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If I had to start over today what would I want to know?  

Not the eating or exercise stuff. That has been covered in Body-for-LIFE, the plan that I followed for the majority of my fat loss program.

What would I say if you asked me today:  What do you know now that you didn’t know then? What do you wish someone had told you to make the journey easier?  

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Don’t compare your journey and weight loss with anyone else’s. Your only competition is yourself. Truly it is.

It will take as long as it takes… and in the long run it doesn’t matter how long it takes for the time will pass anyways.  Keep moving forward, even if it’s a half pound or an inch at a time.

Don’t look at a plateau as a plateau – look at it as practice for the “for-LIFE” portion of your journey.

Eat all of your meals, no skipping. There is absolutely no glory in being a small eater.  Your eventual goal is to maintain your size with a healthy metabolism eating as much as you can, not eating like a bird.

Learn to look forward to your exercise. You’re going to be doing it a very long time so you might as well get some joy from it.

The eating/weight training/cardio/mindset training will eventually just become a part of who you are and you will not struggle with it just as now you do not struggle with brushing your teeth or walking and talking at the same time.

It’s worth every single drop of sweat you expend.  It’s worth every single time you tell yourself “No, it’s not Free Day yet” when you want something that is not on your meal plan. It’s worth it. Trust me.

You gain so much more than you give up.

When you “get” it, don’t forget that others haven’t gotten it yet.  Be gentle with those around you for they are on their own journey.

Plain water and green vegetables are your friend.  :->

You are infinitely more powerful, both physically and mentally, than you think you are. 

It doesn’t matter where you start. If you can believe it, you can achieve it, if you will work for it. Period.

Just because you haven’t done it in the past doesn’t mean you can’t do it now.  

Just because you did do it in the past but didn’t hold on to it, doesn’t mean that you will not keep it this time.

You can. The question is “Will you?”

It doesn’t matter how long it takes… you are your only competition.  (Did I mention these already – they are very important.)

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I saw this quote tonight while surfing around and just had to post it.

“I think if people’s lives were a little more exciting they wouldn’t need to eat so much to get some joy out of their day.”

Hmmm… I know that used to be true pre-BFL for me. What about you? Is it time to find some new experiences to focus on? Time to try out something you are interested in but have been putting off until you’ve lost weight?

Now is the time. Expend the energy you were using for food obsession on life reinvention obsession. Picture how you want your life to be if weight wasn’t an issue … and take the first step necessary to get make it happen.

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I’ve been thinking about what was different this time about my losing weight and why I’ve been able to maintain it for going on 6 years now.  Sure, it’s a good thing that I reached my initial physical goals: smaller pants size, normal body weight for my height.  You know, the superficial ones that get us started.  It got me to thinking about what it is that keeps me going now, now that I’m pretty much where I’m going to be.  My goals changed remarkably, and the goals I have now I wouldn’t have known how to even verbalize almost 7 years ago.

Back then all my mental energy was spent worrying about my weight and my size.  I’d wake up each morning wondering if I was going to fit into my clothes and what I was going to wear if I didn’t.  Every day it was the same thing – I’d literally think about my next fix of junk food all day long.  I’d wake up planning on leaving the house early enough to swing my Mickey D’s to get breakfast sandwiches, made sure my meetings were set up so I could have time to go to the vending machines mid-morning.  I’d leave the office at lunch time to grab an Ultimate Cheeseburger or some other similarly health-wrecking meal, and then try to stop myself from stopping on the way home to pick up a snack before going home to fix dinner because by this time I am disgusted with myself.  I’d lay around after dinner because I had absolutely zero energy to do anything else, only to go to bed and promise myself that I would start my diet again tomorrow.  Yeah right… 

Same thing day after day after month after year and because of all the mental energy spent thinking about my weight, I had no energy and no wish to concentrate on anything else.  My weight was my focus.  It was the reason I couldn’t do anything else, whether I wanted to or not.  I couldn’t do what I really wanted to do unless and until I was thin – and that wasn’t happening so I had a reason to not strive for anything better.  Heck, I didn’t even know what else I wanted. I didn’t allow myself to think that deep.

