Real Life Weight Loss Journey- From Fat to Fit to Fat but Getting Better

I just want to say a huge THANK YOU, to all of the haters out there. Because of you, I have become a strong and independent woman. Because of you I think more highly about myself. Thank you for all the times you put me down and belittled me, because I came out stronger. Thanks for the times you told me I was eating too much, or the times you've told me I put on weight. Thank you for all of your mean messages and texts and harsh words. Because of you, I love myself. Your words and actions mean nothing to me. I chose this weight loss journey for me. Oh did you think it was for you? It wasn't. You might have helped me jumpstart my weight loss path, but I sure didn't lose the weight for you. I did this so when I think about all the times you hurt me, I laugh and say I overcame that. I overcame the fear you instilled in me. I thought you meant something to me, but you were never there to lift my spirits. So I surrounded myself with people that did. I welcomed that positive lif

Everybody has a different schedule.  We all have tons of different time commitments and things we need to do.  We all live lives that involve us to move around and stay busy.  Whether you are a full time student, working full time, a stay at home mom, or anything else, we all have responsibilities. Having a busy schedule can mean less time focusing on our goal of losing weight. We might get so busy we forget to eat lunch and have a huge dinner.  However, this is no way to lose weight.  There are a number of different things we can do to keep losing and do all of our responsibilities the right way. 1.  Bring your tracker/phone with you:  If you track in a book bring it along.  This way you are held accountable for what goes into your mouth whether it is a quick snack or a big lunch.  Same goes with your phone. Track everything you eat.  This way you don't forget about it and end up overeating later on.  We are all on the go but if we can keep a tab on what we eat we won't get

Losing weight is hard. Everyone knows it.  We think we're doing good but we have hit a plateau and can't seem to keep the ball rolling.  This can affect us in many ways.  It can affect our mood, we won't want to go out with friends or have any fun, we will just want to sit at home and be frustrated. We might not have the energy to go to the gym.  We may think about just shoving a bag of chips or cookies down our throat because, why not we aren't losing any weight.  Well these are all negative feelings we need to stop immediately.  Losing weight is really hard.  To quote Coldplay, "Nobody said it was easy."  This journey is full of ups and downs and twists and turns.  It really is a long and bumpy ride. On my journey I hit so many snags.  Some days I felt so down I couldn't get out of bed.  Other days I clung to food as my crutch to get me by.  I didn't think I would ever see the end line.  This was no help to me at all.  By letting my negative though

Hi everyone! Since senior year is here and work is crazy I am going to be posting once a week. I know a lot of people struggle with losing weight and then keeping it off, me having been one of them.  This is a really hard thing.  We go from being super successful and dropping the weight and being super excited about it, to forgetting what works and then backtracking on everything we did.  I know my first go around at Weight Watchers I lost 40 pounds and I was thrilled. I was so proud that I could accomplish that, but as soon as I started to gain this confidence, I started trailing off, and overeating and taking advantage of the situation.  Sure enough I had gained my weight back and more. I was more unhealthy than ever and it took me a couple years to realize it. We all want to be successful.  We all want to be that confident, beautiful babe we know we can be.  That is why staying on track, even when you have been successful is important. Here are some of my tips on keeping the weigh

Hi lovelies, I am so sorry I haven't posted in a couple months.  Life has been very lifey and very frantic with my grandmother in and out of the hospital and work picking up and senior year approaching. But I am back to tell you why fad diets are not good for long term results. Programs like Weight Watchers are designed to keep you eating.  That is what's important.  Starving yourself between meals is never a good thing. Weight loss is like 97% diet.  If you stay eating right continuously throughout the day you will see results.  However, starving yourself the whole day just to save points for that one epic meal isn't good either.  You need to sustain yourself and eat.  Just use those weekly points for that banging meal you're going to splurge on. Diets like the Whole 30 work for quick results but really aren't good for your health.  You are cutting out so many things that your body needs.  Unless you have a severe allergy, for example me with celiac, you really n

I cannot stop talking about Christina.  Her story is so incredible and she is truly a beautiful person, inside and out. I am so happy she let me post her story, because she inspires me everyday. Check her out because I'm 100% positive she will inspire you too.     Hey everyone! I'm Christina! First of all I want to Thank the lovely and always so sweet Sarah for featuring me on her blog! When you grow up overweight everything is a little harder. School was a nightmare for me. I was bullied from 1st grade on and it has permanently affected me. I don't think people really understand how much they can hurt someone. It wasn't until I got to college that I found people who got to know me for me. I struggled with depression and self loathing at every point of my childhood. I comforted myself with food because it was easy. My weight continued to climb and I continued to buy bigger sizes pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. I have tried any diet you can think of

