For most of her life, Laura battled negative self-talk and the belief that no matter what she did, she’d never lose weight.
Hear how she’s lost 110 pounds (50 kg), how she pushed herself beyond her physical limits, and how she stays motivated when negative thoughts creep up!
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
Weight Gain Background and Contributing Factors
Despite being active, Laura has always been “the big girl” and thought maybe the roots of her weight issues were genetic. It seemed like no matter what she did, her body would “hold on” to the weight.
“It’s always just been really easy for me to gain, and it’s just continued…”
As part of a military family, Laura moved lived in different places, and says her closeness to her family meant frequent, hearty, home-cooked meals. She also shares that her family enjoyed baking often, which led to accessible high-calorie goodies.
Laura had some weight-loss success in the past, but then a new relationship and a new sit-down job changed her lifestyle, and the pounds came back.
How Being Overweight Impacted Laura’s Life
Laura reached a peak weight of around 315 pounds (143.2 kg) and recalls being unable to walk for longer than ten minutes without pain. She opens up about being in denial about how bad it was, and shares the negative self-talk that was common for her at the time:
- “You’re kidding yourself if you can actually succeed at doing anything about this, so why try?”
- “Are you worth trying to do anything about it?”
Do those sound familiar?
The Turning Point
Laura recalls becoming increasingly unhappy, being in a bad relationship at the time, and feeling stuck in a rut.
The final straw came at dinner with friends one cold night. Her friends were commenting on how cold it was, and Laura responded that she felt it was comfortable. Their response?
“Yeah, but we’re skinny.”
The comment stuck with Laura for a few months, prompting her to reflect on why these were her circumstances. Why did it have to be true?
Starting The Weight Loss Journey
- Stopped eating fast food.
- Stopped drinking sodas, specifically Diet Pepsi.
- Started tracking food consumption and activity with the MyFitnessPal app.
- Introduced physical activity into daily routine. Laura describes how difficult this was when she could only walk for ten minutes at a time without pain at first.*
- Regular stretching to ease the post-walking pain and soreness.
Staying Motivated
*When she started walking, Laura felt pain in her hips after only ten minutes. She often reminded herself that if she pushed herself to walk farther, she’d be able to walk before the pain started – and she was right. “Baby steps!”
Laura discusses the difficulty of staying disciplined with food when it’s all around, especially in an office environment where people often bring food in to share. Laura sticks to a strategy of moderation where, if she chooses to indulge, she has very little and not full servings like she would have in the past.
Laura is honest about the fact that she still occasionally has moments of negativity, but that when she focuses on “positive self-talk” to encourage herself, those moments become less and less frequent.
What Laura Learned About Food, Exercise, and Herself
Even while tracking her food intake, Laura fought the urge to be less-than-honest about food when it came to admitting she’d had a candy bar or given into an impulse.
“It’s good to start tracking, but sometimes that denial continues.”
Laura stresses how important it is to be honest with herself, even after losing the weight. With a history of emotional eating, she knows herself well enough to plan ahead and keep unhealthy foods out of the house. This way, when the occasional urge arises to escape stress through the comfort of food, there are less unhealthy options available to sabotage her weight and health.
Laura has been on a journey of growth and self-discovery, and her health improvements have coincided with learning new things about how her body responds to different foods. She observes that when she occasionally eats something “less-healthy” than her usual choices, she can definitely feel the difference in her energy level and mood.
For Laura, this doesn’t mean she completely avoids some foods. In addition to monitoring her portion sizes, she ensures that she makes the best choices possible within the options she has.
Laura has discovered a love for cardio-kickboxing, and does it often in addition to yoga and strength training. She loves the outdoors and enjoys a good hike or walk when possible. She shares that she personally dislikes gyms because she “feels like a hamster” when she’s stuck on a treadmill.
These days, Laura can jog for a lot longer than she could even walk when she started! She likes to challenge herself, and shares that she uses movements and exercises she learned in a boot camp she tried.
Laura’s Advice For Your Journey
- Find something that works for you. Some programs will not work for your lifestyle or circumstances, but you have to keep trying until you find what works for you.
- Do every little form of activity that you can; don’t take your physical ability for granted.
“It’s really easy to come up with excuses.”
- Negative thoughts may occasionally still creep up, but it helps to recognize them for what they are and consciously focus your thoughts onto something positive instead.
“Don’t let negativity rule over the choices you make.”
- Listen to your body and check-in with yourself in a different way. The scale does not tell you how your clothes fit or how your energy is increasing.
Resources Discussed In This Podcast
- Turbo Jam – cardio kickboxing workout program
- MyFitnessPal App – smartphone app of popular online food tracking site MyFitnessPal
- /LoseIt – weight loss support community on Reddit.com
- HungryGirl.com – healthy low calorie recipes
- How Sweet It Is – food blog with unique flavorful recipes (fair warning: not all healthy)
- Never Goin’ Back by Al Roker’s about his weight loss
- Why We Do What We Do – Tony Robbins’ TED Talk
- Fitness.com – exercise routines and articles
- Self.com – exercise routines and articles
- Yoga for Beginners from Gaiam Studios – yoga routines
On Laura’s Workout Playlist
- The Middle by Jimmy Eat World [ Amazon / iTunes ]
- Counting Stars by One Republic [ Amazon ]
- Battle Born by Five Finger Death Punch [ Amazon / iTunes ]
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