Friday, August 14, 2009

RosetheFitnessInstructor's Weight Loss Story!




My weight-loss story
By: RosetheFitnessInstructor

It was a hot, humid, Saturday afternoon. I was sitting in my bed in a house with no air conditioning. I was completely uncomfortable in my own body and with no energy whatsoever. This is when I knew that I had to do something.

At that time, I was probably around 238 pounds. Yes, I just put my weight out there! I don’t weigh that number anymore, but I want to remind women out there that it’s just a number…it doesn’t define you. In fact, I’m not very far from that number now! Shocking, but you’ll see why J.

I started looking into weight loss options, not sure where to go and what was successful. I was reluctant to spend money on something that I didn’t know would work for me. After all, what’s good for one person may not work for the other person. I was at church one day and the pastor’s wife pulled me aside for a chat. She told me she noticed that I’ve gained weight and she knew it was from a lot of recent stress in my life. Without knowing I was exploring my options, she told me about her success with WeightWatchers and she thought it would be a great program for me. That had to be a sign from God or my guardian angel at the very least. Little did I know how much that conversation/intervention would change the rest of my life.

I started WeightWatchers one summer before senior year of college. I lost 20 lbs that summer and I was feeling great! My sorority sisters started to notice my results and wanted to join in the success as well. So when school started, not only did I have a few gym buddies, but I had lunch buddies as well. It was awesome…the constant support I got from my sisters kept me going. We worked out together, ate healthy together, had a yahoo listserv for all sorority members who were doing WeightWatchers to share their success and challenges.
Before I knew it, I lost 68 lbs! My body completely changed. I was a size 18 and I went down to a size 8. I was a 40DDD bra size and went to a 36D. Most importantly, I had tons of energy and found a new love for physical activity.

I graduated from college and moved back home with my mom and brother. I quickly realized how easy it was to lose weight in college where the food was made and the gym was a walk away. I controlled what came into my single-dorm too. Now, I had to fight the temptation of trail mix, cookies, fried food, etc. etc. The gym wasn’t close and after long days working in the “real world”, I started to get tired and wanted a night to just chill and not mess up my hair! It was hard but I managed. It helped that I found a gym which soon became my new family. I got hooked onto the group fitness classes and would sometimes take 3 classes in a row (three hours total).

But then I started to get ahead of myself. I would “cheat” every other day and tell myself “its okay, you’ll burn it off tomorrow”. The thing was, my body was starting to change as I entered into my later 20’s…my body stopped growing completely. I wasn’t burning off the calories as fast as I used too. The weight started to creep back up. Not enough for others to notice, but the scale did and my jeans started to feel a little snug.

So I thought I needed to step it up. This is why I became a group fitness instructor. I figured I would really kick it into gear because I didn’t want to stand in front of 20-40 people at a time, with my belly sticking out. I wanted to be a role model and be the image you see on TV when you think of a fitness instructor. That’s still not working for me! I’ve gained about half of the weight I’ve put on…and I gained one jean size. So I know most of it is from muscle as I teach BodyPump, but I also know a lot of it is from poor food choices. However, I’ve still become a role model for others. Women who are nervous about entering a gym class for the first time won’t feel intimated when they see me. They see a real woman doing the workouts and the moves that may seem intimating. I can tell they feel inspired because they come back! This is why I love to teach.

I’m still working on losing the 30 lbs I gained. I think it’s funny that 30 lbs ago, I thought I was still too heavy. But now I know that I want to be a healthy girl..not a skinny girl.

Major moral of my story for success: You can’t have one without the other. Eat right and work out. No short-cuts because they will come back to haunt you later. Keep it slow and steady…that’s the best way to lose.

10 comments:

Madame: The Journey said...

Congrats on your progress, and committment to press on, despite a few set-backs. Further, reaching out to others through being instructor sounds like an ultimate accountability factor and support tool ... as you all focus on goals.

HealthyFabRose said...

Thank you, Madame! I hope my story inspires others to start their weight-loss journey or to get back on that wagon if they've fallen off :).

Laura B said...

You really look fantastic-well done! I really hope that your story will inspire others to be persistent.

Fitness Goddess said...

Very Inspiring! I am encountering similar problems. I work out alot, so times I let my self "cheat." Thanks so much for sharing!

Erin Huggins said...

Great job on the weight loss. You inspired me a lot.
Cheers,
Erin

Ponderful said...

Hey Rose:
Good Advice. I lost 50lbs on Weight Watchers when I was in my 30s. but now I am 51, exercise every day and keep count of my calories and still havent lost much weight. Any suggestions?

RosetheFitnessInstructor said...

Hi Ponderful,

Each women is different, so I would probably need to know how many calories you are taking in and how much you are burning off. Your body may be telling you that it's happy where it is, or you may need to mix things up if you've been doing the same thing. Talk to your doctor to see if she/he has any recommendations as well. Either way, don't give up on living the healthy lifestyle...being healthy is a lifelong commitment no matter what the scale says. As said in my story, I've gained back 1/2 the weight back but only went up one jean size. So I know I'm doing something right...despite the scale telling me I'm not.

Keep up the great work and keep me posted on your progress. If you're on Twitter, follow me @rosehooks.

Cheers,

Rsoe

Anonymous said...

Thank you SOO much for sharing that. I recently moved back home as well after a short time out of college and it's true. Losing weight at home is hard. Gaining that nonsense is easy as can be. Hearing about how you managed it encourages and inspires me. I've just (re)started on getting fit (lol) but I'm definitely going to rock it out this time. If you'd like, or if you know anyway, you can check me out at thebodymanifesto.wordpress.com too! I'd love the support and the company.

Alex, aka SocialButterfly said...

Don't think you are an inspiration--know that you ARE an inspiration. You go girl!

Tekeema Parson said...

Awesome story!!! You look phenomenal!!