Fitspiration Friday: Sandy's 70 lbs Weight Loss Story

My bad. I totally forgot about this weight loss story and it has been fermenting in my draft for weeks. This week's Fitspiration Friday is featuring the adorable Sandy Montanez. Be ready to be inspired as you read how she successfully went from 236 lbs to 186 lbs.

What made you decide to lose weight?
I decided to lose weight when noticed my size 16 was fitting a bit snug. I hated the person looking back at me in the refection of the mirror.

What challenges you face in losing weight?
I am a very impatient person. I like instant gratification. So having the patience day after day in order to see results was the worst.

What changes you made to lose weight?
I brought a Fitbit, joined MFP calorie counting site, downloaded the app on my cell and brought walking videos to do at home.

How long does it take to see your weight loss result?
I started Jan 5, 2015 and even though the scale number was going down I began to visually see results in May 2015. By July 2015 I had lost 50 lbs. I would still like to lose about 40 more lbs.

How has your life changed after losing weight?
I feel great, I get asked out on dates more. I can shop in normal people stores. I no longer have to struggle to walk up stairs, or to find clothes to wear. I love the person I see in the mirror.

How do you maintain your weight loss?
I continue to calorie count and log everything I put in my mouth. Even when I go out with friends and have a drink or two. I log it.

Your best weight loss tips
1 - Take it one day at a time
2 - Don't think of it as diet but more a weight loss journey
3 - One bad meal, or one bad day will not ruin what you have already accomplished
4 - If you mess up today, tomorrow is a new day
5 - Take it one meal at a time.

Share to us your diet plan.
It's all about eating less calories than you burn. Calories In vs Calories Out. As long as you create a caloric deficit, whether thru eating less or burning more calories thru working out, you will lose the weight.

• Breakfast: egg white omelet with jimmy dean turkey sausages, peppers and onions 
• Lunch: Whole wheat thin bread slices with healthy choice turkey breast,lettuce and lactose free cheese and a fruit. 
• Dinner: 6 oz of a protein with veggies, and a sweet potato or yam. 
• AM/mid day/PM snacks: peanut butter with apple slices, pure protein shake, yogurt 

Your workouts plan?
I do work out videos at home. Like Zumba, Turbofire, Walking to lose etc.

Do you have a success story to share? Tell us about your weight loss success stories and inspire others to fight obesity. Your weight loss achievement is really something to be proud of!

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Diabetes Awareness: Three Basic Thing You Should Know About Diabetes

Today I received a shocking news that our well known local pastor has passed away. I am so sorry for the family lost, my prayers and thoughts are with them during this time of sorrow. I heard she died from diabetes. I heard from a friend, not actually sure but things for sure is death news, especially caused by illness is always a kind of awakening moment for me.

I know everyone will die someday. But if people died because of a preventable disease, it is something to be regret forever. Today's focus is about diabetes. Some cases of diabetes may be directly inherited, but not all. Skinny person can get diabetes despite the myth of thin people don't get the disease. But that is another story.

I am obese and the scary truth is obesity will likely lead to type 2 diabetes. Women have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes if their waist measures 80cm (31.5 inches) or more. Being overweight especially around your waist seems to be significantly risky.

Now my priority to lose weight has change. I always wanted to lose weight to have a younger appearance. Obesity makes people look much older than their real age. But now my main goal is to lose weight so that I can keep up with my two children who are ages 8 and 5 years old. I want to have energy to play with them. I want to lose weight to prevent Diabetes and other obesity related diseases, and so that I can watch my children graduate from college or get married. I want to lose weight not just because I want to fit into that Christmas party dress. But I want to feel more at ease with my body and get my confidence back.

Let's see the general causes of diabetes and how we can reduce the risk or prevent this disease.

Symptom of Diabetes

1. Overweight or Obesity
In many studies, waist circumference which reflects abdominal fat accumulation is a strong predictor of type 2 diabetes. Excess fat changes the way that your body responds to insulin, leading to a condition called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body produces insulin but does not use it effectively. Instead of being absorbed by the cells, glucose builds up in the blood leading to type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.

