Tuesday, August 28, 2007

My Fitness Adventure

I started my fitness adventure on January 2, 2006. My hubby snapped this picture just 3 days AFTER I gave birth to lil’ one. You could guess by my expression that I was NOT amused. I would have to say that this was, BY FAR, the worst I have ever physically looked and felt in my entire life. Granted, it wasn’t all weight related, and that fantastic moo-moo is far from flattering, but I know it would have been a LOT less miserable had I been more fit. You can’t really tell how bad it was, because I never let anyone take photos of my whole self unobstructed. The computer generated model based on my beginning stats was created here.

I was a size 24 weighing in at 278.5 and couldn’t walk around the block, let alone enjoy a real life adventure. I was alive, but not living the way I was created to live. I knew that I would never find happiness in this depressed condition because it just wasn’t me. My life had tragically derailed somewhere, and I needed to get back on track.

I assessed my habits, activities and obstacles in the way of living my PRIME adventure and even had to reevaluate that adventure all together. I discovered that my fitness was only a small part of the bigger problem. I found more than one “conviction” that just didn’t work for me anymore and had to make a lot of pretty big changes to jumpstart the life I was designed to live. So, I quit working on someone else’s agenda and started working on my own.

I joined Weight Watcher’s and was back to the pre-pregnancy at 4 months on my fitness adventure. This was the only picture of that timeframe where I wasn’t completely hiding. I was thrilled to feel good enough to travel, shop and accessorize, but I still felt lost and out of control. I wasn’t confident with me. It wasn’t about the appearance as much as it was about feeling trapped in a body that didn’t match my adventure.

I plateaued here for a few months before joining my mom at the Metabolic Research Center for weight loss. I received some great coaching and worked with the program for about 6 months and dropped down to a size 12 weighing in at 175. This was a fun time of many adventures that were meaningful, fun and in line with my true self. I wasn’t ashamed or afraid, or hiding from anything! I felt sexy, confident and in control. I wasn’t invisible anymore; and I really liked the freedom of fitness.

However, I want more. I want fitness on a higher level, maybe even competitive. I want to compete in adventure races, but more than that, I want to be able to have my own adventures with ease and comfort. I was built to live an adventure in the mountains and that is always more fun when you’re only packing stuff that can make your life more enjoyable.

I think an athletic 160 lbs would treat me really well and would be more in line with my PRIME adventure. It would be great if all I had to lose were those pesky 15, but I lost my vision in the dark of Barrow and gained back a whopping 40. I was able to shed another 15 when I trained to pace my dad on the Hardrock, but gained 10 back when I returned to Barrow. I am tired of the yo-yo gig and need a little help to get the progress to stick.

So, I joined my mom on another program called Medifast. They requested that I take a really good “before” picture, but I am a big chicken and am going to refer you to the computer model for my “before” and “after” pix for 4 more months until I can get you a real life “after” shot.

I am SO ready to have my prime body so I can optimize my PRIME Adventure. This is something completely under my control, and I am no longer going to make excuses about my difficult environment, or why I can’t make it happen; and I'm even considering registering for an adventure race next summer to keep me on track and maintaining the success. YEEHAW!!!


5 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow, what an INCREDIBLE transformation!! So inspiring, and I LOVE that you did it with sheer will and determination as opposed to self destructive methods or surgery.

One of the pieces of advice I have heard about weight loss before (and love, and think that EVERY woman could use,) is that whether or not you are at your target weight, you still have to learn to love what you are at the time. It is easier to lose weight when you are accepting and confident at your current weight, because it puts your brain in a more positive mindset, and we all know how your mental attitude can affect your physical success.

Examples they used were things like dressing your shape, (got nice legs? Show 'em, woman!) being accepting of yourself nekked, (most skinny women can't do that...) you get the idea. Don't know why, but that has always resonated with me.

Anyway, back to my point, YOU ARE AMAZING!

NicciN said...

Thanks so much for sharing this. It is so inspiring that you decided to go for the life you wanted and are doing it. You have made such progress. I wish you all the best on this part of your journey to your goal weight. It makes me contemplate a similar post myself -- it feels like telling the story sets you a little freer.

I also second what K.B. said. Loving yourself and being happy is the best motivator. I try to find compassion for the part of me that turned (turns) to food and especially send love to her. She is the one who needs the treats on the non-food treats list the most.

Squish said...

Wow, what an inspiring story! Being active and having the energy to do your adventures is the greatest reward and congratulations on your success.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You are a beautiful women, and you have come so far. Just celebrate every pound or inch you lose because that alone is a success. Good job Sierra.

Sierra said...

Thank you all so much for your support and encouragement. I was a little apprehensive at first about posting this because of how bad things got before I took action, but I needed to celebrate that I finally did, and motivate myself to keep going.