How I lost weight.

Growing up I was always one of those larger girls. I wasn't so overweight I was called out on it, as in made fun of or classified as plus size, but I certainly wasn't in the average weight range either. I was a steady size 12, thicker girl all through high school and the years up to my pregnancy.

As far as I can remember I have always been insecure with my weight. I watched my mom jump from fad diet to the next, with little to no results. My nutrition was that of a typical Appalachian house hold, which consisted of hearty meals like beans and cornbeard, biscuits and gravy, stews, meatloaf with all the "fixin's"; basically starchy carb overload and my body and many other family member's represented the aftermath of eating those meals long term. The family heath conditions that followed those type of eating habits were type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, gout, gallbladder disease, the list goes on and on.  So it was fair to say my education on good nutrition was slim to none. The only way I was taught, from my mothers fad diets, was less calories was the only way to lose weight. Yes, that is true if you are consuming 3,000 calories you should eat far less, but what was NOT taught to me was eating "clean" or whole foods in that lower calorie bracket so your body gets the vitamins and minerals that it needs to function was the REAL way to lose weight. 

So lets skip ahead to after I had my son, like 2 years after to be exact. I was at my all time highest weight and yo-yoing between my largest sizes, 14 - 16 and just really depressed and embarrassed to be seen. I had this amazing Husband and adorable son but I was too uncomfortable to be seen in family photos. I was completely missing out on this awesome new life as a new mom and I absolutely hate myself for it. Then enters an old friends who was now a Beachbody coach, she started messaging me just being super friendly then it started to turn towards fitness and being the super skeptic that I was, was kinda of annoyed that she was asking me about Shakeology and fitness programs. I had heard of some of the stuff she was talking about but at that time only believed you could only lose weight by going to the gym, and just felt like I didn't need to spend money on some gimmick. I should also say I was going to the gym during the time of these messages and skipping from Pinterest diet to the next telling myself, "I can do this all on my own."

About a month or two of messaging with my Old friend, I hadn't seen much success with my Pinterest found gym and diet plan, only losing about 2 pounds within that time. I should also add I was going to be in my Best friend's Wedding and that deadline creeping upon me. So I finally gave in to my old friend/Beachbody coach and took the leap and signed as a coach without even knowing what that meant. All I knew was if I sold anything I would earn 25% and I could also get 25% off for myself thinking if I sold I could try out that crazy Shakeology stuff.

I started with the workout program, p90x,  because my Husband had that workout program (though he had never tried it, haha) and I thought it would sound cool to one day say, "I completed p90x" I was finally talked into starting Shakeology just so I could maintain my "active" coach status, and I am forever thankful I allowed myself to be talked into it. Shakeology has honestly been the biggest game changer to my weight loss success. I have never been one of those people who took a daily vitamin, or ate vegetables, so once I added Shakeology to my daily routine I quickly learned how badly my body need those vitamins and mineral that this new shake gave me. I always thought I carried a lot of fat in my stomach, after Shakeology I learned it was all bloat due to irregularity. Before, my skin was awful, my hair was really dull, and my nail were really brittle, my new shake took care of that too. And for once, my nutrition was in a place I was proud of. Shakeology helps me stay on track because it does this cool thing of giving your body all the essentials that it need so I don't have CRAVINGS! That is something I have learned during this experience that has been the most beneficial to me. The  body craves things like sweets or carbs because it is lacking an important vitamin or mineral. Once those needs are met your body isn't going to be running after the nearest junk food item to try to get those essentials. Talk about game changer!

In my first 3 month, after completing the p90x program, I lost a total of 20 inches and 23 pounds! I couldn't believe it! I had never been able to lose more than 5 pounds on my own and I was already smaller than my pre pregnancy weight. Since I had already met my weight loss goal and my Best friends wedding was still 4 months away, I decided to see what else I could do. I ordered the newest program Beachbody had available, 21 Day Fix Extreme and started the process again. With the help of the program, Shakeology, and accountability groups I was about to lose 10 more pounds before my friend's wedding that was

in May, and I have consistently kept it off until this day. Which to me, maintaining a weight I had never seen before was the scariest part. I can proudly say I have educated myself on how to really lose weight and it fits into my daily lifestyle.