Post by daniweeks on Nov 7, 2013 11:47:09 GMT -5
Has anyone woke up one morning and said to themselves, “Where did this weight come from?”. For some of you that might be the case, but for me it was more like an out of body experience. I knew I was gaining weight, but I felt more like a casual observer and watched it happen. I knew exactly where it came from, how it got there and that despite everything I know about exercise and nutrition it happened anyway. It wasn’t that I was in denial about gaining weight; it was more that I thought I had it under control and could reverse this at any time. (Anyone else have a similar thought?) Then when I reached my peak at 155lbs last year, I knew that I didn’t have it under control. My exercising had been pretty lax, but mostly my diet was out of control. I had a really hard time admitting to myself (let alone in a tell-all blog to friends, family and strangers) that my diet consisted of crap. I wasn’t raised to eat processed food, fast food or a ton of meat, but that’s what my diet had become a year ago. So had did all of this happen? When did my diet change? When did I stop doing my absolute best in my exercise routine? And finally the question all of you were thinking and my biggest question, “How does a Personal Trainer gain 25-30lbs?” The answer to the last one is because I’m human, I’m not perfect. I’ve never expected my clients to be perfect, weight loss is a journey and while I was clearly not being perfect, the truth was I wasn’t even following my best advice. Ouch that hurt to write! The answers to the other questions are a little bit more difficult to answer.
I could say that the change in my diet directly correlates to meeting my husband and his introducing me to the wonders of fast food. However that would be seriously unfair, and it would make me look like a wimp because after all I had a choice. So in the end, I chose to change my diet with him, but in reality, I had developed issues with food long before then. As far back as I can remember I was tiny (I’m still pretty short) and weight was never an issue in my family, we ate well and all of us were pretty active. But I remember dealing with stress pretty poorly, namely eating junk. That extended into college too, if something was overly stressful, I would either eat, or at that time drink and then I would feel better. But at that time I had my age on my side, and the fact that I was too busy to really eat a whole ton of food. Well, life only gets more stressful and by the time I got married I was already closing in on 140lbs. Couple that with my husband being deployed for a year, working a stressful job that I started to like less and less and my coping skill being food, it’s no wonder I gained so much weight. It’s funny too, how when you get on a downward spiral it’s so easy for food to become a crutch.
Now I said my peak weight was last year right? Well I have been working on my weight for most of the year and at the beginning of it I lost 10lbs. And for the most part I have kept it off. My diet this year is completely different than it was last year. I’m eating at home the majority of the time, and I’m eating a lot more fruits and vegetables which I love. But at times of stress I still tend to overindulge, hence this self-realization journey and thus this blog. I’m writing this to invite you on my journey but at the same time to keep myself honest. My hope for those of you reading this is that it leads to a change in your habits which would require some serious self-reflection. If you change your diet and start exercising, but don’t address the issues that got you there in the first place then you’re most likely to go back to where you started. Remember weight loss is a journey and right now I’m inviting you on mine. I hope that as you read about my progress you also learn and get inspired.
-Danielle Weeks CPT
I could say that the change in my diet directly correlates to meeting my husband and his introducing me to the wonders of fast food. However that would be seriously unfair, and it would make me look like a wimp because after all I had a choice. So in the end, I chose to change my diet with him, but in reality, I had developed issues with food long before then. As far back as I can remember I was tiny (I’m still pretty short) and weight was never an issue in my family, we ate well and all of us were pretty active. But I remember dealing with stress pretty poorly, namely eating junk. That extended into college too, if something was overly stressful, I would either eat, or at that time drink and then I would feel better. But at that time I had my age on my side, and the fact that I was too busy to really eat a whole ton of food. Well, life only gets more stressful and by the time I got married I was already closing in on 140lbs. Couple that with my husband being deployed for a year, working a stressful job that I started to like less and less and my coping skill being food, it’s no wonder I gained so much weight. It’s funny too, how when you get on a downward spiral it’s so easy for food to become a crutch.
Now I said my peak weight was last year right? Well I have been working on my weight for most of the year and at the beginning of it I lost 10lbs. And for the most part I have kept it off. My diet this year is completely different than it was last year. I’m eating at home the majority of the time, and I’m eating a lot more fruits and vegetables which I love. But at times of stress I still tend to overindulge, hence this self-realization journey and thus this blog. I’m writing this to invite you on my journey but at the same time to keep myself honest. My hope for those of you reading this is that it leads to a change in your habits which would require some serious self-reflection. If you change your diet and start exercising, but don’t address the issues that got you there in the first place then you’re most likely to go back to where you started. Remember weight loss is a journey and right now I’m inviting you on mine. I hope that as you read about my progress you also learn and get inspired.
-Danielle Weeks CPT
