I began focusing on my health in January 2018. I had been off any sort of healthy eating plan and had forgotten what exercise even was for quite some time. Years in fact. I avoided my scales and refused to be in pictures whenever possible. I would see myself and think that can’t possibly be me. I had purchased the Instant Loss meal plans beginning in July 2017 one at a time. I had been reading the Instant Loss blog for some time. I had an Instant Pot that my husband had bought me for Christmas 2016.

January 8 was the day. The weight on the scale that morning read 207. I made a meal plan, purchased the things I needed, and prepped food for the week. We are a family of three on the go all the time. Between work, church and school activities, swim team, and family obligations we are busy. We ate out a LOT. While I love to cook, it was just easier to let someone else do it. That is the first thing we cut out. We had to eat at home and prepare the food ourselves. Those first couple of weeks I didn’t go out. I also started slowly back on my elliptical for 30 minutes a day. Honestly the month of January was easier than I thought and I lost 17 pounds the first month. That was huge!

Mind you, I have done this before. The first time as an adult I remember losing was in 1998 and I got down to 155 pounds. I was 28 years old and not married. I only had myself and my dog to worry about.

In 2002, my sister announced she would be getting married in August and I would be her maid of honor, so it was time to get in gear. I got down to 165 pounds and looked good in all the wedding pictures. I got married in May 2003, the weight just started creeping back up again. We got pregnant in 2008 and our son was born in November of that year. He was 6.5 weeks early. My highest weight has been during my pregnancy and it was 212.

After Harrison was born, I pumped exclusively for him for 14 months. So I began losing weight and decided I would get back with a program and get back down to 165. I started using my elliptical again and made it to 70 minutes a day. I got back down to my goal weight.

In January 2018 I again set a goal weight of 165 pounds. At the end of March, I was at 167 pounds and still losing making so many of the meals that Brittany had created on Instant Loss. In the spring we had begun walking around our place which is on 80 acres with plenty of hills to go up and down. I decided to take my goal weight to 155 pounds. I did the Instant Loss Diet Bet in April and needed to lose 6.5 pounds. I went from 162.2 down to 152.2 and was in a normal BMI for the first time since high school.

We had a vacation trip to Mexico that had been planned for a year and were leaving late June. I thought I will work to get down to 145 by vacation, honestly never thinking that would happen.

In April I added strength training into my routine and tabatas cardio. When we left for vacation I weighed 142 pounds. For ten days, I didn’t make my own food. I just made clean choices, didn’t eat any of the junk food that was purchased for the house, and continued to get as many hikes along the Pacific Coast of Baja as I possibly could. There might have even been one night where I ate the most heavenly piece of cheesecake. I weighed the morning after we got home and I weighed 142 pounds. I was beyond excited. I had done it!! I had gone on vacation, had a great time, eaten a few treats, exercised, and didn’t gain weight!

I have not been alone on my journey which is always a good thing. My husband, Robby, has eaten everything I put in front of him including cassava flour pizza. (Thank you to Brittany for the recipes that we love.) The new summer salad recipe is amazing. Some of our other favorites include the chicken stew and Cajun turkey pasta. Who knew chick pea pasta was good?

I have lost 65 pounds, Robby has lost over 60. I dropped into the 130s immediately after vacation, but I didn’t stay there. I have continued to increase the intensity of my strength based workouts and do that for an hour a day as well as an hour on my elliptical. If I am home in the evening, I may get a 2 or 3 mile hike in too. I am learning what maintenance looks like. At 5’7” tall, I will happily stay in the 140s.

This is a lifestyle. This is about making good choices to fuel our bodies and not use food as a crutch. It isn’t easy. If it were everybody would have a normal BMI. I can do this. I will do this. I tell everyone I know, check out the Instant Loss website. See the amazing results Brittany has had just eating real food and try her recipes. Anybody can do this, you just have to be willing to put the work in.

For meal plans to help you get started, click here!

To read more about this lifestyle change, click here!