Casey Elliott has invited us along on her weight loss journey. This is her kickoff session: history, starting point, and plan.
“I am not allowed to hate myself while I am doing something about it.”
Weight Gain Background and Contributing Factors
Casey was a chubbier kid growing up, but not obese. There was both depression and family stress for Casey at home in her pre-teen years.
At one point when she was 12, Casey shares that a psychologist put her on a medication that caused her to gain 60 pounds (27 kg) in 2 months. After being diagnosed with bipolar disorder Casey was overmedicated—she even given 4 times the adult dose in one case. This caused her to sometimes sleep up to 20 hours per day, which didn’t help her already low self-esteem.
Growing up, her eating habits were packaged food, fast food and heavy food. Casey engaged in no exercise. Casey had bad childhood asthma, which she sometimes used as an excuse to get out of physical education (PE) class.
How Being Overweight Impacted Casey’s Life
Casey discusses two defining moments that she often thinks about from her childhood that related to her weight.
Casey’s great-grandmother was an exercise fanatic and told Casey at age 12 that she “would be so much more beautiful if you lost 50 pounds.” Secondly, at around age 15, Casey visited her doctor (for a reason not related to weight), and the doctor brought in a BMI chart to shame Casey that she was “morbidly obese” and Casey left in tears.
Obesity severely impacted Casey’s self-esteem. Casey was always seeking attention and approval from boys, which ended in a failed marriage at a young age. Casey says she went through gestational diabetes with her first pregnancy, and after the baby was born she weighed 290 pounds (131.8 kg) after the delivery. After she delivered her second child, Casey says her peak weight was 295. (134 kg)
Casey’s current husband is thin, and it has taken years for her to realize that she was worthy of love, despite her size. After having her second child she lost 100 pounds (45 kg), and got down to 187 (85 kg), her lowest adult weight. When her grandmother was dying of breast cancer and Casey took care of her for a time she “lost traction” (32:00) with her eating plan and exercise and took a month off, which eventually turned into 2 years off.
“I just felt like my wheels were spinning…” (33:10)
Casey’s Past Weight Loss Attempts
Casey discusses that she has tried many diets that promise fast results—DVDs, infomercial food plans, slim fast, diet pills, even “the hot dog diet.” (18:30)
Phentermine was prescribed to her by a doctor, and that kick started her weight loss and helped her to lose 40 pounds. (18 kg) Casey also enjoys some at home workout DVDs, like Body for Life, and Jillian Michaels – 30 Day Shred.
Motivations
Casey is currently 224 pounds (101.8 kg), 5’ 6” tall, and 25 years old. She describes her three greatest motivators for her weight loss as: her kids, her husband, and avoiding the family history of diabetes.
Casey wants to be the “kind of mom who can run around with my kids at the park and not be out of breath” or left behind. (21:30)
She is working to instill in her kids early on what a healthy lifestyle is so they don’t have to deal with obesity later in life. Casey is motivated to be smaller than her husband, who weighs 160 pounds. (72.7 kg)
Reaching Goals
Casey would feel really strong and proud of herself if she could accomplish her weight loss goal.
“I’ve always had the tendency to be a very strong starter…but have not yet been a good finisher.”
Casey thinks she would feel very empowered if she actually finished this journey, saying, “That would be incredible…it will be incredible.” (25:00)
Meeting Challenges
When things get difficult in her journey, Casey plans to focus on her kids and family, and to remind herself that “there is no day off from this.” (26:45)
When there were setbacks in the past, she usually would “spin out of control and quit.” She is learning to be kinder to herself, and just like she reminds her kids, we can have lots of do-overs every day. Casey likes the saying she’s seen on the web:
“Why would you slash all the other three tires when just one is flat?”
Casey’s Facebook page, her trainer, friends and family help with her accountability. She feels like too many people are watching for her to fail, and Casey wants to show people that it can be done.
Goals and Tracking Progress
In July of 2014 Casey got a trainer. Spending money on a trainer is motivating for her, because it’s like “putting your money where your mouth is.” (34:50)
June 1, 2014 Casey weighed 241 pounds (109.5 kg), and has lost 16 (7.3 kg) since June 1. Casey would like to get down to 160 pounds. (72.7 kg) Upon reaching that weight, Casey and her husband are budgeting for her to have a tummy tuck.
Casey’s first goal, for the next 30 days is to lose 10 pounds per month for the next 3 months, and to also work on building muscle. In July of 2014 Casey ran 45 miles, and in August she had a goal of 65 miles.
If she fails to meet these goals, Casey guesses it will be because she neglected to stick to her eating plan. Some of Casey’s typical downfalls are eating her kids’ leftover food so that it doesn’t go to waste, going out to dessert with her family.
“I’m a food addict to the core, through and through.” (42:45)
Prepping food out ahead of time helps her stick to her plan 100%. Casey has a trick for making easy prepare-ahead “quiche,” by putting all the eggs and vegetable ingredients into containers a few times a week, and then in the morning you just need to put the mixture into a greased pan and cook it at 400 degrees. Casey will also cook ahead batches of chicken a few times each week.
Casey allows her kids to have their indulgences out of the house these days, as she doesn’t buy trigger foods for their house any more. She might even ask them to have their treats when she’s out for her run, since Casey’s reward for herself are workout clothes.
“I think a huge part of weight loss is self-awareness and taking inventory of what’s working and what’s not.” (42:20)
Note: We will catch up with Casey in approximately six weeks for an update! –Sam
On Casey’s Workout Playlist
- Come With Me Now by Kongos [ Amazon / iTunes ]
- Firework by Katy Perry [ Amazon / iTunes ]
- #Selfie by The Chainsmokers [ Amazon / iTunes ]
Contacting Casey
Encourage Casey on Facebook! : facebook.com/cluelesslyfat
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