PART 4: HOW I LOST 120 POUNDS
Today is the fourth installment of my weight loss interview! Don't worry, you don't need to read the installments in order. Each part has it's own set of questions. Do you want to know how I lost 120 pounds and how you too can lose weight? Well then you're at the right place! Today I'm talking about what you'll need to get started on your fitness. With very little, you can make a BIG change. There's no time better than right now to take that first step to a new you. The first step is the hardest but each one after that gets easier and easier.
If you take one day at a time, you'll amaze yourself at what you can accomplish. No goal is too big. You can achieve anything if you work hard and stay focused! Losing weight and getting fit will not only give you a healthy body that provides the energy you need for a happy, busy life but it will also give you a healthy mind that will open up a whole new you to the world. A you that will be filled with a new found positivity and passion in all that you do. Healthiness and happiness is just a few choices away!
LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!
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{Novelist Jillian Neal interviewed me and asked me fantastic questions on what my experiences were like throughout my weight loss journey. Our interview was published in four installments. Below you will find the fourth installment. You can find the original publication of this interview on Jillian's blog here.}
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PART 4: Interview with Gabby
Well, today, I am bringing you the final installment of my interview with Gabby, weight-loss guru and very hot mama! Don’t worry! I’m hoping I can talk Gabby into doing a regular monthly spot on the blog because I know you’re all enjoying reading her, and I certainly have loved featuring her! If you have ANY other questions for Gabby just add them to the comment section of this blog, and I will pass them along to her! She will gladly answer.
Today, we’re discussing weight loss products, and I asked her perhaps the most important question of the entire interview. When she lost the weight, what did she gain? We know she gained her health, her energy, a healthier family, but today we’re talking about the passion that erupts when you take claim of your own life!
I want to say a very special thank you to Gabby for her inspirational weight loss story and for being the phenomenal woman that she is.
Here we go...
1. What products, if any, would you suggest to my female readers that you feel they should invest in, if they want to begin working out and losing weight?
If you’re going to buy anything, buy yourself a decent pair of tenners (that’s tennis shoes for all my Southern readers ;) and a serious sports bra.
Good shoes and a good bra are more important than you think!
You need a quality shoe that will provide support for your feet and ankles. Buy a sturdy cross-training shoe. Cross-training shoes are reinforced on the sides to help support your feet better. You’re about to start movin’ and groovin’ for maybe the first time ever. The last thing you need is to twist an ankle or sprain your foot.
Shoe Shopping Tips:
1. Buy your shoes in the afternoon. That is when your feet are the largest.
2. Don’t buy a shoe that just fits and is bordering on being snug in anyway. Don’t go on the assumption that you’ll wear them in.
3. Buy shoes that have a tiny bit of wiggle room so as to accommodate the constant movement and pounding of your feet during your workouts.
The shoe industry has just exploded in the last 10 years. There are so many brands and so many different types of shoes to choose from. It can be overwhelming. Fortunately, all of the major shoe brands are made extremely well. It’s just a matter of which one fits your feet the best. I happen to be a Nikey girl. I have very high arches in my feet and Nikes fit me the best. I also have a couple pair of Sauconys that I love. But you really can’t go wrong with any of the major brands. Nike, Reebok, New Balance, Saucony, Asics, Under Armour. They are all great.
Okay, let's talk about bras. You absolutely need a quality sports bra that will keep your girls in their place. This is even more important for my fellow busty ladies. I nearly knocked myself out when I first started working out. I had one flopping this way and the other flopping that way. It was ridiculous, not to mention pure torture for my back. Every time they would bounce and flop, my back was being strained (which was already bad anyway). I found that throughout all of my workouts, I would have to cross my arms over my chest to hold them still. OMG I swear to you, me doing jumping jacks was the most unbelievable sight you’d ever want to see.
I was 260 pounds of pure awkwardness with boobs bigger than my head. Every time I jumped up, I looked like a giant explosion of boobs, rolls, and hair. God bless my husband, the poor dear, he tried not to but he and my four year old were both in total hysterics when they rounded the corner and first saw me trying to do jumping jacks. I couldn’t even get mad. I looked like a circus act. I stopped what I was doing and joined in the cackling. We were all rolling on the floor. Oh my, what a long way I have come. So yeah, go get those support bras! Nobody should have to lose an eye for the sake of fitness.
When buying a sports bra, you will have many more options if you are smaller-breasted . Even the sports bras available at Target and Walmart are great for small to medium cup-sized women. A friend of mine swears by the Danskin Racerback bra that Walmart carries for $12. Champion, Under Armour, Adidas, Lululemon are all good brands.
I am a chesty gal. I have found only two bra styles that truly work for me: Victoria’s Secret Angel Sports Bra and Victoria Secret’s Runway Sports Bra. They are pricey, but I can’t find anything that holds me in better. I’m a D cup so I need to make sure my girls are supported otherwise things get waaay too bouncy. I’m sure there are dozens of other brands that would also be great for larger cup sizes, but once I found something that was perfect for me, I decided to look no further. I would suggest you try some on and while you’re in the fitting room, jump up and down. Jump like you’re getting paid. Make the woman in the next fitting room wonder what in the world is going on! Haha!
As for any types of equipment, I think it comes down to what you’re interested in trying. I started off with a tiny set of dumbbells and worked my way up from there. Honestly, if you’re just getting started, all you need to do is move.
