My weight loss story isn’t what I would call an overnight success. In fact, if I’m being completely honest and transparent, I would say it has been more of a frantic roller coaster ride full of twist and turns, starts and stops, with the end result of being back where I started.
I haven’t always had a weight problem. In my former life, I was a Pageant Title Holder, Cheerleader, volleyball and softball player, and lover of all things Theater. But when you go from being highly active in sports to getting married and having babies... the weight can pile on quickly. During my first pregnancy, I gained 85 pounds and by the time my second daughter was born, I had ballooned up to 285 pounds on my 5’3 frame.
From 1998-2016, yo-yo dieting consumed my life. Every Monday was “start my new diet” day. Lets see if I can name all the diets i’ve been on through the years:
T-Factor
Aspen liquid diet
The Military Diet
Adkins
HCG (shots in my stomach) That’s desperation folks
Keto
Weight Watchers
I’m sure their are others, but you get the point.
In the past ten years, my weight has fluctuated between 195-215, which still categorized me as Obese. Let’s fast forward to February 2018. I’m not really sure how I stumbled upon Joe Cross and his documentary, “Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead”, but I am so very grateful that I did. The thing that resonated with me the most was the fact that his number one reason for beginning his juicing journey was to heal his body and as he said, “Weight loss was the side effect”. That was my light bulb moment, the moment my perception changed.
For the past several years I had been suffering from numerous symptoms of Lupus… severe migraines, chronic gastrointestinal issues, numbness in my hands and feet, chronic sinus infections, and the list goes on. Watching Joe Cross’ documentary and watching every Joe Cross video on YouTube, I had been given back something I lost a very long time ago…Hope.
I immediately told my husband, who was my fiancé at the time, and in Brandon fashion he was super supportive. He was so supportive that he eagerly became my juicing guinea pig. Every time I found a new juice recipe, he would taste it first. He was very brave:) I know without any reservation that without his unconditional love and support, I would not have
stayed on course, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
On February 8, 2018, I began my juicing journey. I weighed 217 pounds and wore a size 14/16. On June 16, 2018, I married my best friend weighing 156 and fitting into a size 8. My journey is not complete, juicing and incorporating a mostly plant based diet is my lifestyle.
Although I am proud of my transformation both inside and out, the thing I am most proud of, are the people in my life that have incorporated juicing into their lives. That makes me proud and it inspires me to share my story and “Juice It Forward”.