Ashley is so freaking inspirational. I follow her Instagram and constantly get motivated. She looks so amazing. Check out her story and her Instagram! @shrinking_ashley "I've struggled with my weight for a long time. Over the last 10+ years I've done all sorts of fad diets that allowed me to lose a little weight, which I then packed back on plus additional weight after I no longer followed them. My weight snowballed until about 4 years after I had my first baby and decided to give Weight Watchers online a try. I lost a significant amount of weight and was able to get pregnant with my second baby which was wonderful, but unfortunately meant I had to stop following Weight watchers. It took me almost 18 months after having my second baby before I really hit rock bottom and realized I needed to do Weight Watchers again. I started December 3, 2014 and have lost 45 pounds. Weight watchers allows me to eat like a normal person and still enjoy myself while losing weight. I also to

We all have people in our lives that are really important to us, but they might not be on the journey with us.  I have been dating my boyfriend for 2 years and sometimes we can conflict.  He is 110% supportive of my journey, but sometimes it can be hard to watch him eat a billion things because he has the metabolism of a 12 year old boy.  I get jealous of his food, while I am tracking and working hard to stay within my points.  Jealousy is a really crappy feeling.  We want to indulge and participate but we are not in the same spot.  Mike is so supportive of my journey.  He will eat what I eat and make sure that I am sticking to plan.  He always has my back.  But when he gets to eat that extra bag of chips, I can lose it.  This is a bigger factor when we are first starting out. When we first start our journey, we have so many cravings, because we are not satisfied, we are still hungry.  We see our partner, or best friend, or parents eating something that we just want to take a huge bi

Having a support system is probably the most important thing on a weight loss journey.  When you have someone to talk to about eating too much or you need to vent about not losing weight this week, that is a special feeling.  Making friends along the way is very important.  Whether you were already close and you went in on it together or you started an Instagram page and made social media friends, these are all very important.  I started WW with my mom.  She always had my back and never let me overeat and was always there to back me up.  I also made friends in my meetings. We would find healthy places to eat or we would go for walks and workout at the gym together.  This made me feel less alone and more united with people.  Having these people behind me made losing weight easier.  I would call them if I felt upset or before I went to a party I would ask for advice.  This kept me to stay accountable. I then created my Instagram account. I reached out to women and men I did not even kn

On our weight loss journey it is important to keep tabs on everything we do.  Whether it is calculating activity points and keeping up with how much we exercise and keeping up on what we put into our body. Tracking your points/calories or whatever program you use is extremely essential.  This is important because we don't lose track of what we eat or put into our body.  When I was first starting out on my weight loss journey, I didn't track and I tried to do it all by memory.  This would cause me to overeat and I would always wonder why I wasn't losing weight. This confused me and would frustrate me and cause me to have negative feelings.  When I started with Weight Watchers, my leader talked about tracking.  I never thought about writing down what I ate, it seemed kinda silly. But I was up for anything and I was determined to lose. For my first week, I took home a disposable tracker for the upcoming week. To start out, I just wrote everything as I ate it.  I lost the fir

Jessica is such an inspiration. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person and now I am proud to call her my friend. Her posts are so motivational. And her story is even better. Check her out you won't be disappointed!  I was always the skinny, athletic kid growing up. I played basketball, softball, golf, and was in the marching band. I played outside more than I was inside. I was always moving. Then I went to college. The most I moved was walking to class and the very occasional trip to the gym. I would eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. After I packed on some pounds I decided to join Curves. I figured if I was paying for something, I would actually go. That worked for a little while, I lost a some weight, then quit. After graduation and teaching for 2 years, I married my high school sweetheart. We spent our first year of marriage 11 hours apart, and after stress eating I was at my heaviest. Not the way you want to see your husband after being apart! Once living toge

Everyone loves a good party! Hanging out with our friends, laughing and having fun, that's what life is all about, right?  But as great as parties are, we can find ourselves in some negative situations. Food and alcohol are usually heavily prevalent at parties and we can find ourselves dealing with temptations.  Sometimes it's an awkward situation to say no to your friends or family.  I always got the typical, "Oh you aren't eating enough, fill that plate up!" But there are definitely ways to avoid awkward things like this. 1. Bring a pre-food snack like veggies or fruit.  People might say something if you aren't eating but if you keep your plate full, nobody will bug you. Snack slowly that way you avoid eating too fast and filling up on sugars. 2. Call ahead and ask what they are serving.  If you are close with the party host or someone who is close to them, call and see what is on the menu. This way you can pre-track before you go and you know what is i

