I grew up being athletic and even kept that same energy into adulthood until aches and pains kicked in, which dramatically reduced not only the physical activity that I love, but the desire as well. I had a personal trainer come to my home because the gym was boring to me. Walks were fun and interesting because I love nature and I enjoyed people seeing, but I wasn’t walking consistently. I allowed work and fatigue to get in the way of going for walks and instead I just went to bed.
One day I said to myself where is that motivation that you had when you decided to lose weight in 2004. So, in 2004 I was getting a pedicure while sitting in a chair that was situated up on a platform with a wall full of mirrors in front of me. When I looked up into the unforgiving mirror I saw a snowman- yes, I looked like a snowman. It was in that moment that I said “oh no, I want my body back”. When I left the nail salon I walked 2 doors down to LA Weight Loss. It was about $600 to start for the weight I needed and wanted to lose and it turned out to be the best investment ever made.
I lost 75 pounds on the LAWL plan (shout out to LAWL). So I was looking for that motivation from 2004 again after having 2 more children and gaining 50 more pounds post the 2 kids. I just couldn’t find that same motivation. Working out with my personal trainer wasn’t working because I didn’t change my eating habits. I didn’t change my eating habits because I realized then admitted to myself that I was eating for comfort. I then began to confront the challenges that were causing me emotional distress as I often recommended for my clients to do.
After that I began to take small steps (things I wanted to do- not what a book or a trainer said to do) toward my goal of losing weight. I instantly saw a difference (over night to be exact). Rice is my nemesis. I’ve been eating rice daily for 38 years. My first small step was to have only 1 cup of rice for dinner, not 2. I woke up 2 pounds lighter the next morning. Was it from eating less rice, I asked myself? I felt it was, so I said “ok, no fruit juice today, only water. I woke up the next day 3 pounds lighter. I began getting super pumped up and motivated because I saw that the small changes were making a difference.
Those small changes were realistic and attainable for me. I continued this for about 1 week and got down from 230 lbs. to 217 lbs. by making small changes that were achievable for ME.
