The story of my 15 year weight battle

          Sadly, there was no way around it.  From the very beginning of my life it was pretty much a given that I was going to be prone for obesity.  I was even born a very pudgy baby.  The genes run like wildfire on both sides of my family.  My mother was determined to protect my brother and I from becoming heavy children.  She stuck to her guns, and never kept junk food in the house, cooked very healthy meals, and let us indulge in treats on a limited basis.  Despite this amazing upbringing of love my mind rebelled against all of the nutritional lessons my mother had taught me.  By the time I was 6 years old I was sneaking food from the pantry, and would jump at the chance to always go to a friend’s house in hopes that they would serve me an abundance of unhealthy snacks.  At almost every party or function where food was around some adult would have to intervene and tell me to stop eating.  I remember in fifth grade at a class party I snuck into the kitchen and ate five donuts in a row.   I was a very insecure child who hurt inside a majority of the time.  I got picked on a lot in school because I had difficulties learning.  At the time they did not know how to diagnose my issues, but it was later determined I have ADD.

               Right after my twenty first birthday my father passed away very suddenly, and turned my world upside down.  I turned to food for comfort.  My food binges lead me to a fifteen year struggle with yo yo dieting, bouts of bulimia, and abuse of diet pills.  In the year 2000 at 215 pounds I was even outed by a federal drug sniffing dog while waiting to cross the border in Tijuana.  I was smuggling diet pills back into the country that I did not have a prescription for that I had purchased at a Mexican pharmacy.  Luckily when the canine put his nose on one of the pockets I had concealed the pills in I thought really fast on my feet and said "oh sweetie you must smell my dogs".  Thank goodness it worked and the border patrol agent only scolded me for petting a working dog.  Looking back I am so ashamed I stooped that low to lose weight.

           In 2006 after getting out of a very bad relationship I was at my highest weight ever, 230 pounds.  My eating was out of control, and it also didn't help that I had been chained to a desk for 8 hours a day in corporate America for over a decade.  I felt so unhealthy, and had no energy at all.  I started the process of trying to get gastric bypass, and even consulted with doctor who performed Carnie Wilson's surgery in 1999.  The insurance company declined the procedure stating that my health problems were not severe enough.  I was devastated because I thought it was my last hope in trying to win my weight battle, but really I was only trying to cheat the system.  I am very thankful now that the insurance company did not award me the surgery because many individuals have had complications from it. I started taking baby steps in my weight loss, and began working out.  I managed to lose 30 pounds from exercising a lot, but it did not come off easily because I was still not eating right.

           When 2010 came around I made a pledge to myself that I was going to make an effort to start concentrating on the things I wanted in life instead of things I didn't want.  I was a victim of the economy, and had been laid off my job.  I decided I would never go back to corporate America because I was miserable.  I had always wanted to get into acting and film making since I was a child so I decided to pursue this.  I had no idea how I was gonna do it, but I knew I would find a way.  A friend of mine helped me land a job at local gym with flexible hours so I could go back to school to major in theater.  Once I was finally on the track of what I had always wanted in life I started to not need food so much as a crutch.  I also realized I didn't love myself, and had to stop poisoning my body.  I was very lucky that after all the damage I had done to myself I was still healthy.  I worked out harder than ever doing strength training, yoga, kickboxing, zumba (my very favorite workout), and spinning.  I created a diet that cut out junk and fast food.  I also made substitutions for the bad food I used to eat, for example instead of eating chips, I would always have raw almonds on hand, or eat unsalted popcorn.  I also loaded up on the lean protein.  I still will have a cheat day once week so I don't completely deprive myself.  By October of 2010 I weighed in at 158 pounds, and was a size 10 versus the size 20 I used to be.  I had more energy than ever, and I didn't want to hide out from the world anymore.

            Last spring I saw Adam's group on promotion to try out his boot camp, and I jumped on the chance to try a different workout.  I admired the fact that Adam was very honest with me about my BMI still being a little too high, and that I was pretty much going to get buns kicked with his workout formula.  He was right.  Adam and Jeremiah pushed me beyond what I thought my workout limits were, and helped me put on some serious muscle.  I liked the boot camp so much, I stayed on.  The fitness formula works because of the amazing support and accountability.  I feel it is also successful because we do something different each and every workout so your muscles are always shocked, and the short intervals make you burn massive calories.  Adam's boot camp is here to stay in my life.  I have had also had great success in making better choices in my diet because of Adam's nutrition plan.  Recently Adam asked me to become an accountability coach, and it is one of the greatest honors ever.  I am very passionate in sharing how much fitness has changed my life, and make it a habit to constantly research and educate myself when it comes to diet and exercise.  Knowledge is power!  For example, I will be the first person to admit that I have a WICKED sweet tooth.  I began to research the internet for help.  I came upon an article that suggested a sudden sugar craving could be your bodies way of saying it's dehydrated.   When I feel the cravings coming now I drink water ASAP.  I have found that about 80% of the time my urge to grab candy goes away.  Who knew it was something as simple as that?  

           I now weigh in at 146 pounds, and was accepted into the theater and performance program this semester at the college I attend, and landed a part in their play.  I LOVE acting until I can't love it anymore.  It's my true passion.  To me it's not about the money, it's just something that's in my blood.  There is no greater feeling than to know you have possibly made your viewers think deeply because of your portrayal of human nature.  I am also considering becoming a personal trainer as well as a group x instructor.   It's never too late in life to go after what you truly want.   You deserve it!  Just take it slowly, and one day at a time.  Changes such as weight loss don't happen over night, they take time.  It is perfectly okay to take baby steps.  I wish it hadn't taken me fifteen years to figure this out, but at least I finally did, and trust me I am still very much a work in progress.  There is always hope if you just believe in yourself.