So my journey to losing weight started 3 years ago in April of 2012. I was 35 years old and weighed in at 300.5 lbs. I’m 5’10, but even that’s not tall enough for that much weight. My health was now a concern.

I have Lupus and Sjogren’s syndrome and this weight was adding to my health issues. I knew the time had come to get this under control because I couldn’t keep heading down the path I was on. Thursday April 5th, 2012 was my 1st low cal. day. It wasn’t so bad, even the 150 ounces of water I was drinking, but I had a long road ahead of me. My goal was to lose 125 pounds and by rough calculations I knew I was looking at 6-8 months. That was daunting.

So I stopped looking at the big number and focused on the little ones. I focused on 5 pounds at a time. I hit 10 and would say watch out 15 pounds here I come. This journey was an emotional roller coaster. I had ups and downs and happy moments and moments when I stormed out of the kitchen saying ‘I quit’. This was a lot of hard work, between the shopping, prepping and cooking. When I wasn’t at work I was at the store or in the kitchen. It was exhausting at times. And frustrating when the scale wouldn’t move for days. I would think what’s the point? I’ll tell you what the point is, 3 years later I weigh in at 173.5 lbs.

Trust me this was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but at my weakest moments I would think if I quit then what? What would be my excuse for quitting? I didn’t have one. So I would regroup get my butt back in the kitchen and continue on. I finally realized the scale did not define me or my success. How I was feeling and the fact that I was finally in control of my eating is what mattered. My clothes were getting bigger week by week so that was a sign that I was headed in the right direction. I stopped looking at this as a diet, but a new way of life. I did 6 months straight in 2012 and lost 100lbs and maintained that until March of 2014 and did another 21 days and reached 187.5. Maintained that until March of this year and did another 21 days and finally reached my goal. It took time and determination, but worth every second of it.

You can do this Team Breakthrough!!!

Cheering you all on,

Coach Nadine