Some people set out on a journey to better their lives, better their health which in the end will help them come to a peace of mind with the way they feel about themselves and the life they live. Some people get scared and back down, some get half way - step back and look at their achievements and just stop, and then there are people who keep pushing and fighting every single day to make the best of themselves and really prevail! I am so beyond to say I am the latter...
For the last 15 months, I have been working towards the "typical new year's resolution" every person tends to make at least once, if not more, in their lives! To LOSE WEIGHT and I FINALLY DID IT!!! January 1, 2013 I made the resolution that I will get my butt to the gym, I will workout and I will reach my goal weight! My biggest motivation was being engaged, and knowing that for one day - all eyes would be on me. That is what pushed me towards my weekly/daily/monthly/overall goals.
Let's start with a little bit of background about my struggle with my weight/self confidence...
I always felt like I was the girl who everyone looked past, who was too chubby to be chosen for a certain team or someone who just wasn't pretty enough. It made me always hate the body I was living in and in turn I would run to food to ease my emotions. I didn't feel pretty dressing up, I hated taking pictures and I always felt like I was left out. But that HAD to change.. And I knew I had to stop letting what others thought of me affect my self confidence levels and be happy with myself.
During the first year, life was crazy.. It was hard trying to accommodate my eating habits with my fiancé and declining happy hours, nights out on the town with friends and my healthy lifestyle. Now I didn't give up EVERYTHING the entire year, it was kind of like learning to run... First you scoot, then you crawl, walk and finally you're off full speed running! That's exactly what this journey taught me... It takes time and eventually it can be done if you have the willpower. Now I'm not saying you have to give up everything, just do/have some of the "not so healthy" things in moderation! If you deprive yourself it may cause you to fall completely off track and lose your sight of where you want to go.
So here's how I reached my goal weight....
Beginning my journey at the unthinkable 166.8 pounds -- I started switching up my diet, not eating out as much and getting in cardio at the gym. Within the first few months I was down about 10 pounds or so and I was happy I had lost that much but I knew I still wasn't where I wanted to be.
***here's a small fun fact about how determined I was to reach my goal weight... I went dress shopping for my wedding gown at the end of March and I found my beautiful Maggie Sottero gown at MB Bride... My consultant who measured me told me I need to get said size so obviously I did... I got home and was thinking and knew how determined I was, and told them I wanted to change my size down to the smaller size. They said they didn't normally do that, and would have to get management approval, BUT THEY DID IT FOR ME!! So I had my dress ordered in the smaller size, so that was a little motivation to keep going!***
In March I tried drinking Body By Vi, which is a meal replacement and you have 2 shakes a day. ViSalus helped me for about a month and I dropped 8 pounds but I just couldn't keep up with the shakes because I missed actual solid foods and felt like I wasn't getting enough proper nutrition. Now don't think I'm bashing BBVi because it has helped numerous people get to their goals and whatnot, but everyone is different. This just wasn't my path... so I moved on.
After ending my journey with ViSalus, I then got back to monitoring what I ate and thought I was doing good with my diet and whatnot lost a few pounds then got stuck at a plateau for a good 6 months, it was getting extremely frustrating! I didn't know what to do!! I tried everything, weight loss pills, ViSalus shakes here and there, working out hours a day, whatever you can think of I did it. I kept fluctuating between 144-148 and had no idea what I needed to do. I started looking into weight training because my wedding was quickly approaching and I needed to do something. I was so close to my goal weight that I just didn't want to give up, and knowing I had my dress fitting eventually coming up, that helped a little.
***Another progress reporting here, in August my wedding gown had finally come in and it was kind of an oh crap kind of moment... Going to try on my dress, would it fit or not. Well I went and tried it on and it fit PERFECTLY!! Like it was designed just for my body! I was beyond ecstatic!***
So beginning to be hopeless that I wouldn't reach my goal weight, I was approached about becoming a Beachbody coach and I turned it down multiple times because I thought I knew what I was doing and didn't want to spend any money on that stuff. BUT At the end of January 2014, I had a little change of heart -- I decided to join Beachbody and give it a go since I've been following a ton of BB challengers and coaches and all their results were INSANE. I started drinking Shakeology daily and working out with the one and only Shaun T doing T25!! I also started eating "clean" and avoiding a lot of things I absolutely loved in the past months and going for different options. I traded All Natural Peanut Butter for PB2, traded my chips for a piece of fruit, and started watching my portions more closely. The 5 weeks of T25 Alpha Phase went extremely fast and I was only down 3 pounds but I had lost 6 inches overall!! I was beyond ecstatic!
After T25 I was still determined to lose a few more pounds because I was about 3 pounds out from my goal weight and had my first dress fitting appointment a couple weeks after so had to make sure I was as close to my goal weight as possible. I started working out with the newest addition to BB, Autumn Calabrese doing the 21 day Fix. I was a bit apprehensive because I didn't want to drop a ton of weight just wanted to tone up and whatnot. I didn't follow the meal plan/workout to a T so I don't have my results to share with that but plan on doing the full workout and following the meal plan after the wedding.
***March 19 comes around and it's the day of my first dress fitting and the dress fit PERFECTLY a little lose in the bust but that was always a typical area that needed some attention with all my dresses I've ever purchased. But there really wasn't any more room for the back to be pulled together. The seamstress said it was a very smart choice to order the smaller size and that the weight loss had to stop! SAY WHAT... This is what I do, this is what I love, I have a goal to get too! I was a little sad because I didn't think I'd be able to do the workouts I've come to love! But after talking to some friends and my team I got an understanding of what would need to be done!!***
So now it is April and I just finished up my three day Shakeology cleanse, it helped me out a ton because I ate crap food after I heard my dress was perfect and didn't need any other alterations and I needed to stay where I was, but I had a goal to reach and I knew I had an appointment or two for alterations before my wedding so I wasn't too concerned about it. The dress could be taken in more with the amount of time left for the wedding!! So here it is, as of April 2nd I have officially hit my goal weight of 135 pounds!!!
So how do I feel... I feel amazing. I feel more confident, I feel like I can reach any goal I set out for myself. Over the last 15 months I did some of the things I NEVER thought I would do... I ran my first half marathon, signed up for my second, stepped out of my comfort zone and bought my first and SECOND pair of skinny jeans, also did an in home workout (I'm a gymrat so I was a little apprehensive here), I'm no longer embarrassed of what I look like, I feel happier, healthier,
more motivated, and best of all I feel accomplished for putting forth the long hours at the gym, pouring sweat, trading those fried foods for a yummy Shakeology, and getting up at the crack of daylight to get my workouts in!! It was all soooo worth it and I could not be anymore excited for this journey.
So what's next some will ask, maintaining and trying to time up for my upcoming wedding and then after the wedding who knows!! :-)
I am a beachbody coach and I do have a challenge group opening up within the next couple weeks - if you want to join me - send me a quick message and will chat about what all it entails! I did and I know you can too! Having an amazing support system and the drive is exactly what it takes to be successful and I will make you be successful!! For more information about Beachbody go to teambeachbody.com/StephClemmer
Happy October Everyone, we are officially Day 2 into the month! How many people can say this year has absolutely FLOWN by! I feel like just yesterday I was stressing about planning my wedding, and here we are almost five months post wedding!!! Craziness.
