Profiles in Fitness: Lisa’s amazing life changing transformation

Editor’s Note: What follows is Lisa’s amazing transformation of how she took control of her health and weight in her own words. Lisa shares honestly and openly how she earned the life that she deserves. We are so proud of what Lisa has accomplished and look forward to her future contributions to fitnessforus.com.

I’m a soon to be 30 year old runner and fitness enthusiast. I love all things that have to do with making me sweat and producing endorphins! However, this has not always been the case.
I grew up in a small Delta town in Arkansas. I was always taller than everyone my age and because of my height I could carry a few extra pounds without seeming so ‘fat’. Well, that all caught up with me my last years of high school. When I turned 16 and began to drive I also began to eat ridiculous amounts of fast food. Playing softball for my high school allowed me to burn off some of the calories I was consuming but not enough. Pounds began to pile on and by the summer before my freshmen year in college I could only find clothes that fit in the women’s plus size department.
In college I realized something needed to be done about my weight. I weighed around 300 lbs and was in a size 22! Wow! I bought a stationary bike and set it in front of my television. I would ride it for 45 minutes to an hour 4-5 times a week. I also became a vegetarian. The choice to become a vegetarian was more for environmental reasons than anything, so when the pounds started to come off I saw it as an added bonus! It was during my vegetarian phase that I met Michael, who is now my husband. When we met, I was the smallest I had been in my adult life. Through my meatless diet and faithfulness to my exercise bike I had managed to shed about 80 lbs from my 6’2” frame. If I had to guess I would say I was about 230 lbs when we met. Michael was IT (and still is). We fell in love and I began to spend more time with him than with my exercise bike. At the time I would have had it no other way. We went out to eat almost every night of the week and any free time I had I chose to spend with him. I began eating meat again and I neglected to exercise. We got engaged the next year and married in May of 2004. I wasn’t my heaviest on our wedding day, but I had regained a lot of the 80 lbs I had lost.
After our wedding day the pounds continued to pack on. I was comfortable and enjoying my new role as a wife. I had a job and a new house and husband to take care of. What I didn’t have, I thought, was time to exercise. As the next few years passed my energy levels decreased as the number on the scale increased. My eating habits were out of control and I spent my days waiting for 5 o’clock so I could go home and hit the couch.
January 2008 was my turning point. My sedentary lifestyle had caught up to both me and my husband. We wanted to start a family and had been unsuccessful for a few months. Through various testing methods it was discovered that I wasn’t ovulating. I made an appointment with my doctor to discuss my situation. At the doctor’s office I tipped the scales at 308lbs!! My doctor’s advice was ‘lose 20lbs and come back in 3 months’. That’s all of the encouragement and direction I needed. Later that day I enrolled at a local gym and began meeting with a nutritionist and trainer. I also began to pray!
In the days that followed I began a very low calorie diet consisting of various meal replacement options as well as lean protein, complex carbs and lots of vegetables. The following week I started Fitness Boot Camp Unlimited, an intense 45 minute class that includes stretching, cardio and strength training. I did class 4 times a week. I also continued to pray.
In the first week of my weight loss journey I lost 10 lbs! I was ecstatic! This initial loss gave me hope. I realized I might actually be able to do it! I stuck to my diet and exercise routine and was faithful to weigh in every week. In May 2008 I added running to my routine. I ran my first mile without stopping and never looked back. The next month, June 2008, I ran/walked my first 5k. I was hooked on running! I was continuing to lose at a rate of 2-6 lbs a week, sometimes 8! At the end of August 2008, 7 months after my journey began, I weighed in at 204 lbs. I had lost 104 lbs in 7 months through diet, exercise and prayer!
During those seven months in 2008 I faced many obstacles. Obviously there was the constant temptation to eat bad. I had to say no to fast food and eating out, only allowing myself one ‘cheat meal’ a week if any. I politely declined business lunches. I also attended numerous birthday parties, family gatherings and social events at which I would eat healthy before arriving and drink only water while there. Time management also became an issue more than once. I felt as though I was sometimes spending more time at the gym than at home. I found myself telling my husband, and myself for that matter, that the time spent in the gym now was adding years to my life that I could spend with him doing what I love.
I’m currently maintaining my weight loss by running and attending boot camp at least 4 times a week. I also lift weights to help tone my body. A large weight loss leaves some skin issues that have to be dealt with. I’ve found that lifting weights helps to tighten things up. Weight lifting is also a great stress relief for me. My diet is very clean now. I try to stay away from processed foods and shop on the perimeter of my grocery store. I only rely on meal replacement bars in emergencies when I can’t find or haven’t prepared a clean meal. I eat every 3-4 hours and drink at least a gallon of water a day. I’ll ‘cheat’ maybe once a week, but enjoy the self discipline of sticking to a strict diet. I also surround myself with fitness. I follow numerous fitness oriented people on twitter, I subscribe to various fitness/running magazines and I read as much as I can on the subject. Knowledge is power especially when taking control of your life!
Since my weight loss I have a new lease on life. I never knew an energy level like the one I maintain daily even existed! Living life to the fullest has a new meaning! Things I never dreamed possible, like running half marathons, are now part of my lifestyle. I find myself in a constant state of happiness and mental clarity. I perform better at my job and I have more energy to maintain a cleaner house. I get to shop at Gap instead of Lane Bryant. My marriage has never been better. My husband is running his first half marathon with me this spring and I’m happy to say that we should have no problems starting a family in the near future. Also, through this journey I have made priceless friendships that I will have for the rest of my life. And finally, I have grown in my relationship with God. In a time when I didn’t think I was capable of such an enormous task, I relied on His strength and He carried me through. I hope to glorify Him in everything I do!

Make sure you follow Lisa on twitter (@whochamudew) and check out her blog at whochamudew.blogspot.com  where she honestly and openly shares her personal journey, the highs the lows and everything in between with a great sense of humor, she is one of my favorite bloggers and I always look forward to her updates.

If you need a workout to help achieve the type of success Lisa had check out:

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