Going from a size 12 to a size 4

The picture on the left is from July 2, 2014 and the picture on the right is August 30, 2015.

The picture on the left is from December 2014 and the picture on the right is October 2015

Before I made the low carb lifestyle change

Have you ever wanted to lose weight, but didn't know where to start? You tried to make changes in your diet, but quickly became discouraged and gave up? I have. I fought the weight loss battle for years. I never truly felt confident about my body and always felt that unless I gave up all the foods that I enjoyed, I would never be able to shed the weight. I had this picture in my mind about what I wanted to look like, but when I looked in the mirror, that wasn't it. I wanted to wear a size small shirt and size 3 pants, but instead I fluctuated between a medium or large top, and size 9/10 or 11/12 bottoms. It was the size that mattered to me, not the healthiness of my body. 

I spent hours on Pinterest, making "exercise" and "healthy food" boards as though that would miraculously make the weight just disappear. I would tell myself I was going to start eating healthy, but I didn't really know what that meant. My definition of eating healthy was a salad topped with a large amount of french dressing, croutons, sunflower seeds, cottage cheese, and a big handful of shredded cheddar cheese. I would eat one of these "healthy" salads a few days a week and on a good week, I might go for a short walk or two. I thought my "diet" was going well, until we went to a get together with friends or family and I couldn't resist the delicious array of food. A few pieces of dessert and a handful of chips won't hurt me, right? Wrong. 

Looking back, the importance I put on clothing size was just silly and whether I was a size small or size large didn't determine whether I was "fat" or not. My body is more than just a number size, and that number doesn't define me. I have devoted the last two years of my life to making a healthy lifestyle change that would make me feel more confident about my body. It isn't always easy, but it IS always worth it. I decided to start a blog to share some of the easy, but effective tricks I have learned throughout my journey that could help others make little changes to feel more confident about their body as well. I will post some of my favorite low carb recipes, how I meal prep for a week, and some yummy low carb snacks!

When I decided to make the change

 I was 22 years old, student teaching from 7:30 AM-4:30 PM, and attending night classes 4 nights a week from 5:00-8:00. My diet basically consisted of noodles, in a variety of forms. Noodles with sauce, noodles with tomato soup, noodles coated in breadcrumbs, etc. My busy schedule, carb loaded diet, and lack of exercise led me to put on about 10 pounds that year.

 On April 11, 2014, Andy, my boyfriend of 6 years proposed! I couldn't wait to start planning. The next morning I was already bugging him about going to look at venues. Who was going to be our DJ? How many people are we going to invite? Should we do cake or cupcakes? There were a million things I wanted to do, but dress shopping was pretty low on my list. In June, I finally ordered my size 12, beautiful A line, Mori Lee gown. This was 14 months prior to our wedding and although I had hopes of losing weight for our wedding, I wasn't expecting what happened next. 

A few days after ordering my dress,  my dad told me that he was looking into getting a personal trainer that he had heard great things about from a guy at work. I immediately asked if I could tag along to check it out. The first question we were asked was, "What are you hoping to achieve?" Without hesitation, I told him I just wanted to lose weight for my wedding. I had the same answer when he asked what goals I had and why I wanted to work with a trainer. To make a long story short, I began a low carb eating program and had two one on one strength training sessions a week with a wonderful trainer. I only spent 4 weeks at the facility, but continued the eating program for another 4 after that. In just 8 weeks, I lost 14 pounds! I couldn't believe it. My clothes began to get baggy, I felt more energized, slept better at night, and most of all, began to feel confident about my strong body. My husband was skeptical, but also took on the low carb lifestyle. In just six months, he lost 40 pounds and his pants size dropped from a 36 to a 32. It has been a year since the change, and he has kept all of the weight off! By the time our wedding came in August, my dress had to be taken in from a size 12 to a size 4. I was determined not to let this feeling fade and I vowed to never let myself gain the weight back. Instead, I fully embraced my new low carb lifestyle, made exercise a priority in my life, and continued to see amazing changes. Since starting the low carb journey I have lost a total of 26 pounds and haven't gained back a pound since! 

Until next time.....feel free to leave comments about what you would like to see next time! Dinner options, lunch options, meal prep, snacks, etc.!