From Fat to Fit

How I lost 100 pounds in less than 1 year.

Small introduction:

Hi, Its Ericka again, and I want to share with you guys my back story of how I went from 240 pounds to 138 pounds.

LIFE AS A FAT GIRL!

I was overweight practically my whole life, since I can remember. I grew up being the heavier set girl out of all the girls I knew in my school. I never knew what it was like to be slim or fit!

I knew deep down that I wanted to lose weight…. I tried it ALL…I remember buying injection shots from a specific “weight loss doctor” every month in order to lose weight.

“Losing weight is not some magic pill that you take. Losing weight takes determination and hard work! There is no easy way to lose weight, only commitment to yourself, to make YOU happy, because it's all about YOU at the end!”

I went from injection shots, to diet pills, to even not eating at all just to lose weight…

I did lose weight to some degree, maybe 5 pounds, but I ended up gaining the 5 pounds right back! I was unhappy, and so insecure of myself.

I just wanted to be that normal girl that would look and feel beautiful in a nice dress! I got SO bad that I would wear coats in a 100 degree weather just to cover up my fat but it made me look ridiculous and silly.

I hated the way my arms look, I hated the way I felt in my own skin. I just wanted to lose weight but I didn’t know how, nor did I have the courage to do so.

“Being overweight not only affects your health but it also affects your self-esteem, it rips apart your self-confidence and leaves you feeling unworthy of love and acceptance. This also can affect those around you and the people who truly love you.”

Being overweight not only affected me emotionally but it also affected my relationships. I was so ashamed of myself that I didn’t want to let anyone in. I was very good at keeping everyone out. I felt safer that way, no one had to really see the real me, nor could they hurt me either!

I hid my pain very well in my skin, so the more I got hurt, the more I would eat.

Everyone deals with pain differently but in my case I would eat to feel better.

I remember I got pregnant at 17 years old and I was SO afraid to tell my mom that I had gotten pregnant. I told my boyfriend at the time that I was pregnant and that I needed to get an abortion.

We made an appointment 5 blocks from where I use to live. I remember walking in that clinic and paying that lady 200 dollars for my abortion.

As I sat in the waiting room I wondered what this baby would be like, then they called me.

This big tall guy came and called me for a sonogram. Once the sonogram was done I asked for the picture, he told me no, I couldn’t have it.

Then they took me to a room and from then, I remembered nothing else…I do remember still being half asleep when they took me to that awful room..I woke up crying and feeling empty inside with a’lot of stomach cramps.

What was even more sad was what I saw in that room they took me too….there were other young teenage girls like me who had just went through what I just went through……an abortion!

Some cried…some trembled and others just seemed numb.

It was a horrible experience!!

As I sat there waiting to be picked up I remember they gave me some crackers with tea, and I ended up feeling a little better.

This experience drove me to eat even more…..

I started to eat more food and over indulge all the time. And the more time passed, the fatter I got.

All I really wanted to do was erase my pain.

Whats worse is no one knew of my abortion except my ex boyfriend, who payed for my abortion.

We were young and didn’t know better unfortunately…So this is what I mean by wearing my pain in my skin. I just wanted to stop hurting and food was a good pain reliever for that.

I started seeing my relationships get affected by my weight, not because I was fat but because being fat made me insecure of myself. My confidence was completely shot and non existent! I then realized I had to make a change and it took me to hit rock bottom in order for that to happen.

I didn’t want to be how I was anymore, I wanted to look normal for once in my life. I wanted to fit in nice clothes and feel and look like a million bucks! So, I decided to have a salad every night, even though at that time I knew very little when it came to nutrition and health. All I did know was that salads were good for me and I went by that.

I even went as far as getting one of those old gazelle ski gliders from a garage sale that only cost me 5 bucks!

I would get on that glider and glide for one hour straight everyday. I never knew how to work out but I knew that I needed to get my body moving.

Little by little the mountain started to move…

Suddenly the unimaginable happened…I started to see the weight drop…It went from 240 to 230 to 220 then 200…

I cut back the sugar intake and the unhealthy carbs and started to just eat all natural foods. I even bought a journal to jot down everything I ate in a week in order to stay accountable.

This was something I did on my own. I didn’t really have anyone help me through this. I spent countless nights just researching and doing a’lot of study on health and fitness. So….I learned it the hard way!

But I didn’t care, I was determined to lose weight no matter the cause or sacrifice.

The weeks ahead I started to implement a healthy eating lifestyle along with exercise. My workout routine was 6 days a week but I rested on the seventh.

I never did step foot in a gym but worked out in my own living room! Meal prepping was a key to my weight loss success! I would prep my meals and take it to work so I wouldn’t have to eat out or make unhealthy choices.

During my weight loss journey I ended up working in 3 different gyms. The first gym I worked in I ended up meeting my previous trainer Matt and I hired him, during that time I had hit a wall. I stopped losing weight! So I knew I needed to try something out….and I did, his name was Matt! We did a few sessions together and it was AWESOME!

“Guys, investing in a trainer was the BEST investment EVER! He ended up taking my weight loss to a whole new level….”

So, I explained to Matt my problem and how I stopped losing weight…to my surprise he told me why…. Matt said

“You need to eat more” What? “eat more?” I said? “Was he serious?” Yep, he sure was.

In order to lose weight you need to eat more……BUT in smaller quantities!

So, I did just that.

I started to eat 6 times a day and switched up my workouts and made them MORE intense and pushed myself past the limit which forced my body to make a change….

And that was when the magic happened…..

I started to see the stubborn fat just melt right off…

I had entered into this fat burning zone where I just started to drop weight instantly…

I hit that wall, that plateau wall but I found my way out of it! And within 8 months I had already lost 90 pounds and soon enough it was 100! I had finally lost 100 pounds! It was hard, a’lot of tears but I did it! I remember I would punch the floor because of how hard the workouts were, but it was so rewarding at the end.

I remember going into different clothing stores and trying everything I saw on. I was petite now so I wanted to see how different I looked, but most of all how happy I felt!

I was a complete different person and for once in my life I felt beautiful ! For once, I finished what I started!!! I thought I would never lose weight, but I did and it changed everything for me including my relationships and how I even view food.

That fat girl unfortunately will always be there but I know NOW how to control her! I know NOW HOW to lose weight, no tricks, no gimmick’s, just real, raw clean eating and exercise, that’s it, and I am witness to that! If I could lose a whole person, you can too…:)

Thank you for reading!

Sincerely,

Ericka