My personal Independence Day! (having nothing to do with 1776)


About a year ago, I was a hot mess.  That is a clinical term.  I'm pretty sure they use it in the American Medical Association Journals.  I was incredibly overweight and amazingly out of shape - embarrassingly so.  And to make things worse, I was in kind of a downhill spiral of bad habits.  Since I was out of shape, I didn't exercise, which just made things worse.  My clothes didn't fit, I had zero motivation to look attractive.

One night, I believe it was Bastille Day (French Independence Day), my husband and I got into an argument.  I won't get into the details, but let's just say, some not-so-kind words were said by both parties.  And while it was incredibly hurtful (and I was no angel), there was also more truth to it than I cared to face at the time.  And on that day, I said "enough".  I need to take control of my life back.

It was a few more weeks before we got back to the States (for those that don't know, I was actually IN France for Bastille Day), but I'd talked to my friend Amy a few times and she suggested 21 Day Fix and Shakeology.  I was skeptical.  As someone that's never been thin, I've tried every diet under the sun, and failed at pretty much all of them.  I'm terrible at will power.  But, I figured I didn't have much to lose and I had to try something.

I found the program to be pretty simple.  I didn't have to think about it too much - I didn't have to go anywhere and use their scale, or check in, or talk to anyone about my weight.  I could work out at home, in privacy.  I could eat what worked for me, as long as it fit into the parameters of the 21 DF guidelines.  These things all worked for me.  It felt almost too simple.

21 days.  3 weeks.  How much success can you really have in 21 days?  I think I lost 13 pounds and 4 inches off my waist.  That gave me the motivation to keep it up.  My seriousness waned and waxed throughout the school year - sometimes I was much stricter than other times, but overall, even when I wasn't "dieting", I didn't gain weight.  I trained for a 10K, and successfully finished it... and I wasn't last.

And now - it's been about a year -- Bastille day is right around the corner.  I didn't weigh myself in France, but I'm willing to bet I've lost about 30 pounds, give or take.  I know I've lost at least 25lbs and 8 inches off my waistline.  I'm not, nor will I ever be a Victoria's Secret Angel.  However, I'm not embarrassed to go out in shorts and a tank top.  I bought clothes last weekend in a store that did NOT sell plus sizes - in probably the first time in 5 years... maybe more.

And I feel free.

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