Several months ago I was approached by someone I only really knew through sports and friends regarding losing weight and getting fit. She was at her wit’s end with her weight and dieting and wanted to make some permanent changes in her health. She wanted to get off the diet roller coaster. She had a good handle on food and nutrition but was confused how to make it a lifestyle. I asked her to share her story with us as a form of motivation and education. She is living proof that you don’t have to starve and white knuckle your way to a healthy weight.
Thank-you for sharing your story with all of us!
MY JOURNEY BACK TO HEALTH
I have been battling with my weight for many years. I have been on and off weight watchers for the past 10 years. You could consider me a yoyo dieter. As soon as I lost a good amount of weight, I would put it back on quicker than I lost it. This went in for several years until recently when I felt heavier than I have ever felt. I feared that it was only a matter of time before I start to experience health issues such as: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease all of which my parents had. I did not want to travel down that road. I would look at myself in the mirror and be disgusted with myself. I was feeling extremely tired, depressed, bloated, and just not motivated. My weight was out of control, as well as, my bad eating habits and this was when I told myself that I needed help !
I decided to contact Noreen Gallo who has always offered her help in the past and I never took her up on the offer. I started with Noreen at the beginning of March 2015. At that point, I was at my heaviest, weighing in at 195lbs. At this point, I was extremely nervous because I wasn’t sure that I would be able to change my life style. I am the type of person who loves to entertain, go out for dinner, and enjoy girls night with my friends. After Noreen left the first appoint, I convinced myself that I was ready to do this!
My biggest challenge had to be weekends and going out for dinner but after speaking with Noreen and getting educated, I realized it was not as hard as I originally thought. It was all about making better choices, planning, and knowing what was good for me and what wasn’t.
My goal is to lose 60lbs and I’m happy to say, I am halfway there. Noreen keeps me focused and she is always there when I have questions. After a week or two in, the weight just started falling off at a good pace which kept me motivated to keep going. It took some time for my body to get used to cutting out certain things but as time went on, I didn’t crave those bad foods anymore. I started to realize that it was so much more than calories per day because I felt like I was eating more food than before and losing weight!! It may have been the type of food I was eating prior to starting with the program. I also noticed that my family began to enjoy the foods that I was preparing – win win!
As I started to eliminate processed, packages foods I think my body started to use the food differently. I was feeling so much better and felt more motivated to exercise. With this increase in energy than, I started working out more often and I was not as tired as I had previously been. At this point, I realized this was not a diet but a life style change.
I love eating healthy and feeling good.
A few key changes that worked for me and may be helpful for others include:
Making sure to include plenty of lean protein across the span of the day, rather than just at dinner time. This helped to keep me full and also gave me tons of energy.
Never skipping my meals or snacks. I found that by eating every couple of hours, I felt better and it became much easier to make good choices and control my portion sizes.
Working with Noreen to design a daily check off sheet of what needed to be included in my diet on a daily basis. ie. # of healthy fats, complex carbohydrates etc…
Logging my food intake on my phone has been key to my success. This helped to keep me accountable but also helped me to identify habits that needed to be worked on. VIP – Log the Good, the Bad and the Ugly – only logging the good days does not teach you as much as the not so good days!
Reading food labels with a critical eye for sugar. It was amazing how many everyday foods are loaded with sugar. By cutting back on these foods I found I craved them less.
I want to thank my family, friends and most of all, Noreen for always being there to push me and for supporting me through this amazing journey.