I am so excited to introduce you to my friend, Renée Ross from Cutie Booty Cakes. Renée and I have been friends for many years and I have had the joy of watching her weight loss transformation unfold. I am so excited to share with you her story because it is so beautiful, just like her, and shows you how empowering it can be to transform your body & life.
I started my weight loss journey the week of Thanksgiving 2009. Believe it or not, despite Thanksgiving dinner, dining out and even enjoying a wine spritzer, I lost 8 pounds that week. That loss motivated me to continue to work on improving my health and by July 2010, I reached my goal of losing 52 pounds.
I’ll be the first to tell you it wasn’t easy, it took hard work and determination for me to meet my goal. I have been maintaining my weight loss for the last 4.5 years and it has been even more challenging to maintain the loss. I keep my eye on the prize of staying healthy, not just for myself but so that I am here for my son. He has watched my transformation that began when he was just two years old and views healthy living, exercise and making good food choices as a way of life.
For me and I think for most people who want to lose the weight, the first thing to tackle is your mental and emotional state of being. In my case, eating provided me with a level of comfort and helped me deal with the depression that encompassed me as a new mother trying to survive in a failing marriage. At the time, all of my friends lived in my computer and although I had a community, nothing beats getting together with people in real life. As my weight loss journey progressed, I found myself returning to my usual gregarious self, venturing out more often with friends and started to become healthy both mentally and physically again.
Transformations are difficult. As much as I wanted it to, my marriage did not survive my return to my true self. However, my life has been forever changed and taken directions that I could not have foreseen. With a renewed sense of self that developed not simply because of weight loss but as a result of healthy living, I have become a successful professional blogger and an active mother. I’ve run 14 half-marathons, a full marathon and am currently training for my second Ragnar relay.
Being healthy is a choice a make on a daily basis. It continues to be a journey but one I am more than happy to embark upon because the gift of good health is the best thing that anyone can ask for and as long as I am able to, I plan on staying healthy!