My 50-Pound Weight Loss Journey

How I went from fast food to fitness pro one small habit at a time.

The Wake-Up Call: Swollen Hands

What do you get when you eat fast food four times a day and work out once a month? Fifty pounds and swollen hands. Imagine waking up every morning unable to bend your fingers. If you’re like me, you might rush to the doctor for relief.

Me : I think I have trigger finger.

Doctor : Can you bend your fingers?

Me : Not when I wake up, but after I start moving around it becomes easier.

Doctor : Tell me about your diet.

Me : Oh, I mainly eat salad with chicken and vegetables.

Now this is where I need to clarify the lie I told the doctor : my “salad with chicken and vegetables” was actually fried chicken sandwiches with lettuce and tomato. The components were the same, but the final product was significantly different.

How Weight Gain Crept Up

Weight gain can be a gradual process; one minute you’re sharing a dessert at dinner, and then suddenly you’re buying larger shirts to hide your stomach. Over the span of five years, my unhealthy habits began to catch up with me. Eating out multiple times a day had visible consequences, but despite the increase in clothing size, I couldn’t bring myself to change. I found food comforting, while simultaneously ignoring how my actions were counterproductive to my desire to stop or decrease the weight gain.

During this time in my life, food was nonjudgmental and always available. What’s not to love about a “friend” that never rejects you? As you can imagine, this lifestyle, this relationship, this misappropriated affection was toxic, imbalanced, not to mention, scientifically proven to contribute to lifestyle disease and premature death.

The First Step: Logging The Truth

Something had to change and this relationship had to end. But where do I start? How do I lose 50 pounds and keep it off?

The first step was acknowledging I was out of control. I had no willpower, and I had lost the ability to think beyond the meal in front of me. My first idea was to increase my awareness of what I was eating, so I started a food log. Surely if I acknowledged what I was eating, I could count calories and make adjustments over time, right?

What I love about this food log is that within five days I began to make small adjustments to my meals. They weren’t perfect, but seeing how my meals changed in such a short period gave me hope that lasting habit change was possible. I was motivated, I felt empowered to find more ways to improve and needed to get some outside help to make more progress.

Fitness and Rewards: A Lesson in Accountability

Feeling confident about my ability to improve my meals, I decided to get a personal trainer. If I worked out a couple of times a week and followed her meal plan, I would definitely lose weight.

Our workouts were tough, but I left each one feeling strong and accomplished. Afterward, I’d ask myself : should I stick to the meal plan or reward myself with a treat because I burned so many calories?

Every week, I chose the burger and fries. I earned it, right? I deserved it.

But I didn’t see results. My behaviors were working against my goals. Frustrated, I quit personal training and decided to focus solely on nutrition.

Baby Steps: One Change at a Time

After ending my sessions, I was discouraged. I told myself I’d get serious about nutrition instead of juggling too much too soon. I asked, What foods do I eat most often? The answer: pizza and French fries.

Great, now I had a path forward. I gave up those two foods for 90 days. I didn’t change anything else in my diet.

I lost 10 pounds.

Can you believe it? I stopped eating two foods and 10 pounds gone. Clearly, these were major players in my weight gain. Motivated by this success, I began meal planning weekly. I allowed myself one cheat meal each week and learned how empowering it feels to exercise self-control.

For the first time, I was saying no to myself and challenging the belief that I deserved certain foods just because I wanted them.

A New Beginning: Becoming a Fitness Pro

After losing 50 pounds, I was featured in Shape Magazine, Everyday Health, and Bodybuilding.com. The response was overwhelming and helped me realize it was time to turn my transformation into a career, as a certified fitness professional.

From Weight Loss to Purpose

As a weight loss success story I understand the frustration and challenges that come with making the hard steps toward change. Change starts with awareness and a willingness to make small behavioral shifts toward your goals. I did it and I know you can too.