I smoked for 15 years and after I quit, I gained weight and realized it’s a lot harder to lose then when I was younger. I have exercised induced asthma especially in humidity and it scares the hell out of me. I want to help my body heal.
With this challenge I was hoping through exercise and clean eating to improve my attitude, appearance, and overall wellness. This IS absolutely what I got out of the last 12 weeks. I made a choice to become healthier and hopefully lower my chances of heart disease from all the crap I had been eating for 34 years.
SKFitLife helped me with this choice. I was super excited and glad the challenge focused on support and positivity. Clean eating was a completely new concept for me…I thought I could out train a bad diet. In April I started going to the gym 4x a week but still ate whatever I wanted. I lost a few inches and 2 lbs…in 3 months. There wasn’t much difference in my body. I was not reaching my goals. I was busting my butt at the gym and not getting the results I wanted. I started to think my body would not change and that I couldn’t do anything about it.
My good friend joined the SKFitLife challenge and asked me to join too. I refused because I wasn’t ready for that commitment level. I watched her change both mentally and physically and said to myself…if she can, I can.
She inspired me and I signed up. I was overwhelmed at first because there was so much information. I took it in a little at a time and gave myself the time to understand everything.
I love the support group of like minded women cheering each other on the good days and picking each other up on the tough days. I think the accountability pictures were really motivating and loved seeing every ones different recipes and clean eating ideas.
I started feeling better after about 2 weeks of clean eating. I was energized and more awake. I noticed I was getting stronger around 4 weeks. At week 6 I started having issues with food. I started falling into bad habits again. The group really helped me motivate myself to stay clean by posting food accountability posts and pictures. By week 8 I looked at my pictures and was AMAZED!
I was starting to not only feel the results but SEE the results too! My skin looked better, my waist had slimmed and I had lost 6 lbs. Clothes fit better and I went from a size 14 to a 12. The last 4 weeks I have had some health injuries with my back and illness. I was not able to complete all the workouts. I modified them to prevent further injury, and continued the clean eating.
Week 12 came fast, and I am down to a size 10. That’s 2 whole sizes in 12 weeks.
Total weight loss 7lbs. I also have abs!!!! After 2 kids, I didn’t think that was even possible. I have learned to believe anything is possible.
I am able to run further distances without my inhaler and feel stronger than ever. I know I am in charge of my body and my results and that if I give my body the fuel it needs to improve than it will. The SKFitLife challenge is like having a personal trainer all the time. It helped me stay motivated and mostly on track. It taught me to forgive myself if I binge and pick myself back up then learn from it. Don’t dwell on the past… Just because I ate an Oreo doesn’t mean “the day is shot…so I should…have 6 more…and restart tomorrow.”
I ask myself “What caused me to eat the junk…stress? Is it a lack of water? Is it un-timed eating? I gained the skills I need to improve my overall well being, improve my health and achieve an overall better body both on the outside and inside.
My next goal is to get better with the clean eating. I am about 70 percent clean in my eating these days. This was a huge hurdle for me since I now realize I was eating the worst possible things, all the time. My plan is to enjoy a snack here and there and move on. I am going to continue my workouts because I feel better when I combine them with the clean eating.
My biggest take away from this is the knowledge that I CAN CHANGE MY BODY! IT’S UP TO ME! I used to think nothing was going to work for me… so I’d give up and just continue with my bad habits…now I can see my progress through pictures and the support around the whole program is amazing. I’ve had a GREAT time and met GREAT people. I will continue with the principles and continue to improve my overall health and well being.
