The Journey Continues (but the journey has changed after losing 128lbs)

    Hey all,
 
                I know its been a while since my last post (over  a year lol), but a girl's been busy. Since my last post there has been a lot of change. We will start with life changes, since then I have gotten my Master's degree in Clinical Social Work (still have yet to sit for the test to get my license). I now work in my field instead of working jobs that have nothing to do with why I went to school. I am now a crisis counselor at a crisis house for individuals with chronic mental illness. And i love it!!! The hours are a bit whacky, but I am making it work!! I am also 31 year old now :(  Lol now I feel better (and look better) than I did when I was 21.
                In terms of my weight loss, boy have there been changes...so my last post on here I still weighed over 200 lbs (225lbs to be exact). Now I weigh 161lbs. and am a size 6/8 (from size 16 as of last post (August 2013)). So I did it and I hit my 100lbs lost goal!!!! Currently I have lost 128 pounds. In a little over 2 years. I must say that the scale no longer moves very much for me and really hasn't in a few months. I hit the 100lbs mark in about 1.5 years. In the last post, I talked about being close to graduating from "plus-sized" stores. Since the last post,  I have graduated and can now shop just about anywhere. There are so little options for cute clothing when ur bigger and that is a problem!! (maybe a different post for that lol)
                I am still trying to lose about 10 more pounds just so I can lean out a bit and lose some remaining fat. According to my BMI I am still over weight, but we all know that the BMI charts are utter BS! I am trying to lose these last 10 just so I can be a bit more fit and trim. More than anything right now, I want to build up my muscle and tone up and just be a strong female!! I want to look like the athlete that I am!!!
                Since losing all this weight I have not only lost the weight, but I have also changed on the inside!! It is so different living life on the other side of 100lbs lost. I have a whole new mentality. I still have a ways to go though in terms of my confidence and self-esteem, but its getting there. After many years of self hatred and body shaming from myself it will take a while to completely love my body, but I am trying, one day at a time.
                My goals right now involve doing more strength training and improving my diet a bit. For a while here I was still eating as if i needed to lose 100 lbs., and not eating as if i had. By this i mean I had not changed my diet really since I first started. What I was told by a trainer at my gym was that i was not eating enough and that I can eat more since I really don't have much more weight to lose. So recently I have upped my caloric intake and upped my workouts a bit and have started to lift a bit more heavy. This is so that i can lean a bit and lose some fat.
                 I plan on posting more often so i can help others to achieve their goals like I have mine. Losing weight is hard, but with support you can def so it!! I will post again soon I promise, but just wanted to keep this semi-updated. Below are some before and after pics. Thanks for checking out my blog guys!! leave a comment if u want to see more!!

*** To see how it all began view my first blog post from 2013!!

-Valerie

          This before is from my last post August of 2013 (six months in) and the after is from Jan. 2015

                      This before is from before I started my journey 2 years ago. The after is from Jan. 2015

All blog posts and Photos are Copyright Valerie Hinrichs 2013-2015

First Post! My weight loss journey!

     So, as I start this blog today I realize many of you may not understand what the name of my blog means. Well here you go! I am 29 years old...going to be 30 in November 2013. This past January it became clear that 30 was fast approaching. I have been overweight for as long as I can remember, but about two years ago...I kinda just continued to expand.  Prior, I was stagnating between 230 and 250 for quite a while, but two years ago, I drastically started to gain a lot of weight.  In January I hit the highest weight I have ever been, 288 lbs....yikes!. When I saw that scale, it really hit me, I was 12 pounds away from the enormous 300 lbs. Something HAD to change! It just kinda put it in perspective for me when i saw that scale. I also have heard from many that weight loss after 30 becomes much harder, your skin won't be as forgiving after weight loss, etc. I will let you know how that aspect goes when I am down closer to my goal.

          I now sit here a 225 pound woman, my journey started Mid-January 2013 when I weighed in at 288 Lbs. Still overweight, dare I say obese (ugh, that word is scary). I now wear a size 16 pants as opposed to a size 24. I am almost able to graduate to "regular" clothing stores as opposed to "plus-sized". Though it does feel good to be the smallest size in the "plus-sized" store, I would feel much better having more than one store to choose from when it comes to clothes. I am proud of where I am now, but need to remain motivated and stay the course. I by no means plan on quitting now, cuz what would be the point of that. It feels soooo good now to run into people I haven't seen since before I started this journey and to have them look at me and be amazed. That reaction is one of the things that keeps me going! I am doing this for myself! I am doing this to prove people wrong! I am doing this to live a longer and happier life... the list goes on and on! I am doing this to be a strong and fit woman and NOT to be Skinny! I would look weird skinny, so my goal is to be back at a "normal" weight for my body type.

        My first goal is to hit the 100 lbs. lost mark (188). After that I will re adjust and go from there, possibly the 150-160 range. One step at a time though, one thing I have learned from reading, researching and just going on this journey, is that you have to break down your large goals into manageable segments. This is for two reasons: 1) So you don;t get discouraged by not hitting that big goal, 2) its just more realistic. When I started, I couldn't even picture myself at this weight, so I went 10 pounds at a time. A side note, I talked to a trainer when I first began this and something he said just made sense, "Its not all about the weight!!! Its about how you feel, how you look, and how your clothes fit, the weight will come, just not if your constantly looking at the scale!!" This I do try to remember. I don't weigh myself that often, I don't count the minuscule decimal points after a pound, that's just crazy. I weight myself at the same time every weigh in, on the same scale etc. Every other Saturday morning after my workout, I step on the scale.

     I will talk about my routine in another post, but here are the basics: 1)Workout!! and workout often (or as much as your hectic schedule will allow. I workout 5 days a week, do a mix or some cardio and strength-training. You NEED both! 2) EAT BETTER!!! (its pretty simple, don't eat crap, or else you will look and feel like crap! Eat lots or veggies, fruits, reduce your sodium intake, don't eat out as much, eat lean proteins (chicken and fish), drink lots and lots of water 3) Track everything! I use My Fitness Pal site and mobile app to track all my food, drinks, water and exercises daily. There is no way to recognize your eating faults if you don't see it on paper (or your smartphone). 4) Sleep (no explanation necessary) 5) Last but not least, try not to stress so much, stress is bad for weight loss!

     This is just kinda a teaser and a first attempt to put my journey on paper. i will go into a lot more detail in the forth-coming posts. If you like what you see here let me know. If your going through this journey or thinking about it let me know. Weight loss is not easy, there is no magic pill for it. Just simply put: You gotta put in the work to see any results. if I can fit working out into my busy schedule, then anyone can! (Note: This after pic is not the best since I still refuse to buy more clothing, so things on me look kinda baggy, but just so you know that I am a real person and that yes i have lost the weight, this after pic was taken in May 2013)

All blog photos and posts are copyright Valerie Hinrichs 2013-2015