turnaround challenge update {my weightloss story}

Several of you have emailed and posted comments asking how my “turnaround” is going. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, I vowed to lose 80 pounds in 2013, and finally take control of my life and health back.

So here it is… As HARD as this is to post, I’m going to lay it all out there.

I haven’t really lost any weight, surprisingly, from the picture. I seem to gain and lose the same 4lb every week. BUT, I am losing body fat and replacing it with muscle, resulting in lots of inches lost!

Before I go into HOW I’m doing this, I first want to share with you WHY. I think that is always the most important issue. If you don’t have a “why” for each of your actions (especially big goals such as massive weight loss, growing your business, making big decisions, etc), then the results don’t really matter, and let’s be honest, the chances of reaching your goals are slim to none.

I have battled my weight my ENTIRE life. I was always “chunky”. My mom (and grandmas, and pretty much every woman in my life) was an absolutely incredible Southern cook. Meaning, we had full meals on the table at least twice a day. And not just a quick meal, I mean homemade biscuits, gravy, sausage or bacon, eggs, fried potatoes… the whole deal. And then there would be fried pork chops, creamed potatoes, squash casserole, green beans with smoked jowl, cornbread, and maybe even a peach cobbler…At least 5 days of the week. I was never taught “portion” control. I was always encouraged to go back for seconds, for there was always “plenty more”. The only sport I was ever active in was softball. I played for 12 years, sometimes year round, ‘til I was 18. Thankfully, there wasn’t a whole lot of conditioning or running involved, and when there was I always heard my dad cheering from the stands, “watch it wiggle, see it jiggle” from the jello commercials. I was chunky. Other then that, there were no hiking trips, or family walks. My mom was disabled. From the time she was born, the doctors told her she would never walk (although she did at 8 years old). So there were no active family lifestyle (at least in the physically active sense). My mom and dad were both very overweight. And then there was the junk food. My mom always had a pantry full of stuff. My friends always hung out at our house, because it had lots of food.

But I was secretly always miserable. I couldn’t wear the cute jeans, because I don’t ever remember a time where I could wear sizes my classmates wore. I was shopping at Lane Bryant in middle school. We’d go to the mall, and I’d go in Lane Bryant, while all my friends would go in American Eagle. I was always terrified of changing in locker rooms. Afraid of wearing shorts during PE. I wanted to play Volleyball and Soccer with my best friends, but settled for being president of the Pep Club for fear of all the exercise. I am fairly certain I was the biggest girl (with the biggest hair) at Senior Prom. Never mind the fact that a dress in style to fit someone my size cost $280.00.

And then I went to college, and all of my suite mates ran and went to the gym. I tried, but I couldn’t keep up with them. That’s when my weight started really bothering me. My mom had just had gastric bypass – she couldn’t even walk around the whole campus on tour day. It was a wake up call for me – I did NOT want to be in the position ever. Not for me, not for my future children, and not for Andrew who I had been dating for about a year. Fast forward several months, and I got engaged (Christmas day 2005, even though the pic says 2003).

By this time, Andrew & I were living together in Connecticut. I was a manager at Victoria’s Secret, and let’s just say those girls intimidated me. I had the highest conversion rates of any manager or associate, but I so wanted to look like them. So one night, I had finally come to my breaking point. I could NOT go on like I was. I was super unhappy. I weighed well over 200 pounds. And I had a wedding dress to fit into. I started going to LA Weightloss twice a week for weigh ins. Basically, they tell you how much food to eat, and I weighed/measured every ounce of food I put in my mouth. And then the weight started coming off. In 2006, before my wedding in October, I lost 60 pounds. I had my wedding gown altered three times. It was a size 18, and by my wedding day, it was taken in to a size 12.

Soon after my wedding, the twice a week visits got to be too inconvenient with our super busy work hours. Before we got married, we bought a house in a different town, that had awesome roads and sidewalks for running, so I decided after quitting LA Weightloss to take up running. I maintained my weight pretty well that way, and by keeping my eating the same as while I was doing LA Weightloss. In 2008-2009, some weight slowly crept back on. Although, I felt much healthier, and was exercising much more frequently, we were also eating a lot of Italian and dining at fancy restaurants weekly. Mid 2009, after a bout of shopping for our second cruise, I knew I had to shape up. I started the 30 Day Shred on June 22, and here you can see my 30 day results.

And, a month later, I got pregnant. A month after that, we both lost our jobs. Two months later, Mom & CJ were killed. We started eating out more. We were in between living in Connecticut, living with my dad, and completely remodeling the house we now live in. I was super depressed (imagine that). I had a chocolate banana milkshake at least once a day. I pretty much ate whatever the heck I wanted, and my Celiacs flaired up big time. I ate just to comfort myself, and shove my feeling farther down. I gained a LOT of weight. Like 70 pounds.

I lost a little after birth, but I did not experience a ton of weigh loss from breast feeding like everyone said I would. And you want to know the saddest part, today, 2.5 years after giving birth, I am only about 15 pounds lighter then I was then. It makes me sick.

I literally hate my body. It keeps me from doing things I want so desperately to do. It holds me back from a lot of things that are on my list (like doing news segments. more video blogging, and more public speaking). It is hard to chase Elizabeth on the park. I can’t climb in her bed at night for fear of being to heavy for it. I can’t fit on the slide to go down it with her. It is debilitating.

And that is WHY I need to lose 80 pounds once and for all… And putting it all out there, for 30,000+ subscribers to see, will be the motivation and accountability I need…

So now, for the WHAT part, you all really want to know about.

As I stated last month, February I started the Body Turnaround Challenge, with my Shaklee team and hundreds of our members. I am following the Shaklee 180 program as closely as possible. It is amazing, really. So simple for busy moms to follow (and it has incredible 10 minute burst workouts, and a full mobile app).

click here to learn more

I also started attending bootcamp classes twice a week. Monday and Thursday morning at 5:00, you can find me sweating my butt off and doing things I would never imagine being able to physically do with a bunch of women who are older and much more in shape than I am, but I LOVE it.

After bootcamp, either once or both days, I use a body wrap from here.

So that’s it. Clean eating with the Shaklee 180 program, exercising, and occasional wrapping… 

and now, I look like this

If you want more information, or if you’re looking for an accountability group, I’d love to help you! Just email me or leave a comment below.

I hope that helps some of you too… Thanks for being such an influential part of my success this year…