Simple Guest: A Woman’s Amazing Weight Loss Success Story

THE GIVEAWAY FOR THIS POST ENDED

THE WINNER IS : ANNETTE ANDERSON

CONGRATULATIONS!

Meet Jaime (“Jemmy” ), an extraordinary woman who overcame a lung condition to shine.  I am always inspired and motivated when I meet women like Jaime who never cease to amaze me with their dedication and desire to win.  Jemmy honored me by being my first Simple Guest.  Jaime brings us an incredible Weight Loss Success Story along with a sweet Simple Giveaway for the weekend.

It’s a Mental Game

My name is Jaime (“Jemmy”), and I have been on my own journey toward health since the summer of 2008. Over these 2+ years, I have picked up loads of information on health and fitness, and it all has really helped me out. But, the biggest lesson that I have learned through all of the ups and downs of my personal rollercoaster ride is that it is largely a mental game.

When I was overweight, I was very depressed and felt quite isolated. I had friends; but, because I felt so unattractive and had lost my sense of self when I became overweight, I was afraid of allowing my true self to really shine. I lived a largely inactive and sedentary life due to a lung condition and piled increasingly bad eating decisions onto my situation, which of course made everything worse. With this struggle, depression set in and I felt quite hopeless, which ultimately led to more eating. This weight gain cycle kept spiraling out of control until I reached about 200lbs.

It took some suddenly positive and unexpected news to jar me into accepting my first mental challenge: to decide whether I was worth the effort of becoming healthy again. My pulmonary specialist cleared me to exercise. See, I had been dealing with scarring on my right lung due to an injury for nearly a decade, and it caused me to give up working out. I fought that end at first. But, the difficulty became too great, and I eventually accepted inactivity as my new normal and became unhealthy. But, with the doctor’s news, my first and final excuse was no longer valid. If I was going to change my circumstance, now was my chance. Would I take it? I had to first take the time to analyze why it was important for me to change my life. What would I gain? How much effort was I willing to put forth? Could I really do it? Would it make a difference to the quality of my life?

I decided to take some time to jot down my thoughts. I looked back at all the times I ate until I felt the pain of being too full. I thought about those days when I didn’t have anyone to eat lunch with and just made a quick trip to McDonald’s. Then, I thought of how these lunch trips to the Golden Arches eventually led to breakfast stops before work. I thought about how I gorged whenever I went to my parents’ house for dinner—going back for seconds and thirds. Had my relationship with food become emotional? That led to a whole new slew of thoughts.
Now, I wanted to track what triggered my eating. I figured that the only way to really tackle my problem was to get at the root of it. Well, the biggest two offenders turned out to be loneliness and boredom. I didn’t have much self-worth or enough people and activities to fill my life and feed my soul; so, I used food to fill my stomach instead. I would be by myself during my lunch break at work and eat. I would be home alone at night and eat. I would be home on the weekends after church and eat. I would be in front of the television with nothing better to do. Even though I was not hungry, I would eat just to pass the time. And, my choice was always greasy, salty, or sugary foods. THAT had to change.

Taking these difficult first steps to be honest with myself was a painful process. But, it was a necessary first step for my journey toward self-love and health. My story will continue in my next guest blog post. So, stay tuned!

THE GIVEAWAY

Two free sample packets of Shakeology + a recipe card!  The winner will be chosen from those that provide correct answers to all three of the following questions:

1. How much weight did I lose in 2008?
2. What are the two types of articles that I write?
3. I’m training for my first triathlon.  Which charity am I raising money for?

Find the answers at www.HealthJems.com. Then, submit your answers to Jaime at: jaime@healthjems.com

At Health Jems Jaime shares her journey and expertise as a Beachbody Coach.