The Biggest Loser is Back on the Scale

Let's talk about weight and weight loss challenge. Shall we?

Oh, don't roll your eyes now. C'mon!

I always have this gut feeling that this topic is something I really need to tackle one way or another since I've been in endless search for weight loss programs and diets.  I was also into bookmarking tons of healthy food recipes and detox concoctions to shed unwanted pounds I've carried all my life.

And there's no way I will let this blog devoid of this very important issue and let this topic go untouched because this blogger definitely had her hands on this issue many moons ago. And yes, this 50-ish woman needs to share her take on this fitness precept to show the millennials that - Golden Girls are not necessarily up to no good in terms of physical challenge.

"I've been trying so hard" - is the understatement of the century. At least on my part.

First things first. Why do I want to write about this? Am I just carried away by the current influx of health buffs and fitness gurus who are trying to influence people into buying their stuff? Am I trying to create a product myself to sell too? Or am I just running out of topic to blog about?

Well I can answer YES and NO to all of the above. But there are couple of things I can think of why I did what I did.

1. I didn't like the way I look in my photos.


and

2. I was outrageously heavy, it's not even funny.

Not everybody know that fitness and health are as important as shoes and purses to me. Are you kidding me? I am obsessed with them! Their significance is not because these topics are two of the hottest issues that people read about nowadays. Nor because almost every bloggers in the entire blogosphere are blogging about them. So why not, right? But not really.

I had to admit, I was skeptical about fitness and health shenanigans at one point and thought that they are just some kind of a trend that would eventually fade away if not taken over by new trends. And yes, I doubt every photos of people who post their "before and after" physical transformation photos online simply because I know how photoshop works.

Now, take a look at me years ago. Here are my un-photoshopped photos from 2007-2012 to prove a point.

Long before the internet got flooded with health and fitness blogs I was already struggling with mine for as long as I can remember. Trust me, I read every single thing there is about weight loss. I have tried every weight loss program (I think) and every detox recipe I found. Pinterest was my BFF for the longest time.

And in 2010, I've decided to lead a healthy lifestyle. That decision was not out of whim, mind you. It was as real as the fair of shoes I bought right after I crossed the finish line in March of 2011 when I ran my first 5K. And my intention was as serious as my desire to get that MK purse that matches the shoes. Seriously! Living a healthy life is a choice I should have made long before both my parents died of heart disease.

So that year, I've decided to write about the Biggest Loser Weekend Challenge in this blog. My intention was to make myself accountable for my own health and fitness journey. I even tried to encourage others in joining me in the challenge but no one was interested to join me. Well, it didn't hurt my feelings though. I understand that making that choice is hard enough. I don't even know why I did it in the first place.
Anyway, the challenge didn't even last for a whole year. I gave up after a few months. It was so taxing for me. It was a tedious process because I had to prepare and cook my food then, take photos. Weigh myself then, take photos of the scale. And then, blog about it with the photos I took. Then, I got tired and quickly ran out of ideas maybe because I focused more on the "food and photo" aspect of the challenge. The preparation I put into it was ridiculously exhausting.

Finally, I got discouraged because it wasn't working the way I wanted it. I wasn't losing weight. I was a LOSER. Period.

That year, I stopped doing the challenge but I found passion for running. I was so motivated in running that I ran 2 races every month which gave me the reason to buy new pair of shoes every race I finished. Yes, I was so motivated in shopping which cause a ripple effect on my financial situation (which by the way will eventually have a series of blogs about it too).

I bought every single running gear I want but not necessarily I needed. You know what I mean, you do the math. The weight? I even forgot about it. I did lose some pound but not much to brag about because I carbo-load for every race I ran so whatever I lost before the race I put it back on after pigging out on free food after the race. In fact, I almost bought myself a shirt that says - "I run for pizza" because that's what I actually do after each race. My motivation for running went from getting a new pair of shoes to running to the buffet table at the finish line. Seriously.
 But I enjoyed it a lot that I even run in the winter. Actually, winter running is my kind of run.
 
In 2015, I've decided that I really needed to make a radical lifestyle change and give weight loss challenge a second chance. It was out of whim I had to admit. And I will not lie that I tried many times to make healthy choices over and over again since my 2010 failure with no success. However this time, I was really serious with a capital S.

I took a 360 degrees turn and turned my life upside-down. I gave up a lot of things and the food I love because I know that no matter how much time I spend running I will not reach my goal if I will not change my eating habit. The change was so drastic, it wasn't even funny.

I. Gave. Up. Bacon!

I. Gave. Up. Sugar!

I. Gave. Up. Soda!

I. Gave. Up. Processed Food.

I. Gave. Up. Wheat!

I. Gave. Up. Buying. Shoes. Too!

I gave them all up all at the same time with closed eyes but not the shoes though. It took me a while to give them up. It was nerve-wrecking. I almost went through a series of shoes withdrawal. Just kidding.
I run. I workout. I lift weights. I belly dance. I do yoga. I do pop pilates.

I cook. I laugh. I smile. I sleep.
And I have never looked back! I didn't even regret giving up my "breakfast in bed" every weekend. Though I had to admit I miss it. I used to have "breakfast in bed" every weekend but since I gave up bacon, my Sweetest never make me breakfast anymore because bacon is the only food he can like to cook.
Since the lifestyle change, I am happy with how I feel and look now. I feel more confident and full of energy. I never felt better and younger than when I was in my 20s.
I feel stronger and lighter. I can even do crow pose now too.

My fitness journey is not as significant as any other weight loss journey ever documented but mine is my favorite because I was in it. It is my journey. I created it. I survived it. And I am living it.
And to make it official, I came up with the "before and after" photo of my fitness journey to remind myself of all my hard work. I have no qualms of posting this before and after photo because deep in  my heart I know that this is not photoshopped. My family and closed friends know these are not photoshopped. It is as real as my shoe collections. Just sayin'.
My fitness journey is just any other journey full of struggles and challenges. I know too that down the road, I might encounter a few setbacks or may wonder away the right path. So I hope that through this, I will remain accountable with my actions and choices so in case I fall off this blog will help to bring me back on the right path again. I can't say that my journey is perfect but for me it is the best I can have.

And I hope that this journey will continue to be my lifestyle for as long as I live.




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