Princeton Happenings

You Can Do It!

You. Yes, you!

It was exactly 2 years ago that I began my weight loss journey. I started out thinking I would lose 20 -30 lbs, get back into some old clothes and feel better about myself. I had no idea just how much my life was about to change. I started counting calories and doing some “at-home” dvds. I lost 11 lbs right out of the gate doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred (EVERY day for 30 days straight). It was HARD. But it was worth the effort. I had a difficult time getting up and down the stairs for the first few days, but after that, I really started to feel progress. I had never done anything like this before. My exercise routines were mostly treadmills and ellipticals or walking outside. Nothing ever quite this intense. But Jillian started to get into my head and I felt like I was working personally with her and I didn’t want to let her down. I pushed through the pain and sweat and felt like I had accomplished the world when I was done those 30 days.

A few months later after I had lost 30lbs, I started to plateau. Normally, this is where I would have stopped. But I didn’t. Something was different this time. I wanted to keep going and the fact that I was now only down to losing 3 lbs in a month did not discourage me (like it would have in the past). I started taking Zumba classes and LOVED it! I couldn’t believe how much it made me sweat! I couldn’t believe that any stress I walked in with was completely GONE – I mean, as if it never even existed – when I walked out. After 6 months of taking Zumba classes 4 times a week, I got certified to teach. This is something I never, ever would have envisioned myself doing in January 2010. But here it was December 2010 and I was going to teach Zumba. What a difference a year makes.

I also started working with a personal trainer, which to me, was key in all of this. If you have the opportunity and means to hire a personal trainer, it is so well worth it! I kept going over my finances and thinking, “Is this frivolous? Can I really afford to do this?” And my answer was, “Can I afford NOT to do this?” This wasn’t about money anymore, this was about saving my life. And it did. SHE did. Literally. Because of her, I believed in myself enough to get on ice skates for the first time in 21 years. Because of her I believed in myself enough to run a 4 mile road race in 36 minutes (I hadn’t done any kind of running in over 20 years). Because of her, I believed in myself enough to purchase and wear a dress that stopped above my knees and was sleeveless (I hadn’t worn a dress in over 12 years and NEVER sleeveless!)

2011 brought me to within 3lbs of my goal weight (which would have equated to 100lbs lost). All of a sudden everyone started telling me I had lost enough weight. My family was telling me I had lost TOO much weight (this seemed absurd to me because I had never heard those words before in my life – it was always, “You have to lose weight”). My doctor even told me to stop losing weight. I told her I only had 9 more lbs to go and she said “No”. So I asked if I could at least lose 3 more lbs to hit the “100 lbs lost” mark. She said, “Ok, but that’s it!” That just seemed crazy to me! It wasn’t like I was weighing in at 115 lbs or something, I was still at a weight that was, by the charts, considered “overweight”. So I guess I started believing everyone and so I just stopped. I have since gained back some weight (approximately 20lbs) but I refused to let it continue and had to find a way to refocus. There was no way this was going to be another one of those times where I lost weight and then gained it all and then some back. This journey is different.

So here we are In 2012, 2 years later and I am determined to get to my goal weight. I know I will do it. This road has not always been easy. It has been a journey full of lessons – some harder than others to learn. But the bottom line is that I am staying focused and positive and I hope to motivate and encourage others to join me along the way.

It’s time to take back your life! Believe in yourself! Don’t worry about the stops and starts – you need to just keep moving forward! Stop thinking about it. Stop analyzing it. Just do it. Patience. Faith. Determination. You can do it. If I can do this, believe me, anyone can.

Happy and Healthy 2012!