journey

Posted on April 20, 2014 Updated on April 22, 2014

This past year I decided that it was time to do something about being overweight. For the past 10 years I have battled the bulge. I decided that 2013 was going to be the year that I would conquer my weight loss battle.I decided that if I could start a natural hair journey and be successful I could also tackle a weight loss journey and boy was it a journey! I had to let my hair journey take a back seat. I continued to take care of my hair it just wasn’t my main focus. After you establish a healthy regimen you can do two things: 1) You can watch, measure and pray that your hair grows faster than the ½ inch it normally would grow in a month. Or 2)You can keep it moving and take care of any other area in your life. I chose to work on losing weight.

Did you know that 60% of losing weight has to do with the food you consume? I had to make some changes and I decided to start with my eating habits. Giving up fast food was easier than I thought it would be. Every time I ate McDonald’s my body would start feeling bad afterwards. It got to the point that I couldn’t stand the smell of a McDonald’s quarter pounder. One day I just stopped eating fast food and never looked back. Still to this day every time I pass a McDonald’s and think of pulling in to order some “food” I get a horrible taste in my mouth. I’m not going to say you have to “eat clean” and you can’t have any junk food, that isn’t realistic. When I gave up on foods I loved and decided all I was going to eat was chicken breast and salmon I found that my new lifestyle didn’t last long. I decided I had to make small changes instead. I increased my water intake. I’m not a fan of vegetables so I decided that the only way I was going to be able to get my daily vegetable intake was to buy a juicer. I asked a friend who was into juicing for some juicing recipes and she sent me a free e-book on 101 juicing recipes. I love my beet and green juices! Next, I tackled food. I decided that I would start cooking now I’m not a cooking connoisseur nor do I want to become one. I needed to buy healthy meats that were already cleaned and seasoned. All I wanted to do is place them in a pan. I found that Whole Foods was the grocery store for me. Let me add that I only buy groceries for myself so the price is comparable to a grocery store like Stop & Shop. I must also add that I only buy my meats and a few specialty items from Whole Foods. Buying prepared meats has helped me stay on track because everything is healthy and already prepared for me. All I have to do is cook the food. To this day I don’t eat 100% clean. I have found several alternative to the items I was eating but I will indulge once in blue.

Exercising is another important component that was instrumental in me losing weight. Before I go on to tell you about my exercise regiment let me tell you how I had to turn down a good old fashion fish fry. I am on vacation this week and I decided to visit my old job. They invited me to come back the following day to participate in a fish fry that they were holding. I had to say no. The only reason I said no was because I did not make it to my whole body conditioning class earlier that morning. You can indulge and enjoy yourself you just have to earn it.

Did you know 40% of weight loss is through exercise? I needed to get active because eating alone wasn’t doing it for me. I started using LivingSocial and Groupon as ways to find deals on different exercising classes. You can take a few classes to see if you like it for an inexpensive price. I started with a Ballet Barre class, let me tell you I have a real respect for ballerinas! At that point I was only going once a week because my LivingSocial deal was only for five classes. If you want to get toned I highly recommend that you sign up for a Ballet Barre class. I really enjoyed the classes and felt a like I was getting stronger but there was no physical change. I found another deal on Groupon for an all women’s boot camp class for $20 for ten classes! I convinced my best friend to join with me and we started taking the boot camp classes together once a week. My best friend had already been exercising and she had lost 20 plus pounds so she was an incredible support during the beginning of my weight loss journey. The boot camp program had just began so there weren’t a ton classes being offered so I was only able to go Sunday mornings. After the Groupon deal was over I decided that I enjoyed and I was ready to commit to the boot camp classes. Let me tell you, the class packages were not cheap. I decided in that moment that I was investing in health and that I couldn’t put a price tag on that. Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts my best friend couldn’t commit to continuing the boot camp classes.

I set a goal for myself to lose 30 pounds and not to lose the weight too fast. I knew from past experiences that the faster you lose the weight the more likely that weight and then some would come back. A little over a year later, thanks to eating healthy and taking boot camp classes three to four times a week I have lost 22 pounds. If you want to start a weight loss journey I would suggest the following things:

• Create a Plan:
  • how much do you want to lose
  • how long will it take you to lose the weight
• Have a support system
  • a workout partner
  • someone to hold you accountable
  • IGNORE the naysayers (You can do this!)

• Start making gradual changes
  • say goodbye to soda and fast food
  • side note: do you know you can use soda to clean your toilet! Think about that the next time you’re craving a Pepsi!
  • increase water intake
• Set mini goals for yourself
  • you accomplished eating healthy and exercised all week go treat yourself to a mani pedi.
• Its okay if you mess up! Remember Rome wasn’t built-in a day. You only mess up if you give up!!!!

The one message I kept and keep telling myself is that: I May Not be Where I Want to be But Thank You God I’m Not Where I Used To Be.