Don’t get me wrong – on the outside my life wasn’t horrible.  I was (and am) married to a good man, have a wonderful gift of a child, a comfortable home, a job with great responsibility – but I hated myself for what I was doing to myself.  I was digging my grave with my fork, to quote Porter Freeman.

I now realize that part of the reason I kept the weight on - and it was my choice, I can see that now in hindsight – was because if I didn’t have the weight to focus on, I would have to focus on the other areas of my life that needed work, and that I just wasn’t willing, or able at that point, to undertake that work.  I would not have the reason of “I’m too fat to do anything about that” any more if I lost the weight.  I would not have a reason why I wasn’t pursuing the dreams I really wanted in life but was too afraid to go after. 

The fat served a purpose.  It kept me from moving ahead and it gave me a reason to stay where I was.  It was a hundred pound excuse – and who could argue with something that big?

As I started to lose the weight, my security blanket became smaller and smaller.  With my biggest excuse for not taking responsibility for my life starting to fade away, I was out in the open.   I was terrified.  I had to learn that if something didn’t go right (defined as the way I wanted), I couldn’t just crawl back into my shell (binge) and say forget it and I’m just not going to deal with it.  I had to deal with it if I wanted to keep the weight off.  I had to go forward and keep trying.  I had to take responsibilty for my life and what I did with it.  I could no longer use the pounds as the reason for not trying. 

And you know what I learned? That failure – or what I would consider failure – wasn’t fatal.  And that the more I tried different things the better equipped I was to try even more.  The more I dealt with from my past (and there was a lot) and the present, the easier it was.  I even started to intentionally do things I was scared of.  That’s worked out very well for me. 

So, what I’m wondering is this:  What is it that you are avoiding dealing with?  Why are you focusing so much of your mental and physical energy on losing weight, over and over again?  What could you be doing if this wasn’t your main energy focus?   How much bigger would your life be if you went after what you really wanted and didn’t use your weight as an excuse for staying put?   

Really think about it – I think you might be suprised of the answers if you are really honest with yourself.  I don’t believe that I am all that different from other people so I can’t be alone in this discovery.

I wasted 28 years of my life wanting and trying to be smaller when what I really wanted was to be bigger - in spirit, in personality, in accomplishments, in community, in faith, in belief, in loving, in friends.

Stop trying to be smaller and just claim who you were meant to be.  Don’t be afraid – it is exhilarating on this side of the abyss.

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It’s not totally about what your body is going to look like when your transformation is well underway, but that is a part of it, and frankly, aside from wanting to be healthy enough to be a bone marrow donor when I began, looking good in clothes was way up there on my list. It was my starting point. We all have to start somewhere, right?

I’m posting these stats because I know there are women out there who, like I once did, have a lot of fat to lose to get to a healthy weight. If someone who had lost a lot of fat had posted their stats where I could see them and relate to them to show me that it was possible to do, I think I would have had an easier time believing that it was something that was possible for me.

So, with that in mind, here they are. They are not easy for me to post, but it has to be done. Keep in mind that I am a 5’4-1/2″ woman, age 45.
 

Before:

Bicep: 16″
Bust: 42-3/4″
Waist: 37-1/2″
Hips: 52-1/2″
Thigh: 31-1/2″
Calf: 18″
Weight: 232.8 pounds
Body fat %: Over 50%
Lane Bryant jean size: 20 stretched out enough that it should have been 22

After Measurements:

Bicep: 10-3/8″
Bust: 33-3/4″
Waist: 27″
Hips: 36″
Thigh: 20-1/4″
Calf: 14″
Weight: 132.5
Body Fat %: 16.4%
Lane Bryant jean size: They don’t make my size

Gap jean size: 2

Again, I post this because there is probably someone out there who is believing right now that there is just no way they can do this because the road is long and honestly, how many people have they seen who have had so much to lose and actually done it and maintained it?

Body-for-LIFE works because #1 – you get to eat 6x a day and let’s face it we need food, #2 you get to work out your body and that creates endorphins and more than likely part of the reason you overeat is because you don’t feel good and those endorphins will help you with that, and #3 if you stick with it long enough to let the good food and good physical activity get your head in a good place, you will begin to be in a position where you can work on the internal stuff, the deep stuff that you were avoiding in the first place by eating and focusing on losing weight.