This is Kimberly's story. She is one of my absolute inspirations on Instagram. I've been following her for awhile and she is such an amazing and fun girl. Her story is so powerful check her out! She's amazing!  About 2 years ago I started my weight loss journey. I went on a starvation diet only eating 500/600 calories a day i lost 30lbs.. My mom, dad, and boyfriend all noticed I was going down a bad path. Thats when my mom and dad forced me to go to a weight watchers meeting with them both of them because they have both done weight  watchers for 10 plus years and had progress. I went to my first meeting on a sunday and fell in love with my leader and my fellow members! I signed up that day to join weight watchers! I went to every single Sunday meeting no matter what. I followed program exactly and lost an additional 35 lbs making my total loss 65lbs!! With out weight watchers I would have gained the first 30lbs I lost on the starvation diet without a doubt! I'm s

I have always been known to be too hard on myself, in every aspect of my life. If I bombed a test, I would beat myself up about it.  If I embarrassed myself, I would harp on it for hours and not think of the humor in the situation. This greatly affected me when I was a heavier version of me.  I would eat and eat and just feel crappy about myself.  I would eat everything that I knew I shouldn't because I felt horribly about myself and I had no self- esteem. I would look at myself in the mirror and say, "Who really cares, I'm fat, and ugly, so what is the point?" This was a feeling that is far too familiar. Having low self-esteem can really damage a person.  When we should be thinking about all of the positive things we have to offer, we think about how awful we are. We look at our reflection and nitpick every minor detail.  Oh I can't stand my pant size, oh my skin is breaking out, my arms and legs are bulging out.  I dealt with this struggle every day for a long t

My weight loss journey up until this point was an emotional roller coaster.  I was down around 17 pounds.  I was starting to gain some confidence in myself back. Before that I didn't really have any.  I was still getting down on myself but I was sticking to the program and just working to better the person I was.  I worked hard everyday.  I ate and tracked my points.  But I had hit a plateau and it was really discomforting.  Hitting a plateau is a really frustrating feelings.  When it feels like you are doing everything right but you aren't losing weight.  I was at 17 pounds down for about 3 weeks. I tried every trick of the trade.  I drank more water. I exercised more and tried changing up the foods I ate. Why was I not losing weight?  This was disheartening.  I started to feel those same negative thoughts coming back and I was scared.  I did not want to go back to that place.  I was doing so good, I was noticing my body changing.  I did not want to stop here.  I did not want

When I was heavier, I dealt with a lot of people calling me names.  Oh you're too fat to get a guy to like you. You are nowhere near as pretty as your friends.  I would always be the one left out if we went out and it is a really lonely feeling. All these guys would wanna dance with my friends and I always felt like the fat girl who would never find love.  There were times I just stayed at home because I did not want to be called names or have my feelings hurt.  I will never forget the time, I went out with friends, and a woman told me that I shouldn't be wearing the dress I was because I was too heavy.  Who does that, really?  But people do. There are some negative people in the world. People will always try and bring you down to make themselves look better. I still to this day, get haters on my Instagram page telling me I still have work to do.  Sometimes I want to let it ruin my day.  Sometimes I just wanna take that bag of candy and eat it, because I still am not good eno

Hannah is one heck of an inspiration!  Down 75 pounds and not looking back, she has changed her lifestyle completely.  Give her a shout out! What a babe! Keep the positivity coming ladies! I've struggled with weight my whole life and tried to lose weight a few times when I was younger. I went to weight loss camp in high school, I even joined weight watchers a few other times with my mom before it finally stuck in December 2012. I came home for winter break and realized I forgot pants to wear, and my mom offered me a pair of her pants. Keep in mind, my whole life, my mom has always been plus sized. In my head, I was in such denial that her clothes would fit me. So when I tried on her pants she offered me and they were tight and a size 16, it threw me for a huge loop. I joined weight watchers the following Sunday right after Christmas, and I haven't looked back. 2 and a half years of blood, sweat and tears later, and I'm totally transformed mentally, physically, and em

Have you ever had a temptation that was so bad that you had to give in?  I have.  Weaknesses are what make us who we are, and everyone has them.  I have a love for all things sweets, and Italian food.  I know if someone was eating a whole plate of pasta, I would join right in.  Temptations are things that we have to overcome.  If we overcome them, we become stronger, and then nothing can stop us. When you have a temptation, fear takes over our whole body.  We can't fight the urges, we just want to give in.  We want that thing that has been driving us crazy.  We want that donut that work put out, or we want pizza on Fridays.  We are not always in charge of our surroundings. External things happen and we might have to take a step back and avoid the situation.  This can be dangerous for us.  We have been killing it all week, but it wouldn't be in my points, but maybe if I just have a little it would be okay.  This is the mindset that can end up screwing us up for a couple days, to

