Jessica faced tough life changes and battled an eating disorder at a young age.
Hear how the love of a concerned group helped her, how she’s dropped 142 lbs, and the road from 414 lbs to running a half marathon.
“Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life”
Weight Gain Background and Contributing Factors
Jessica was big as a child and recalls being overweight at 10 years old.
Thanks to her stepfather, she discovered a love for sports and became much more active. By the time she entered high school, Jessica weighed 110 pounds (50 kg) and was actually smaller than most classmates.
She shares that she grew obsessed with sports, and that sports and grades became the only things she thought about.
However, Jessica hated running, and if she was heavier than expected at a sport’s weigh-in, she was forced to run. By her Junior year, she had begun throwing up in order to avoid running. This was the beginning of an eating disorder for her.
“Probably been through more in my 27 years than any person should have to go through in a life.”
Over the next year, things in her personal life changed. Jessica moved out went to live with her best friend’s family. Within a week, they had sat her down to discuss her health situation. She was given two options: go to rehab and counseling, or someone would follow her around day & night until she broke the habit.
Jessica was devastated, defensive, and upset. However, she shares that she also felt cared for in a way that was new for her. There was “more love shown at that table and more tiptoeing around making sure that they didn’t offend me or throw me over the end…in a week, I had only been with them maybe a week.”
Jessica opens up about feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and sad, but also happy that:
“Somebody actually cared enough to notice… They probably saved my life… They didn’t give me the option to put those walls up.”
By end of her senior year of high school, Jessica had gained 60-65 pounds (27.2-29.5 kg) but was miserable. Despite the recovery-in-progress from her eating disorder, other circumstances at the time introduced new stress and drama.
Jessica had to decline a full scholarship opportunity for college because her mother would not sign her student-aid paperwork. The disappointment led to what Jessica describes as a downward spiral out of control.
She describes becoming apathetic and continuing to gain weight.
“I gave up.”
Jessica quit all sports and physical activity and reached a peak weight of 414 pounds. (188 kg)
She tried several diets and programs, including Slim Fast and an extreme grapefruit diet that, “to this day, the smell still makes [her] nauseous.”
How Being Overweight Impacted Jessica’s Life
In 2008, Jessica worked as a nanny for a family with three young children. She loved (and still loves) the family and the children, but describes how playing with them and taking care of them was physically challenging.
“Being outside with them for five minutes was exhausting… Everything was getting harder.”
The Turning Point
One day, Jessica and the children’s mother happened to watch an episode of Dr. Oz together. In that particular episode, an overweight man was followed around for a week with someone tracking everything he consumed.
At the end of the week. the man was presented with a full accounting and visual representation of everything he’d eaten that week. Jessica describes it as “disturbing,” and shares that the risks of cancer and their link to waist measurement were explained.
“I never really thought about what I ate before… The whole episode really just scared me. I was crying, Chris was crying.”
By end of the show, Jessica and her friend had agreed to follow the show’s recommendation to purchase and use a pedometer with the goal of walking 10,000 steps a day.
Pedometers were purchased the very next day. [Activity trackers at FitBit.com, Amazon:Fitbit, Amazon:Fitbug]
Starting The Weight Loss Journey
Jessica immediately obtained a pedometer and weighed-in. She was surprised, only a few days in, to learn she was averaging 4,000 steps a day – nowhere near the recommended 10,000 steps.
“The first two or three days going out, I don’t think I topped 4,000 steps and I was like, ‘this is going to be harder than I thought.’ “
She began taking walks around a mile-long circle in her neighborhood. For the first few weeks and month, it would take a long time to walk because of the need for frequent breaks, but Jessica turned it into a fun activity with the children she looks after.
They have made it a group routine, and Jessica even completed her first 5K with the kids.
As the summer weather warmed up, swimming was introduced, and Jessica shares that it was “still hard, but it was easier on [her] body.” She also began eating healthier and eating out less.
In the first seven months, Jessica dropped between 50 – 55 pounds. (22.7 kg)
Challenges & Staying Motivated
“At first, I didn’t think it would be that hard, but, very quickly, I became aware of how inactive I had been.”
Jessica shares that it was a combination of making activity into a competition and having Chris by her side that helped her remain motivated.
Her biggest challenge in the first six months was that mentally she was “so far in the other direction” that it was hard to get herself back into an active lifestyle. She had all of these routines that weren’t healthy and she now had to change them.
For a two-year period, Jessica lived in another state and acknowledges that she missed having friends and going out, so there were a few hiccups along the way where she gained weight and then would have to start over again.
In 2012, she decided to sign up for a half marathon, and recalls that having something to train for made it easier to focus on her weight loss. However, there was soon an unexpected surprise:
“Three months into training, I broke my leg in three places and tore 5 ligaments and tendons by falling down the stairs. ‘OMG, now I have to tell Chris that I cannot run the race.’ “
Jessica had to have 3 surgeries with 8 screws and three plates. She shares that her first doctor was very negative about her future activity potential. She was told she would never be able to run again.
She found another doctor with a more optimistic approach and was soon on a plan that had her walking in 3 months. She signed up for a Marathon in January of the next year.
“It was the most amazing experience I have ever had in my life… If I’m capable of pushing myself to the limit of doing that, there’s no reason that I can’t hit any goal that I set for myself.”
Jessica reflects on how difficult the race was, and even moreso the six months of training leading up to it where people often quit.
“The first day that I did 10 miles was overly emotional.”
What Jessica Learned About Food, Exercise, and Herself
When she first started, Jessica thought she could lose all the weight through exercise alone. She eventually realized that she needed good, clean food to fuel her body.
She realized she wasn’t doing herself any good by eating junk food, and began researching “clean eating” and making adjustments to her diet. Since then, her weight loss has steadily continued.
New habits she has picked up:
- Healthy snacks like almonds.
- Eating breakfast. “Just made me feel better as I went throughout the day.”
- Eating a lot of chicken and fish.
- Having an open mind to trying new things.
“A couple of weeks ago, I tried seaweed for the first time. I’m not a fan, but the old me wouldn’t have even tried it.”
Jessica has discovered that she is stronger, physically and mentally, than she gave herself credit for. She’s also found that she loves running, and just signed up for triathlon later this year. Jessica enjoys having something to train for.
Jessica’s Advice For Your Journey
Jessica’s #1 tip is goal-setting. She recommends starting with a big, long-term goal, and then breaking it down into smaller milestone goals that help you get there.
“Even though it might physically seem harder, it will get easier.”
She also cautions that there will be plateaus along the way. Her advice is to tweak small things, but keep going.
More aspects of Jessica’s overall plan have been:
- Attending a fit body boot camp 5-6 times a week.
- Doing meal prep for the week on Mondays.
- Lean meats, like grilled chicken and turkey burgers.
- Avoiding/Reducing carbs after lunch.
- Eating a lot of vegetables. Her latest discovery is spaghetti squash.
Resources Discussed In This Podcast
- FatBoySkinny on Facebook (Aaron’s TipsOfTheScale interview coming soon!)
- Finally Alive After 25 on Facebook
- You, The Owner Manual by Dr. Oz [ Amazon / iTunes / iTunes Audiobook ]
On Jessica’s Workout Playlist
Jessica shares that she enjoys army cadence while running. She also recommends the “Workout Beats” station on iHeartRadio.
Contacting Jessica
Jessica is currently training for a triathlon, and is motivated these days by helping inspire others. Stop by her social profiles to show some love:
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