I believe that I had to get my body in a good place with the nutrition and training first so that I could be strong enough to tackle the hard internal stuff. I had to focus on what I could do before I even knew enough to focus on what I needed to tackle. Make sense?

If you’re too scared to tackle the past issues that made you fat, simply begin by taking control of what you put in your mouth and how you move your body. Once those items are in a good spot, the other stuff will present itself as you are ready to work on it. I still have stuff that comes up to this day. I now recognize it and determine what to do with it accordingly. There will probably always be items, but I am now strong enough to do what needs to be done without punishing myself with extra food.
Don’t let this life transformation process overwhelm you. Do what you can… and when you can do more, you will be given more to do.

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I picked up the two ends of the seat belt and, out of a habit formed long ago, opened the length as wide as it would expand. I firmly pushed the tab into the buckle and pulled the extra length tight to secure the belt low and tight across my hips. But wait – something didn’t feel right. I had plenty of room in the seat and I wasn’t going to have to call the flight attendant for the belt extender. A huge smile flashed across my lips as I realized how far I had come in a short 3-1/2 years.

I first found Bill Phillips’ program back in 1999. I lost 30 pounds of fat and gained 10 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks. I had my after photos taken, went out for a celebration dinner, and never got back on track. Within the next 4 years I gained those pounds back, plus an additional fifty for good measure.

I found it again in the form of Body-for-LIFE in May of 2004. I had just been notified that I was a preliminary match for a man who needed a bone marrow transplant. When asked if I would be willing to be a donor for him, I immediately said yes, but in my mind I was wondering if I would be able physically to undergo the procedure.

The reality of what was involved set in as I went for the necessary testing. Would they be able to harvest the needed marrow from my hip bones with so many layers of fat covering them? Would the surgery be too risky for me now that I was 100 pounds overweight.

It’s not like I hadn’t tried to lose weight and get healthy after that first 12 week challenge. I always tried to. I would take the beginning photos, “try” to eat the 5 to 6 small meals a day, “try” to get to the gym to do the cardio and weights. But all the “trying” led to was lots of undeveloped before photos, an expanding waistline, and an ever growing disappointment, frustration and anger with myself. I was stuck and the pain of the extra weight just wasn’t intense enough to make me do something about it.

When the call came for me to be a donor, I decided then and there that I would do anything I had to to insure that I would be able to donate should I be the best match. I knew that if I could just lose 30 pounds like I had done before, it would make the surgery safer for me and easier for the doctors.

I pulled out the Body-for-LIFE book and began that day. Back then, a level 10 for me was walking my dog a mere five minutes down the block and back, but I did it. The five pound weights seemed so heavy back then, but I lifted them. Some days I got so hungry I couldn’t see straight, but I stuck it out until the next meal. Some weeks it was all I could do to make it to Free Day, but somehow I made it.

At the end of the 12 weeks, I had again lost 30 pounds. It was empowering to know that if they called me tomorrow, I could confidently say yes to the surgery. I immediately began my next 12-week challenge. I had learned my lesson: this was going to have to be something I actually did for life, and I was OK with that.

Right around the second week of the second challenge, the Tissue Center called again. There was another person who was a slightly better match. I remember asking myself, “Why in the world am I willing to work so hard and lose weight for someone else’s benefit, but not for my own? Why is his life more important than mine?” These were hard questions that I didn’t know how to answer.

The answers didn’t come to me immediately, but it didn’t matter. I had decided this was for life, my life, and I was not going to break a promise to myself. That was not who I was any more. It was not what I did any more.

That first year on Body-for-LIFE I lost 80 pounds. I followed the program as written. I learned how to set 12-week goals for myself that helped me to make progress towards my big goal: a healthy, maintainable weight while still having a life. Any diet out there will help you lose weight. The real test is if it is maintainable once the weight loss portion is over. Body-for-LIFE is that program. I’ve easily and healthily maintained my weight loss for years now and can see myself spreading the gospel of BFL until my dying days, which thanks to BFL are significantly farther down the road now.

To tell the truth, as much as I’m thrilled with the weight I’ve lost with BFL, I’m much more impressed with the gifts that I’ve gained: a healthy toned body, an energy level that allows me to go from morning to night, blood chemistries that are normal and healthy for someone my age, and above all a self-confidence that allows me to try and to do things that I never, ever would have thought possible.