Talk about hot mom alert! Holli has been working hard after having her baby and she is totally killing it! Follow her journey on Instagram for some serious motivation!  My name is Holli (@hollislosinglbs.ww on Instagram.) I am almost 25 and I am 16 months post partum. On February 3, 2015, at my highest weight of 195 pounds, I was laying on the couch(probably eating cookies as usual),  looked over at my fiancé and said "I'm joining Weight Watchers." Always supportive, he said "okay!" Little did I know, just 4 short months later I would be 35 pounds lighter.  Weight Watchers is so realistic for my lifestyle and I am so thankful to finally have my health back. Follow my journey to my final goal weight @hollislosinglbs.ww 

Everyone loves a night out on the town.  Finally done work for the week, and you wanna have fun! Here are some tips for staying within the points and having a healthy evening! Don't give yourself a heart attack over it! 1. Pre-track before you go- Whenever I go to a restaurant, I find out the nutrition info first before I even order the food that way I know whether it will be in my points or not.  I usually try to find something that stays within, but I track everything before it goes into my mouth. 2.  Order skinny drinks- Most bars carry Skinny Girl products now.  Get a lighter version of a drink, for example a skinny girl screwdriver (vodka and OJ) is 3 PP per serving. Cranberry and vodka is also another good bet.  Stay away from brown liquors and yes, Beer.  They are what carry the most points.  If you really need a beer, track it before you go.  You can get the nutritional info easy. 3.  Ask for food modifications-  Some restaurants won't change the menu, even if you

Now it's time for my favorite! Weight Watcher shout outs! I will be sharing women's stories who have really been working hard and living a WW lifestyle! You rock girl! This is Katie: She's epicly beautiful and has been working her ass off.  My name is Katie & I'm 25 years old. I started Weight Watchers on 12/30/14 and since have lost  almost 44 pounds. The pictures are almost 5 months apart exactly, 12/27/14 vs 05/30/15. The before picture is actually the picture that made me go to Weight Watchers. I have been overweight basically my whole life and almost everyone in my family is overweight. I used WW in high school and lost 30 pounds and since then I've tried it a couple more times. I quickly gave up and I gained all that I had lost plus more back. Towards the end of 2014 I just kept getting bigger and bigger, barely any of my clothes fit and I was having trouble even bending over to tie my shoes. I was eating any and everything I wanted, including fast

Sometimes the last thing we want to do is workout.  We had a super long day at work or school, and pretty much just feel like crashing on the couch and watching Netflix.  I mean at least that's how I feel. I just wanna cuddle up with the bf put on a B rated comedy movie and chill.  But sometimes the more rewarding feeling is getting your ass up and out of your sweats and to the gym.  I know that I have a designated two workouts that I absolutely love, and then I have a few that I force myself to do.  Yoga, I live by.  Not only is it a great workout, but it relaxes your mind and releases so much stress. I oftentimes do yoga when I am having a bad day, because I know it will lighten my mood and my stress for the present moment will be lifted. With yoga, you can see some great results as well. The toning that it does to your body is great. When I start to see a problem area, I work harder on that spot in yoga and within a couple sessions, I see results. Pilates is also great for pro

One of the best feelings in the world, is trying on every single article of clothing you own and having none of them fit. Being able to say to somebody, "Looks like I have to go shopping!" is an amazing thing. When you get to that store and you are a size down, you feel like a million bucks.  You look at yourself in the mirror and say, I earned this, this is for me. When someone you've known for a long time, looks at you and asks if you've lost weight, is probably one of the biggest confidence boosters there is.  When someone you love and trust notices your struggles and hardships and sees how much work you've put into improving yourself, is a really rewarding feeling. When you finally get up the strength to say no to that piece of cake or the dessert you really want is a big AMEN to you.  It took me so long to finally get up the strength to turn it down, but when you do everyone always looks up to you.  And you're the baddest bitch in the room. It's

Have you ever felt like you have been doing something for nothing?  You work really hard and then feel like giving up?  Well I have felt that way.  My weight loss was hitting a slower speed and I wasn't feeling the same amazing feeling that I had originally.  Things were happening in my life.  I was busy and stressed and I was stress eating again.  I tracked my points but would go over everyday. This was an issue. I couldn't believe that I was letting this stress get the best of me.  Sometimes it is really hard to overcome.  I did not even feel like going to Weight Watchers because I knew I didn't have a loss.  I did not want to embarrass myself in front of my new friends.  I told my Mom I wasn't going and she said, "Sarah, we never have perfect weeks.  You need to get yourself to a meeting.  It will change everything."  So I said, "Fine, I'll go."  Turned out that weeks meeting was about stress and how to cope.  The lesson she taught us was that

