Loosing 100lbs! 🎉

Weight loss is a topic that I have never wanted to really talk about. The struggle with weight loss has been real to me since about high school. I was never an overweight child, but I did start to pack it on in about 10th or 11th grade. For a short time, at around 10 years old, I was a overweight but really slimmed down with daily exercise and by limiting my eating. Trying to balance my eating, exercise, and the busyness of life is not always easy.

I had an epiphany a few years ago about why I may have had an emotional issue with food. I believe that sometimes recognizing the root of something is the beginning of your healing. I think sugar became an anti-anxiety medication for me. There was a period of time where the amount of sugar that I was consuming became a daily struggle. There have been studies about how sugar can actually be as addictive as cocaine. For me, my battle was out in the open. Sugar was what relieved my anxiety and something I would often think about throughout the day. The battles that people face can be hidden for some, but my battle was worn daily for all to see. Before I knew it, I had disconnected myself from what I looked like, felt like, and I stopped fighting. At one point I was well on my way to 300 lbs, and I was so frustrated. I was at my heaviest! I knew I had to make a change. I was single and working at this point. I had dreams, but I knew that I had to work on myself first. 

In 2011, I started to work on making changes to take hold of my life and not just give up. It was then that I was introduced to the HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) diet. I decided that I would try the diet, as I had seen several people drop a ton of weight on it. HCG is a hormone that is released by the body during pregnancy and among other things it causes fat to feed a growing fetus. Without a pregnancy it causes fat to flush out through the urine. The diet is restricted to fruits, vegetables, no fats or oils, and lean meats. It works in three phases. This was not my forever plan, but I needed a big boost. I did a 6-week round of HCG to start and I dropped 40 lbs.!!! This was what I needed! 

At the beginning of 2012, I told God that I didn’t want to keep living the same year over and over, meaning that I wanted to get married and start my life. I had lost a bit more weight doing another couple rounds of HCG and was feeling really great! Kodi and I had been friends for years and finally saw each other in a new light. Kodi has also made a very big turn around in his health and has learned to maintain a healthy weight on this journey with me. It’s funny that as you start to love yourself more you become more open to the love of others. Kodi became my dream come true! We started courting in February, were engaged in May, and married in October of 2012. I reached 100 lb. loss in between there! I got to walk down the aisle looking like the bride that I wanted to be. 

I am not saying that being thin is the only way to find love, but for me it helped me start to love myself. I started living a life that made me happy. I was not skinny by any means, but happier as a size 10-12. Through pregnancies, I yo-yo’d again as everyone does but with HCG and determination I am now, at this point, officially less than my wedding weight and excited to reach my goal. I have about 15-20 lbs. that I’d like to see gone to achieve my goal. The HCG diet is not a diet for everyone but for me it helped me rid myself of sugar addiction and achieve what seemed to be like Mount Everest! The HCG version I use is called Vibrational HCG and is administered sublingually. I have learned a lot about myself and food. For long-term success, it has to be about good habits and keeping active.

Today, I try to keep active with the kids and strive to walk my 10,000 steps daily. I have shifted my eating plan to weight watchers for a less restrictive eating plan and longterm success. I am really enjoying it. Weight watchers has helped me have boundaries and maintain my weight currently. Whatever seems to work for you is what you have to stick to and be happy doing it. In my opinion life is a journey not a race, just do your best.