My New Life and How I did it!

I've had many people ask me how I lost and am still losing my weight, so I decided to create a blog with my entire journey of how I got to this point.

Last year I reached an all time high weight of 216.6 lbs. (Oh, that hurts just writing it) and I was to the point where I needed to prove to myself once and for all that I had control over my life. I was embarassed to run into people I knew back in the day and tried to avoid going places that I could POSSIBLY run into those people. I knew that I didn't deserve that and I needed to do something to feel better about myself.

Originally, I started doing the HCG diet. I was looking for a quick fix and because I had done it before I knew it worked. Last time I had done the diet I wasn't really looking to change my life style, I just wanted to lose the weight and that's why I gained all my weight back over another 3 years. To be perfectly honest, when I started it again this time I still had the mentality of just losing weight and not looking to really changing my life. But I was lucky enough, that it evolved into changing my life anyway.

When I began the HCG Diet, it was REALLY difficult, but I was motivated to PROVE to others that I could do it. After a month, I had lost 18 lbs and was starting to feel a little discouraged because MOST people didn't even notice, but I was determined to keep going. When I hit 25 lbs., I was starting to get daily comments of how good I looked and I always had people telling me how much they wish that they had the determination to do something like that, which in turn started giving me a somewhat powerful determination to keep going because I knew I had eyes watching if I was going to fail especially using HCG.

At Christmas, I had lost a total of 49 lbs., and it was such an amazing feeling to be able to walk into a room and feel good about seeing friends and family instead of the feeling that I know so well of trying to wear something that can hide (or what I felt was hiding) this weight.

Now, because HCG really isn't the most healthy way of losing weight, I knew I couldn't be on it forever, so I started researching what was a good transition program to move to. I had done Weight Watchers before and it did work, but I was also introduced to a book called Body for Life (Women's Edition). What I liked about Body for Life is that it's not a diet program, it's a way of showing you how to eat healthy and it's realistic to live by for the rest of your life. However, I still wanted some way to have an easy way to keep track of what I can eat so that I could continue to lose weight. So what I have done is combined the Weight Watcher Points with the types of foods that Body for Life encourages you to eat.

Eating is REALLY tricky and honestly, 99% of my weight loss was because of what I have been eating. I have only started really exercising this week because I've been on a plateau for 1 1/2 months. And surprise, surprise, I started losing again ;) Ok, so what I have done is like I said, I have combined Weight Watchers with Body for Life. Now you don't have to buy or even read the book, it's quite simple, basically you have to have your protein intake equal to your carb intake. The reason why I combined the Weight Watchers points with the Body for Life, is because although with Weight Watchers it's easy to keep track of points, the program allows you to eat most food you want, but still isn't necessarily good for you and in turn, you aren't really changing your life, you're just changing the way you eat right then. Even the Weight Watcher branded foods have high sugar, which is one thing I have very minimal of. So I have been using the Weight Watcher points (with an app on my phone called WW Diary) but making healthy choices for the type of foods I choose. The majority of my meals I look for have HIGH protein, LOW Carbs, and LOW sugar. I DON'T count calories because I have found that if you look at a label, just because they are low calories, they still have a lot of sugar in them and I stay away from those snacks. Plus, low calories usually come from high protein, low carbs and sugar.

READ THE LABELS! You would be absolutely amazed at what some "diet" "low carb" "low fat" "low calories" foods actually have in them. I was buying tortillas the other day and I found one that said "low carb". I picked it up and looked at the back and it was 19 grams of carbs for one little tortilla. That's definitely not low carb and I was so glad I looked at the label. I was able to find some that had 11 grams, but I wouldn't have found them if I hadn't read the labels. The same with one of the 100 calorie snacks, yes, it did have only 100 calories in the little packet, but it also had 27 GRAMS of sugar in it as well. I have now come to not trust the food industry, because they know that most people are looking to be healthy or lose weight so if they slap a label on it that says 100 calories, they know people will buy them thinking that they're doing good, but all they're doing is putting 27 grams of sugar in their body that could end up turning to fat. Beware of yogurt too, because they are really good source of protein, but if you get the wrong ones, they also could have a lot of sugar in them. I even stay away or at least minimally have fruits and veggies that either have High Carbs or High Sugar in them such as Carrots, Potatoes, Grapes, Bananas and Peaches. Yes, I still do eat those but very rarely. In one item, try to stay less than 8g sugar.

Ok, so remember, HIGH Protein, LOW Carb and LOW Sugar. So with that being said this is what a normal day is for me for what I eat:

Breakfast (9am)
5 Strawberries (low natural sugar and high protein) cut up in a bowl with 1 cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1 Dannon Light & Fit 4 oz. yogurt (50 calories, 10g carbs, 7g sugar, 3g protein)
Snack (11am)
String Cheese (80 calories, 1g carb, 1g sugar, 7g protein)
Snack (12pm)
1 serving of Sugar Free Cookies approximately 4 cookies(be careful with these, because most still have HIGH carbs)
Lunch (2pm)
Protein shake 28g protein (be REALLY careful with protein shakes, because MOST of them have A LOT of sugar in them, but if you look for them and read the labels, you will find some that have less than 3g sugar in each serving.)
Half a Banana (or if you're lucky you're grocery store will carry mini bananas)
Snack (4pm)
Apple Cinnamon Straws or Veggie Straws (if you've never tried them, they are an EXCELLENT trade off for chips or something crunchy.) The Veggie Straws taste like chips and the Apple Cinnamon Straws taste like mini churros. Also, they really aren't that bad for you and one serving is 39 straws (chips) so it's more than enough to snack on.
Dinner (7pm)
Chicken Breast seasoned or marinated
Salad and with dressing
Snack (8pm)
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Bar

Obviously, I don't eat this EVERY day, but this is an example of a very normal day for me. Most of my food is protein and I try to avoid eating too many carbs and sugar. I eat the recommended serving size and I don't come back for seconds (ok, most of the time lol).

It's ok to have a bad day or a "cheat day", I've had many of those down this road, but one thing I've done this time that I didn't do previously, is that I went straight back into the good eating the next day. Realistically, I will have pizza again, or cheesecake or whatever and it's ok, but I will have a normal portion size and it will be a one time thing for the week not a daily thing. Really take the time to learn what your body NEEDS not what it WANTS.

Take it one day at a time because if you think of the big picture it can get overwhelming and it may make you want to quit. Celebrate each small victory like every 5 pounds, and then you realize you've lost 10, then 20, then 30, 40, 50, 60 POUNDS!~

I really hope that this helps some of you! And if you have any questions or comments, you can either comment here or post me on Facebook. I really want to help others succeed and I will help you any way I can.

One last thing ... I want to show you my before and after photos ***deep breath***

***** Be gentle***** My husband is the only one that has seen this picture until now*****

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Eek! 216.6 lbs August 21, 2011
Pant Size 18

155.2 lbs March 14, 2012
Pant Size 7!