Life Changing Moments

When I began my weight loss journey almost ten months ago, I never in my life imagined the amount of change it would bring forth. When I refer to this change I don’t just mean in terms of weight loss but I also refer to the new found confidence, the unrelenting motivation and the extreme **need** to guide others on this similar path. Not even at my goal weight and yet I still feel like Superwoman EXTREME!!

     During my initial phase of weight loss I received the typical half-hearted "You go girls," was given diet tips, told of diet failures and was then left to battle the forces alone. Now that I look back I realize that everyone thinks there is a trick to weight loss and the fact that my only intention was to count calories and workout mystified the masses. Hell…weight loss is NOT that simple. Or is it?

     

    As the months passed, the weight dropped (*cough*andthenIrelapsed,gainedsomeweightbackandrealizedWTHamIdoingandgotbackonthewagon*cough)and my body became more fit and more lean the masses began to perk up a bit. What was I doing? What was the secret? How could THEY do this? And then I shared the *secret.*

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     <and all you could smell was the scent of doubt as the crickets played their lonely tune in the silence…>

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     But then I provided truth. I shared the evidence. I opened up my entire weight loss experience for the whole world to see. I shared my highest weight, I spoke of my failures, I gave them the statistics and I expressed the ups and downs of my emotions in the process. In those moments I left myself exposed so my friends and family that were seeking the change they so desperately needed could realize that no, it wasn’t that easy. Counting calories sounds simple but it requires drive, determination and the willingness to comply. Sure, taking a walk is *easy* but getting up at 5am to hit the gym when all you want to do is sleep, that requires commitment. A "fat" girl huffing and puffing on a treadmill amongst thin women going triple her pace and not even glistening, that requires will to change. Weight loss is NOT easy no matter what route you take. You need to reach deep within, find the *WANT* and **JUST DO IT**.

     The moment of truth was almost as life changing as the weight loss itself. Requests began to slowly pile up from friends and family. How do I start? Can you share your recipes? Can you tell me how many calories I need? What is a good workout for me? Eventually I began public facebook notes- writing daily of my experiences, sharing healthy recipes and great workouts techniques. I became eager to help these people.I wanted to be what no one was for me. I wanted to be the motivator and the supporter. And then, in true irony, it came around full circle.

     When I began my journey I jokingly labeled it as "Brooke’s Life Changing  Moment," but little did I know that the change would go beyond weight loss. This journey has given me purpose. It has allowed me to help others on so many levels. Helping people join this path not only provides them with a healthier lifestyle but to see a person blossom into a confident individual with an abundance of self-worth makes me strive to be a better person. A better example.

     And so the journey will continue. I have begun researching the various programs in efforts to become a Certified Personal Trainer. This fall, I begin my studies on nutrition; the beginning steps of becoming a Registered Dietetic. After years of struggling to discover who I was and what my purpose in life was, I have discovered it. I discovered where I belong and what I was intended to do.

    

To change one’s life:

 1. Start immediately.

 2. Do it flamboyantly.

 3. No exceptions

~Brooke