You can absolutely do it too! The hardest part for me was finding the motivation to lose the weight. It came in the form of my father. I'm a college student and while I was home for Christmas my dad kept making comments about how fat I am. That did it for me. I'm going to a teacher and he said that my students would call me "the fat teacher."
When I came back to school in January, I started my diet. I began by walking 2 miles a day. I cut out soda and snacking. In February, I gave up chocolate. In March, I took up strength taking and the elliptical, and cut out the walking. Then I discovered that I wasn't losing weight because I was gaining muscle. So in April I started walking four miles a day (it's about an hour) and all the weight came off. It seems like I make another change each month, and I'm trying to figure out what May's will be.
The hardest part is getting through the first couple weeks. Results are not always immediate, and it's easy to give up. You have to keep going no matter how much you don't want to. My support system is not great. My mom doesn't really care, though she did finally give me a compliment today. My dad continues to tell me how fat I am...though oddly enough that seems to motivate me more. My friends are somewhat jealous and tell me to stop losing weight. I think the best reaction I had was my godmother. I didn't tell her I was going on a diet and she saw me six weeks into it and started crying and telling me how beautiful I look. She worries that I'll take it too far, but I know I have her support.
You just have to stay faithful. There are many days I want to walk away from this whole diet thing. It's finals week for me, and my brain is full of useless knowledge. Today, I didn't want to go to the gym. The weather was beautiful though, so my roommate and I walked 4 miles outside. It was a slower pace then usual but it was still physical activity. And no matter what, don't listen to people who put you down and tell you that you can't do it. Use their words to motivate you to do it!
I haven't decided my next goal. I go back home Friday, and that's where temptation lies. I think my goal for summer will just be to get out there and walk for an hour everyday. I know the weight won't come off as quickly as it has been, but every little bit helps. I just don't want to gain anything back. The best thing is I will get to go shopping for new clothes because all my clothes are way too big on me! What a nice reward!
Kerlin
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