Weight-loss Journey Part I:Overview

 Hey Everyone It's Reina!!!!!

I hope that this finds each of you doing so amazing that you are making a positive change in someone else's day!!  It's Friday so traditionally I would say, "Happy Aloha Friday Cousins!"  Today I'd like to give you the start of my weight-loss journey that started on May 19, 2021.  I have always been the "big" girl in my family, and I have struggled my entire life with my weight.  Looking on the outside you would have never known how insecure I was about my weight, but I never let people see that!!  I kept a smile on my face even when I didn't feel good about myself, and I continued on with life.  

Funny thing is that your family OFTEN more times than not are the most critical and harsh about someone's weight.  I received a lot of, "Oh Mija you are so pretty BUT if you were smaller, you would be so much more beautiful".  I know my mother had NO idea that she was scaring my heart & brain with nonsense that would live with me for the rest of my life.  For this I forgive her!  I forgive because I am letting that go and cutting it loose because it does not serve me or my highest purpose, and for me to move forward, on this spiritual journey I have to let go, release and surrender all the negative bullshit from my life.

I woke up on the morning of May 19, 2021, and after prepping for my day it hit me that I NEEDED to do something with myself!!  I looked in the mirror and literally tore my clothes off to look at the body I had neglected, rejected and was ever so mean to.  I stood there for a good 30 minutes looking at every roll I had on my body, determining if I had back fat rolls or not.  I am a mom of 4 living (the last two being twins) and 2 angel babies and with having twins my stomach is not and will never be the same before that final pregnancy & C-section.  As I stood looking at that mirror, I was so disgusted with how I looked, how I felt, I was so over what I had done to my body.  I said, what felt like a million distasteful words about not just about my body, but also questioned how I could allow myself to let myself go so horribly.  

I looked at myself one last time and said, "This is it Reina, YOU have to do something before you end up back to dust".  That day was the first day of the rest of my life!!  I got redressed and got myself ready for work once again.  I stopped off by my local favorite nutrition spot, Social Nutrition got myself set with a protein shake and an energy drink.  This was the beginning of changing my eating habits.  From this point on I either stopped off at Social Nutrition or I made my own drink at home.  So, I started slowly changing my eating habits and replacing or removing certain foods from my daily diet and started doing 8–24-hour fasting.  Making sure I was drinking at least a gallon of water a day. So, from the beginning here's what I did:

Wake Up: 16 oz room temperature water (I always keep an unopened bottle of water on my nightstand to drink before I even get out of bed).

Breakfast:  Iced Protein Coffee, black coffee prepped for fridge night before & whatever flavor Premiere Protein shake (use what you like) added in the morning.

Extra Drink:  HOT green tea with organic honey

Snack:  1st snack (my go to for morning snacks is typically organic berries & yogurt)

Lunch:  Protein drink with energy tea (from Social Nutrition)

Snack:  2nd snack (my go to is typically popcorn w/pretzels, peanuts/almonds)

Extra Drink: Hot green tea with organic honey

Snack: 3rd snack chocolate rice cake w/cream cheese and fresh cut strawberries

Dinner: well this is my free meal, so I eat whatever it is that I want, all in moderation of course.

Workout

Bedtime: 16oz of room temperature water

So that is just an example of what I did.  Doesn't look like a whole lot of food but it really is enough for you; remember you eat to live NOT live to eat.  Now at this point on my journey I still do protein shakes as meal replacements ONLY if I am in a rush or it's gotten too late in my day to eat a full meal.  I also make sure to drink a shake AFTER every workout, trust me you won't regret it & you won't be as sore the next day.

Just so I am transparent here and I haven't mentioned it up to this point.  On May 19, 2021, my starting weight was 280 pounds😧!!!  This was the heaviest I had ever been in my life, and I still find myself in shock when I see older pictures of me versus me in the last few months.  Let me show you!! 

       

The picture on the far-left is me at my heaviest of 280 pounds, Middle picture was me in September and the far-right picture is me TODAY!  Up to today I have lost roughly 108 pounds.  Is this a HUGE success?!?!?!?  YES! YES, it is but I am not done with this journey.  I still have a way to go on this weight-loss journey but guess what.......I'm DOIN' THE DAMN THING!  What I can tell you looking back to the beginning, I did not see myself sticking with a plan for well over a year and a half BUT here I am....I've been KILLING it!  

I'd like to give a shout out to those who are currently on a weight-loss journey or even considering starting a journey.  Let me start by saying there isn't one perfect way for someone to lose weight.  What works for me may not work for you.  It's all a process, trust me it took me all my life to find something that worked for me that was outside of surgery.  If you chose to have surgery or are considering it for yourself as with a regular diet change DO YOUR RESEARCH and ask all the questions that you may have no matter how silly you may think they are.  Your questions and concerns are important so be sure to ask them!!

This was just an overview of my weight-loss journey.  Not every little detail but it leaves you with an idea of where I was, where I am, and where I am headed.  As we continue to journey together, you'll begin to learn more about the blood, sweat and tears that came along as part of my spiritual/weight-loss journeys that happen to have also taken place in the workout room.  The room that everyone with a workout space in their home loves to hate or hates to love......My obsession with my workout space definitely turned to LOVE!!

I'd like to leave you with this:  Every second is another second to make adjustments and make things better for yourself.  So now you decide are you going to choose to be happy every second or miserable for every single second??  If there is something you desire, know you should be happy every second until you receive it and not just when you have it!!!  Remember friends be the change you want to see in the world!!!

Until we meet again, I love you & I am proud of you,

~Reina~