Like many others, I have struggled with my weight my entire life. I have gone back and forth from working out and not working out.  I always seem to start making good habits and then something happens and I go back to what is comfortable, which has always been being lazy and eating whatever I want to.  I make the usual excuses like stress, no time and no motivation.  I always knew how I feel after I eat horrible but I made those decisions anyways because they were way easier than doing the work it takes to be healthy and active.

 

I can think back to the exact time where I weighed my heaviest.  It was in 2011 so not very long ago.  In the beginning of the year I was on a workout kick, going to the gym 3-4 times a week, eating healthier than usual.  But another road block came on May 2, 2011.  Although preventive, my dad had a quadruple bypass on that day.  He was a trooper and had that surgery on a Monday and was home that Saturday.  Like a lot of people, when I am stressed, I eat and I ate a lot.  My entire world stopped and I didn’t care about myself.  While most would think that having a family member go through this intense open heart surgery would motivate you to make healthier life decisions, it did the opposite for me.  I felt the need to be there for my dad and family that I put them first.  I stopped going to the gym but I was working retail at the time so I didn’t gain all my weight back right away.

In August 2011 I started a new job in an office environment which was completely different for me.  For those that work all day in an office, you how hard it is eating right.  Everyone wants to test out their baking skills and bring it in for you to try.  So there are constantly donuts, cookies, cakes etc.  Also you sit ALL DAY. It was then that I got to my heaviest weight.

I started to notice that all my clothes were super tight, my stomach hurt all the time, and I felt extremely sluggish.  I finally decided to step on a scale and what I saw completely surprised me.  I thought about  what my dad was doing and how much support he has for keeping his healthy lifestyle that I use that as a motivator.   Heart and thyroid problems run on both sides of my family and I don’t want genetics to get the best of me.  So I decided to start small and walk on my lunch breaks at work at the fitness room they have.  After a few months of that, I felt the need to do more, so that is when I came to Vision Quest.  

Now after completing The Biggest Loser, I feel extremely supported by my awesome trainer Ashley, my friends and my family.  I feel the best that I have ever felt in my entire life. I use my dad’s surgery as a motivation to take care of myself the best I possibly can.