Start walking for your cardio. For your weight training, start with basic body weight resistance exercises. Here is a beginner video of me showing you some very basic body weight resistant exercises. This novice video of mine was made way back in the beginning of my blog. The picture is grainy and by all means amateur but you will get the basic idea of how to perform each exercise and how to put together a beginner body weight workout.
You really don’t need to spend any money on equipment until you have a better idea of what kinds of things you want to do. For now, you just need your body and a floor. I'm pretty sure you have both of those!
There are a lot of fitness apps out there that are very useful. Lose It, My Fitness Pal, and fitbit are just to name a few. They keep track of everything. They not only keep food and exercise logs, but they also provide the nutritional facts of pretty much any food.
A fitness app will also tell you how many calories each exercise burns. It adds up your food calories and subtracts your exercise calories so that you'll always know how many calories you have left to eat that day (that is if you’re staying within a certain range). Fitness trackers like fitbit also have a motivation component where you can link up to friends and family to track each other's progress and even have challenges with each other to see who gets the most steps that week. There's also a goal component on almost all tracking apps where you can enter your weight and keep track of the goals you’ve set for yourself. This can be very helpful to someone losing weight.
I would recommend fitness apps for anybody getting started and even seasoned weight loss veterans for when they hit a plateau or a setback. It makes you feel organized because everything is logged in one place. And it does a lot of the thinking for you in regards to figuring out how many calories you’ve already eaten and giving you nutrition facts on everything you’re eating.
2. How long did it take you to lose the initial 120 pounds?
It took me 21 months to lose 120 pounds. To some that may seem like a long time, but I don’t think so at all. I spent 10 years being obese and miserable. In less than two years time, I got my health back, a dream body, and a completely new lease on life. And, let me tell you, the way the days and months whiz past, two years goes by quick. It’s more than worth the work and effort.
No matter how much weight you have to lose and no matter how long it’s going to take, it’s worth it. Every single minute you put into your health and fitness is a minute you spend taking care of yourself.
You got unhealthy by neglecting yourself, by putting everyone else first, and by ignoring your own needs. You got unhealthy because you lost sight of how valuable you are.
Losing weight is about finding yourself.
You’ll lose more of the weight that has been sitting on top of your shoulders and more of the weight that’s been sitting so heavy on your heart than you could ever lose off of your stomach or backside.
When you're done with your weight loss journey, the view at the top of the mountain is a breathtaking sight and worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. But until then, it's important to take time to acknowledge and appreciate all the beautiful views on the way up.
3. When I shed the 65 pounds, I discovered a whole, new passion within myself. I sat down and wrote, and wrote, and wrote. I'm now working on my thirteenth novel. Is there anything that you do now that you would never have had the confidence to do when you were 260 lbs? How do you think having a healthy body allows us to access our passions for life?
Wow. This is a great question. Having a body that is nearly half the size of my old body has definitely given me the courage to try new things. Joining an all-male boxing gym, going on hiking trips with friends, dancing the night away, and hitting the weight room with a bunch of guys every day… these are all things I most certainly would have NEVER been doing as a 260 pound woman. However, as a 260 pound woman I probably wouldn’t have been physically able to do those things, even if I wanted to (which I didn‘t). So yes, I definitely have the physical confidence in myself to try new things as well as the courage it takes to put myself out there in a new environment.
Aside from the courage to explore and experience new things and test my new physical abilities, even more change has happened deep within me. With a healthy body, comes a healthy mind. You can’t change your entire life and work so hard for a strong and healthy body and have it not change you on the inside. It is these changes that occur deep within us that give birth to new dreams and new passions. And it is our new found strength and confidence that gives us the belief and the courage to act on them.
It is absolutely incredible to see the domino effect that comes from the simple decision to lose weight. In the beginning the most important thing to you is to lose weight and be skinny. But in the end, how you look and what size you wear is not that important anymore. You feel alive. You feel brand new. It is for this reason that you not only find new passions, but you have the confidence and the courage to nurture them.
My journey has sparked a passion to empower other women to start their own journeys, even if that means I have to share some of my deepest, darkest moments. Before I started on my journey, I would have never had the confidence or courage to share my weaknesses or struggles with others. Now that I’m on the other side I realize I’m no different from anybody else.
We ALL have struggles, get knocked down, and make mistakes. And there’s no shame in it.
There are so many things I know now that would have helped me throughout my journey. I want to share this knowledge and the lessons that come with it. This passion is why I started my blog.
I mean, how amazing would it be if my journey could help someone other than me! I am a strong believer in empowerment. I believe women should stick together and pull strength from each other. I firmly believe that one of the most powerful and beautiful sights is that of a woman who stands proud with her head held up high.
A woman who believes in herself is a force like no other. Just think, if all of us would stand together we could… well... I’m pretty sure we could rule the world.
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Want to read the rest of my interview?
You can click on the pictures below or click these links:
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Don't forget to check out Jillian's blog and her bestselling (and spicy hot!) romance books. I've read every single one and I keep telling her she needs to write faster!
*The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content in this article is for general information purposes only. I am not a doctor, nor am I a dietitian. Talk to your physician before making any changes in your diet or exercise regimen. The information found in this article is from various sources which include, but are not limited to, the sites listed above. I encourage you to do your own research and talk with your physician before making any changes in diet or exercise. What has worked for me may not work for you. This information in this article or on this website should never replace or serve as medical advice.
NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR HAVE ACCESSED THROUGH THIS WEB SITE.
