I didn’t blog too much during 2014 because I finally decided to get my health in order. That sadly meant, abandoning what I loved most — fatty foods. I had an aunt who unfortunately passed away from breast cancer, and being self-employed and barely able to afford health insurance for myself, I knew I had to do something.
I moved to Atlanta in 2012 a size 12 — a size I had been for quite some time, due mainly to a habitual sedentary lifestyle of sitting behind a desk 24/7 — for years. I thought I was comfortable at that size, because losing weight wasn’t on my mind at all. Guy’s still accepted me, I still accepted myself, I thought I was cute lol. Once I settled into Atlanta, I was exposed to all of this wonderfully fattening food, with absolutely no self-control. I just didn’t care. I was eating everything with reckless abandon, and getting zero exercise. Eat, sleep, repeat. Terrible habits. NOT TO MENTION, my own blog was filled with deliciously decadent comfort foods — and lots of emails from readers requesting me to make more. I love those kinds of foods, but I loved them a little too much. I didn’t have the self-control to not eat them all the time, and I used my blog as an excuse to continue doing so.
What I didn’t realize, was that I was an emotional eater. I always thought emotional eating meant you were sad and drowned your sorrows into a big tub of ice cream or ate an entire pizza in one sitting. Whenever I got sad, eating was the last thing I wanted to do. I ate when I was happy — and I was happy a lot LOL! Any excuse to go to a good restaurant and have a good time, I was all for that. Happiness is an emotion, don’t be fooled lol. Then my jeans started fitting too tight, I felt sluggish, I felt heavy and I blew up to a size 14 towards the end of 2013. I knew I had to do something…so I did. A friend of mine introduced me to Herbalife and I started researching more about it, saw amazing results from other users and decided it was something I wanted to try for myself.
I first worked on my mindset and got myself prepared for a lifestyle of cleaner eating, exercise and limited decadence. It took me about 4 months to get my head in the game, so by the time New Years of 2014 rolled around — I was ready! I went all the way in, using Herbalife (an amazing nutrition program), drinking nothing but water and green tea, exercising, and keeping myself motivated by following a bunch of fitness/health related accounts on social media. It really, really helped keep me on track. I was just sick of being fat, so I didn’t want to stay that way. With the help of a positive mind and Herbalife, I ended up losing over 40 pounds and so many inches I’ve lost track. I do remember my waist blowing up to 34 inches, and it’s now down to 26! I’m no longer a size 14, I’m a size 6 — and I feel amazing. I did allow myself a cheat meal every now and then, but even then, it was usually something I cooked myself so I knew what the hell was in it. I started learning about where our foods were coming from, watching documentaries and whatnot. I was disgusted!! I couldn’t believe I was putting all of that crap into my body on a DAILY basis. I totally left processed foods alone. High salt, high fat, high sugar foods became disgusting to me. After eating better, once you try to go back to “crap”, your body is like “Nah!”. My favorite cheat meals are pizza and burgers! I don’t believe in deprivation, so don’t think you have to drink shakes and eat lettuce all day. If that were the case, I would have failed a long time ago. You just have to make smarter choices. Swapping out all the sugary beverages for water or tea is a simple start. Using healther salts and cooking oils/fats is another. I highly suggest you Google as much as you can so you learn how nutrition works. I’d be lost without my Herbalife. I drink the shakes and tea for added nutrition and to help flush out toxins and fat. I also eat plenty of good foods with it, so it’s not a starvation diet at all. Basically, you drink two nutrient-packed shakes a day WHILE eating actual food. You are not going to starve, it’s not a fad-diet. It’s wonderful addition to your healthy lifestyle that may help you lose weight a little faster. If someone told you that all you do is drink shakes and starve, they lied. I will say this though, to make them tastier, use almond milk instead of water 😉 If you’re interested in learning more about Herbalife, shoot me an email at getfitwithresha@gmail.com or visit my Herbalife website at www.goherbalife.com/resha.
Now that I’ve learned how to manage my weight and continue this wonderful lifestyle, I can eat more decadent food without feeling so terrible or gaining the weight back. I still eat pancakes, biscuits, some sweets — but in moderation! I stay active as much as possible, hitting the gym several times a week, getting plenty of sleep and drinking tons of water. I lift weights! A lot of women have asked me “How did you manage to keep your curves?” Well honey, let me tell you — pick up a barbell! Seriously, muscle burns fat. Sure, you’ll “lose weight” by running all day on the treadmill, but you can also lose muscle mass, and those wonderful sexy curves of yours. So don’t be afraid to pick up a barbell and get it crackin. Learn more about exercises from Body Building, it’s how I got started in the gym.
Here I am, a hefty size 14 and now a size 6!
Here are some of the Herbalife products I used to help me lose the weight, along with a good diet and plenty of exercise.
Speaks for itself lol. Look at my gut!! It was out of control! Now, it’s snatched 🙂
Waist is getting smaller, and I can almost see my abs!
My metabolism is much higher now, I can burn 1,000 calories in an hour, but this earlier was during my journey. I was beat! I didn’t leave the gym until I put 110% in.
Sample of some of the foods I ate during my weight-loss journey, in case you’re curious.
A typical breakfast for me. I fell in love with Ezekiel bread, avocado, and eggs. I ate my yolks and whites, and still lost weight.
I’ve always loved salads, and ate them very often. Very little dressing, and lots of fresh ingredients.
I have always loved tacos, so instead of frying the shell I baked it. I used ground turkey instead of beef and used greek yogurt instead of sour cream. One of my favorite places to get food after a workout was Zoe’s Kitchen. Amazing food!
can you tell how much I love avocado? Lol, I put it on everything. It helped me lose the belly weight. To the right is a baked tostada smeared with heart healthy black beans, topped with eggs, avocado, low-fat cheese and low-sodium salsa. So delicious.
I love pasta, so I swapped out regular for whole wheat, used ground turkey, and for creamier pastas, I used avocado and/or greek yogurt instead of heavy creams.
Yummy salmon, spinach and brown rice/quinoa mix. Another salad from Zoe’s Kitchen.
I roasted soooo much chicken! I ate it all the time and I’m still not sick of it. Roasted grapes, fresh greens, brown rice. My delicious go-to meals.
You can do it! Ask me how 🙂
[contact-form to=’getfitwithresha@gmail.com%26#x002c; carnaldish@gmail.com’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Subject’ type=’text’/][contact-field label=’Question or Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]
Leave a comment