I have been overweight my entire life… My mom has been a waitress since electricity was invented and our family has had a string of restaurants. So I basically grew up in one. It’s no excuse for how I’ve ended up, seeing how I’m an adult and I have made my own decisions, but I didn’t grow up learning about healthier choices, so my terrible habits just stuck with me. Lots of fast food and never cooking, binge eating because I’d only eat one meal a day most times, and just lots of gross stuff.
Luckily, since I’m tall, I’ve carried my weight decent. I’m not saying, amazing, but I’m saying decent. At my heaviest, (last fall) I was 312 and that scared the mess out of me. I couldn’t believe I let my weight get out of control like that. I was miserable and just hated feeling gross all the time. Clothes never fit, I never felt comfortable in my own skin, and it caused me to be painfully insecure. I’ve never liked talking about weight and addressing it because I figured if I never talked about it, I never had to deal with it, so, I just ran from it. I didn’t want people to know I was hurting because I was fat. I can’t believe I’ve hid behind this so long and now that I’m 25, I’m finally tackling it head on. I'm glad that I'm finally taking charge and doing something about it, better late than never.
Luckily, since I’m tall, I’ve carried my weight decent. I’m not saying, amazing, but I’m saying decent. At my heaviest, (last fall) I was 312 and that scared the mess out of me. I couldn’t believe I let my weight get out of control like that. I was miserable and just hated feeling gross all the time. Clothes never fit, I never felt comfortable in my own skin, and it caused me to be painfully insecure. I’ve never liked talking about weight and addressing it because I figured if I never talked about it, I never had to deal with it, so, I just ran from it. I didn’t want people to know I was hurting because I was fat. I can’t believe I’ve hid behind this so long and now that I’m 25, I’m finally tackling it head on. I'm glad that I'm finally taking charge and doing something about it, better late than never.
In the past, I never talked about trying to lose weight, so I was never successful because I never had any sort of real accountability and I figure if I tell the world, I won’t have any other option, than success. So, I’m going to be documenting everything. How much weight I lose, the battles I face, the tough times, the good times, etc. I want to share this with everyone and I’m hoping someone will feel encouraged and inspired to take care of their body because they’re worth it. You’re worth it. I’m worth it. God has given me/you life, so I want to honor Him with the body He’s blessed me with.
So, how did I get where I’m at now? On Valentines day, I found myself at an appointment to have weight loss surgery. The same day I had an appointment to see a natural doctor for some issues I had been having since late December with anxiety and my stomach. I was sitting in the surgeon’s office and I just had this check in my spirit that I was not supposed to go through with the surgery, but I still wanted to go and hear what it was all about. I had just had it with my weight and I wanted something to be done. I just want to say that I don’t believe the surgery is the easy way out, I just think it’s for some people and not for others. I feel like it’s not for me. I believe God wants me to do it the natural way and I didn’t feel led to take out ¾ of my stomach. I sat through it, talked to the surgeon and just didn’t have peace about going through with it. My friend that went with me to the consultation, is a big fan of Crossfit and she told me that she would work out with me and was encouraging me to give it a try. I just didn’t want to because everyone I knew was doing it and it seemed like a huge fad. I know that’s a silly reason to not want to do something, but that was my way of rebelling I guess. Ha. She said I needed to stop being prideful and give it a try, so it made me think about it a little bit more. Onward to my next appointment I went, to the natural doctor. He was so awesome and checked out my organs and my food allergies and addressed many of my health issues and it was so great working with him since my life had seemed in shambles lately. He put me on a strict diet of no gluten/wheat (because I’m allergic), no soy (because my body is weak to it), no vegetable oils or processed oils (because my body has a hard time breaking it down.) I can have olive oil and coconut oil though. So, he puts me on this meat and veggie diet and no fruit (because I’m glucose resistant). So all in all, the diet this man put me on is the same diet for Crossfit, which is called Paleo. Over the past two months since my health was declining, I had already cut out processed foods, any fast food, and sweets, (luck for me, over the years I had kicked the soda habit anyway, so that wasn't a hurdle in my way); and even more recent I had cut out gluten because I feared my body was having a hard time processing it since I was having so many digestive issues. His diet for me just reinforced what I was already doing. That night I went to visit my friend and told him about this strict diet I was put on and he (who doesn’t know my other friend who went to the surgery consulation with me) mentioned going to Crossfit to me. He told me to go visit Amy because she loves Jesus and he just knew she’d be great for me to work with. I was just apprehensive because I didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon. (Sad reason to not want to be healthy, right?) Anyway, the next day I went to work and my friend who visited the surgeon with me came in and said, “I went to Crossfit Tyler to pay on my kids bill and I started talking with this lady named Amy about you and she really wants to meet with you and work with you.” So, here I am, two days in a row and hearing about this Amy lady and Crossfit. I don’t believe in coincidences, I believe God allows everything to happen for a reason, so two days later, Friday the 17th, I went and met with Amy. I was super honest about my weight issue and the battle it has been and she offered to work with me. I felt so blessed and encouraged because Crossfit is such hard work, but I feel like with God, having her on my side and the many friends I have doing it also, I can do it. Today I had my first work out and it was hard work, but Amy scaled it to what my body could handle. I now understand why everyone is so addicted to it because it’s competitive (against yourself) and a lot of fun. I am on a six month challenge in which Amy is going to work with me, weigh me, and measure me every week and we’re going to see how I do in six months. I started with six months because that was how long I had till I had to make up my mind about the surgery, however, I’ve pretty much made up my mind though and I’m not going to do it because I know God is going to use Crossfit to change my life drastically. In mid January, after I had already started the changing my diet, I was weighed and I was at 298. A bit later, I was 292, on Valentines day, I was 290, and today on February 20th, I am 283, all because the change of my diet. I can just imagine what exercising is going to do for my body, mind, soul and my overall health.
I want people to feel inspired to do something for themselves and take care of their body, like God has motivated me to do so. I feel so encouraged in knowing that this is all to honor him. I’m not doing this to be super thin, I just genuinely want to be healthy. I’m not hiding behind my weight anymore, I’m not going to keep it a secret. I’m going to be as open, as transparent, and as real as I possibly can be because I want you all along for this journey. Thanks for believing in me and encouraging me along the way friends.
I want people to feel inspired to do something for themselves and take care of their body, like God has motivated me to do so. I feel so encouraged in knowing that this is all to honor him. I’m not doing this to be super thin, I just genuinely want to be healthy. I’m not hiding behind my weight anymore, I’m not going to keep it a secret. I’m going to be as open, as transparent, and as real as I possibly can be because I want you all along for this journey. Thanks for believing in me and encouraging me along the way friends.
