Believe That You Can Do It!

The title is one tip that our this week’s featured member, Bubbbles2002 would like to share with you. She’s in her mid twenties and she had resigned to the fact that her weight gain was getting out of hand on her. Then she started counting calories and lost 98 lbs. Losing that weight gave her self confidence back and she’s living a much healthier and happier lifestyle.

1. What prompted you to begin this weight loss journey? Did you have an “Aha!” moment?  There were a few different reasons I began losing weight. 1. I have been heavy since I was 10 years old. 2. I have a horrible family history of diabetes, heart disease, etc. My “Aha!” moment came when I went into a store because my clothes were becoming too tight (once again) I began trying on size 26’s and they fit…comfortably. I freaked out and looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Ashley, this is it. I will not do this to myself anymore.”

2. What other “diets” (programs, products, plans, or services) had you tried in the past?  I have tried Atkins (Lost 40 lbs, gained 30 of it back) Weight Watchers (Lost 50 and gained about 10 back).

3. Please describe how you reached your weight loss goal. What changes did you make to your usual diet, activity, lifestyle, and attitude?  Did you implement any other strategies besides Calorie Count?  What was the most important change?  I am still 40 lbs away but I have made many changes in my life. I began working out at a wonderful gym where I feel comfortable and not every woman is 115 lbs. I now work out 6 days a week and take a lot of the classes they offer. I also changed my eating habits. I now use calorie count to log all of my food and it has been the best tool I have found, it keeps me on the straight and narrow! The most important change I have made was letting go of the negative people in my life that I let hold me back for years. I am now my happy self again and I couldn’t be more proud of myself.

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4. Please describe how Calorie Count was instrumental to your weight loss.  Calorie Count has prevented me from eating a lot of foods I did not know were that bad for me. I mean you have your greasy foods, sweets, etc but sometimes I would be eating certain snacks and have no idea as to the calorie content and it has really helped me to get some more of my weight off.

5. What difficulties did you experience losing weight?  I experience difficulties every day because there are so many temptations out there, cookies, cakes, pizza, etc. All of those things are my kryptonite so I try to stay away from them completely, but when I feel I am about to eat something I will regret I think of my life and how I felt when I was extremely obese, it keeps me from making a mistake I will regret 3 minutes later when I have scarfed that food down.

6. How long did it take you to see results? When did you realize that you were a success?  I have been working at this for 2 years but really became serious in 2010 when I joined weight watchers. It was just too expensive for me so I had to find a different route, that’s when I found Calorie Count. I would have to say I realized I was a success about a month ago to be completely honest. It was my birthday…..a lot of pictures were taken of me and I was terrified to see them. When I saw them I almost wanted to cry because I saw ME, not the extremely obese person I once was. I feel comfortable in my own skin now and even though I have a ways to go I have come a long way in loving myself.

7. How do you prevent relapse?  I do my best to prevent relapse by allowing myself to eat a lot of stuff in moderation. It helps me because I have failed many times when I have completely stopped eating the foods I love.

8. How has your life changed now that you’ve lost weight?  Wow, this is an awesome question. What hasn’t changed should be the question for me! I can buy clothes in normal stores, I am healthier and at a lot lower risk for diabetes and heart disease, I know who my true friends are and I have wonderful people in my life who support me.

9. How long have you maintained your current weight?  I’m still trying to lose 40 lbs.

10. What five tips do you have for other dieters?

• Work out- I know it can suck sometimes but try and find something you love doing. I love taking my dance class at the gym once a week; I even look forward to it now.
• Use Calorie Count!  Input everything you have eaten, even if it was 1 or 2 chips, that’s still calories you have consumed.  A mistake I used to make was not logging this information and the result was slower weight loss and not understanding why until I took responsibility for my actions.
• Remember that this doesn’t happen overnight and don’t get discouraged if you get on the scale one week and you haven’t lost a pound, just keep on truckin’ and it will happen.
• It is important to have people around you who support and encourage what you are trying to accomplish.  There are a lot of people that WANT you to fail, even though they do not say it to your face, secretly they are unhappy and misery loves company.  Try to weed these people out as they are only hurting your efforts.
• YOU CAN DO IT!  At one time I thought to myself, I will never lose weight so why try now?  But I promise YOU CAN DO IT if you are ready and willing it will happen!

Source: http://caloriecount.about.com/believe-you-can-do-b514731