At this year’s Texas Living 10 conference, I stood in front of a group of thirty people and shared how I’ve made Body-for-LIFE work for me and my family. I gave testimony to the fact that anyone, anyone, can take this program and incorporate it into their lives and be successful with it. I was scared to death to stand up in front of a crowd and have them actually see me, judge me, but I did it anyways. When I was overweight, I did everything I could to blend into the background, a difficult task for someone over 200 pounds.

At the Tennessee Champions Weekend, I climbed a 3-story rock wall. In the past, I never would have attempted this because I felt too many people would have been thinking “what’s that fat girl doing up there? Look how stupid she looks!” I climbed that wall and rang that bell signifying that I had made it to the top. I came down and cried for all the years of unrealized dreams that wall represented to me.

The old Michelle only dreamed of the excitement and satisfaction of doing these things, the new Michelle actually does them. One by one the old fears are being replaced with the joys of accomplishments. I no longer say “I can’t”. I say “I want to and what will it take to do it?”

If I had to pinpoint exactly what it was about this program that clicked for me, what it was that enabled me to go from knowing what needed to be done to doing what needed to be done, it would boil down to this: I stopped running away from whom I no longer wanted to be and started moving towards what I yearned to be. I stopped telling myself no. “No, you can’t eat that piece of chocolate. No, you can’t have that cake at the party.” I decided to claim the yes’s in my life. “Yes, I choose to eat healthy foods that nourish my body. Yes, I choose to keep my promises to myself. Yes, I choose to live the life I want and to be the person I choose to be.” Yes is so much more rewarding and powerful.

As I pulled that seat belt tight, ready to pull out of the gate, I realized that because of Body-for-LIFE I was ready to take off where ever I wanted to go. I am no longer holding myself back.

The world we live in tells us the task is nearly impossible. The battle to lose significant amounts of weight is the subject of dramatic reality television. During commercial breaks we are bombarded with ads for quick-fix diet drugs, and see-results-now weight loss surgery. As television and the internet increasingly isolate us from the world around us it’s no wonder that those who are facing the weight loss battle alone tend to fail.

We set out through this haze and clutter as a group with a single purpose: to show
others that there is another way to live, one that is within everyone’s reach regardless of where they start. We started obese, unhappy, unhealthy, and alone. Individually, we each found the Body-for-LIFE program and experienced great success. The internet brought us together. As a group we gave each other strength, inspiration, and accountability. That made the difference over our twelve week challenge.

Twelve weeks are never static. Life happens–as Jeannine S. found out. “You have to be able to respond to those challenges and ask for help.” After four weeks of good progress, she saw her measurements stalling, and then stopping. With encouragement from her team she sought out medical advice. Jeannine had contracted Lyme Disease. Having every
reason to quit, she was able to continue her challenge and modify her expectations. She finished the twelve weeks on the path to recovery.

Kelli L. also faced health scares during her challenge, along with an increasingly chaotic work situation. She could control neither her work nor her medical results. She could find comfort and strength in workouts, and in healthy eating. Those were controllable variables in her kaleidoscopic life.

Michelle T. initiated a major change in her successful business during her challenge. While in a state of work transition, she continued to focus on pushing her transformation to the next level. During this time she continued to focus on bringing her message to people in need. “If you hang on long enough, your vision will take you forward, and your pain won’t drag you back.”

Sarah L. is a middle school teacher who started her challenge at the
beginning of the school year. Some women do 12 weeks with a couple of kids needing attention. Sarah had 70 students needing her complete focus. Her challenge unfolded under the observant gaze of her students. Each positive step they watched helped reinforce her message. “You can battle through obesity and adversity to find lasting health.”

Annie K. started her challenge while planning a wedding. Through the
chaos she pushed herself harder and continued to realize her physical potential. Her message to find lasting change: “In order to change the world we need to start with ourselves and yet we need to do it together because there is strength and success in community.”

You don’t have to go through this alone. You don’t have to give up. You can work with a group of people—even if they live far from you—to get the support you need during your fitness transformation. This is what we discovered through our twelve week journey.

Our message to you is simple and from the heart: You CAN do this. You are NOT alone.

If you hang on long enough, your vision will take you forward and your pain won’t drag you back.

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