(Photo Credit: shays-world.tumblr.com)
With the rise of social media, we’ve peeked in and have seen just about every facet of someone’s life. People tend to share pictures for a number of reasons, some helpful and some not. But when a beautiful young woman named Shay decided to share her “before” picture, she never knew just how inspiring to other people it would be. Starting at over 200 pounds, she showed a weigh loss of nearly 70 pounds–and she’s still going! The photo got shared and reblogged thousands of time and that led to many asking about her journey and how she did it. She graciously shared her ups and downs in the spirit of helping others achieve the same weight loss success (Thank you Shay!). Here’s her story in her own words.
“I wasn’t sure about posting my before and after photos. I’ve always wanted to do one but I was hesitant, nervous, and embarrassed. I wasn’t sure about what people may say or think. Although I’m the girl in the “after” photo now, I kept thinking about the girl in the “before” photo and how she would feel having that photo posted on a blog. I remember taking that photo and at the time I was hesitant, nervous, embarrassed, sad, and depressed. But trying to put on a brave smile. I never thought in a million years that photo would ever be posted ANYWHERE.”
“Anyways, I write this to say thank you. Thanks to my old and new followers, to the people who had kind and encouraging words to say, to the people who inquire about my journey, to the people who just said ‘thanks’. I never knew I could be a motivation/inspiration. I feel so blessed and gracious for everything that everyone has had to say. Thank you.”
Shay goes on to share step by step with her followers about how she was able to lose the weight.
“It took me 3-4 years to look like my current picture. I started off real slow. Slowly making changes to my diet, adding more healthy food and taking away unhealthy food I would eat every day. For instance, I would drink soda every day then slowly I would have one less until I didn’t drink it anymore and replaced it with water. I did this with everything! Starbucks fraps, fast food, etc.
I bought a personal George Forman grill and a personal blender then prepared my own food and making my own shakes. This was great because I didn’t have to depend on my family and I could do my own thing. I bought a book called the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. This really helped me to understand what I needed to be eating and that I can have the food I like but just in moderation.
“Eighty percent of losing weight is what you’re eating and 20% is working out! Isn’t that crazy? So even if you don’t workout, if you’re still eating right, you will still lose weight. I still refer to this book from time to time. With my workouts I did the same thing and started off slow. Only being active 3- 4 days a week for 30mins. I used a lot of workout dvds because I didn’t have money for the gym. The DVD’s were great. First they were challenging for me but slowly I found I could do a little bit more each time.As for my lack of loose skin, I think the reason for that is because I lost weight slow. Giving my body/skin a chance to recover. I also did weight training which is known to tone and tighten skin and muscles.”
(Photo Credit: shays-world.tumblr.com)
“We have to re-teach ourselves what’s the right things to feed our body verses the wrong stuff. And with so many advertisements on television about Lean Cuisines, Healthy Choice, Subway, any fast food restaurants’ so called “healthy options” pills, shakes, it can get really confusing. The first thing I recommend doing is to analyze what you’re eating. You may want to use an app called Myfitnesspal or go to their website. This site will let you know your calories intake base on your age, height, current weight, goal weight, and…
… pounds you want to lose per week. Start off slow when it comes to changing your food around. This book I’m reading talks about when people who want to lose weight make a drastic change to their diet to soon, they get overwhelmed and often give up. We don’t want that. I always recommend the book the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Reno. This book taught me everything I know about eating. I still refer to it and has been a tremendous help. Keep track of all the food your consuming. Even if it’s just a bite of something. This may seem annoying at first, but it will help you see certain patterns in your eating. 80% of losing weight is what your consuming. The other 20% is exercise.”
“As for exercise. Start walking, running, jump roping, invest in DVD workouts (my fav.), or gym membership and set up mini goals. For instance, set a mini goal to workout 3x a week for two weeks, then reward yourself, not with food, but with something you can use or have fun with like new workout clothes, or a book, or music to load on to you mp3 player. Just as long as you stay active. Slowly make the transition to living a healthy lifestyle.”
For more on Shay, click here.
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