My hard work was starting to pay off.  After going to two successful meetings and losing 7.6 pounds total, I was very excited I was going to hit the 10 pound mark at my third meeting. I went to the gym 3 times a week and I switched between yoga and zumba, tracked everything that went into my body and did not eat anything past 8 PM. I could finally start to see results in my body.  My arms were shrinking, my face was slimming and my belly was losing fat.  I was so excited.  I worked a full day and got in my car and drove to my third Weight Watchers meeting.  I was so hopeful I was gonna hit the 10 pound mark and receive a sticker.  How silly it is to be excited over stickers, but trust me it is. I got in line to weigh in and talked to some of my new friends, I stepped up to the scale and awaited my results. The woman said, "Great job this week!" so I was hopeful that I did it. I took my packet back and walked to my seat and took a look. I lost 9.8 total. Ugh! So close. Totally

Best Gluten Free Chain Restaurants: P.F. Changs- Ummmm, this is by far number one on the list.  It took me so long to find good gluten free chinese, and it was right in my backyard the whole time. Get the Chang's Spicy Chicken,  Pepper Steak or Fried Rice, you will not be disappointed. Applebee's- Yea, I know it's awkward putting this on the list, but they are so accommodating. Every time I go they make me specific things that I order (Grilled Chicken and Potatoes, 9 PP). They cook everything seperately and are really safe about everything. Chipotle- I usually stick to a burrito bowl, but sometimes I venture and get the corn tacos.  You have to tell them how to do it gluten free but they are usually really nice about it and want to make sure they do it safely. Chili's- They have a pretty decent gluten free menu.  The manager will come out and talk to you, which is soothing that they care. Or else it would be a disaster scene.  Not trying to get glutened here.

Favorite Gluten Free Brands! Udi's-  Best gluten free bread out there! Usually you have to toast GF bread but Udi's you can eat without toasting.  Closest thing to real bread you'll get outside a restaurant! Glutino- They make an assortment of bars, crackers, cookies and other goodies.  So good, tastes like the real thing! Scharr-  Scharr is great.  They make awesome pizza crust and pastas. Freschetta- This brand makes the best gluten free pizza you're gonna get outside a restaurant.  They use gluten free pepperoni and other toppings that you can't find in other brands.  Definitely worth getting. Applegate- If you like breakfast foods a lot, definitely buy Applegate's products.  You will get great bacon and sausage and you will not be missing anything at all.  Also their turkey hotdogs are 1 PP and amazing. KIND-  Who doesn't like a Kind bar?  They taste awesome even for people who aren't celiac.  They are usually around 6 pp and good for a

After the first successful meeting, I really felt motivated to work hard and achieve my goals.  I really wanted to be able to set a goal weight for myself but I had to hit 5% weight loss.  I had 28 PP to work with.  Working together with my mom, we thought of meals we could eat each day and started meal planning.  The day started with a chocolate PB2 protein smoothie which was 4 Power Points. To make it you combine: 1 cup silk chocolate soy milk, 1 cup ice, 2 Tbs of PB2 (whichever flavor), and 2 oz of pears and a banana. This was a great way to start the day, because it kept me full for long.  A snack during the afternoon before lunch would be either an apple, or Glutino bar which was 4 PP. Lunch varied depending on if I was at school or work.  If I was at work, I would have chicken and rice, for 8 PP. Brown or White Rice for 5 PP ,  Sautee 2 oz of chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder until cooked, for 2 PP,  when finished place 2 cups of water in pan and 3 tbs of soy sauce for

Me at my heaviest weight of 197. 

This was my start of my weight loss journey.  I was so sick of waking up every morning and not being able to look in the mirror because I was scared to see the girl facing back at me.  That is the worst feeling in the world.  While I was getting used to the gluten free diet, I was thinking of other ways that I could lose weight.  I thought about getting pills to cut weight quickly, but too many people told me that was dangerous.  I was so frustrated, I just wanted the fat to melt away and I could look like the girl I did in High School.  I wanted nothing more than to feel confident in my body.  My mom did WeightWatchers a few times and she lost weight so I figured I would try it.  I asked her if she would go to a meeting with me to see how I liked it.  She thought that was a great idea because she was a lifetime member and had not gone for awhile.  So we went Monday night and I got weighed in for the first time.  I weighed in at 197, and immediately felt this sudden urge of determinati