Prevention: A major clinical study proved that losing modest amounts of weight lowers the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by more than half.

2. Watching too much TV
A study shows that zoning out for hours, often combined with snacking increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Prevention: Reduce sitting. Regular physical activity is a key element when it comes to weight management and prevention of obesity.

3. Poor diet
The relationship between diet and diabetes has been documented more recently. Eating too much of the wrong kinds of foods can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Prevention: Change your bad and unhealthy eating habits.
- Replace saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fats, including sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
- Ensure generous consumption of fruits and vegetables and adequate folic acid intake.
- Consume cereal products in their whole-grain, high-fiber form.
- Limit consumption of sugar and sugar-based beverages.
- Limit excessive caloric intake from any source.
- Limit sodium intake.

How Diabetes Kills You
Diabetes is a silent killer. Type 2 diabetes may have a long term consequences if diabetes is not well-controlled. Some of the effects are including heart attacks, kidney failure, poor circulation in the feet (sometimes requiring amputation), and blindness. At first, the organs only lose blood supply and slowly begin to fail but then these life-threatening events can occur. Diabetes management can be frustrating, so prevention is better than cure.

As you can see, the formula to prevent diabetes is pretty basic. Sleep well. Eat real. Exercise. Repeat.

Long term effect of Type 2 Diabetes 

Diabetes should not be taken lightly. Do you have diabetes stories to help or encourage others? Share your story in the comments. Every story matters.

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Weight Loss Struggle: 5 Things to Remind You About Why You Started When In Doubt

I was busy moving to another town these past weeks, and while busy arranging the children new school and adapting to new surrounding, I piling on the pounds. I fall off the No Cheat Challenge wagon.

There are times when sometimes I don't care about my weight anymore. I know am in a bad shape and I know that I must lose the weight but sometimes I just feel like I don't want to do it anymore. I am a SAHM, I spent most of my time at home with my family so I feel less pressure to lose weight. But when I have to attend an event or when I have to go out hanging with old friends, I have this sudden urge to lose weight like I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT RIGHT NOW because all my clothes are not fit anymore. I looked tired and old. But when I get back to my comfort zone, the motivations to lose weight just fade away like the dew of the morning.

Have you ever felt like this? Not wanting to do the things that you need and want to do? So I took some time to reevaluate myself and my weight loss and health goal. Okay maybe this can restore your faith too, these are 5 things to remind you about why you started when you feel like giving up.

1. Remember that your feeling to give up is just an emotion
There are saying, 'don't promise when you're happy, don't reply when you're angry, and don't decide when you're sad.' You may regret the decision you made in that moment of frustration once the wave has passed. This emotion may be a sign that you need to change your approach to exercise and learn how to improve your diet.

2. Remind yourself of past successes
Not all progress can be seen on the scale. Non scale victories like quitting junk foods, manage to keeps your food portion under control, hitting the gym without fail are small accomplishment that worth celebrating.

3. Admit the things that are not working out 
Life is a series of choices and YOU get to decide on what will move you closer to your goals. Don’t try to rationalize things that are not working in your life. For example, I always wanted to rise early every morning before everyone else and use the opportunity to meditate and exercise. But I am not a morning person, I tend to feel most energetic just before I go to sleep at night. So if exercise in the morning is not working, don't try to make excuse for it. Embrace your inner night owl. Exercise in the late afternoon or early evening whenever you have the best chance of getting it done.

4. Don't believe those weight loss lies you told yourself
We might not notice it, but we all believe lies. The lies that you can't lose weight because you have this fat gene, the lies that telling you that you are too old to lose weight and get fit, that no matter how much you lose, you will eventually gain back all the weight you lost. That's a lie! Identify the lies, express your frustration, let it all go, but do not give too much power to your negative thoughts. Challenge these negative thoughts by finding and stating the truth.

5. Imagine the taste of success
Imagine being able to order clothes from a catalogue without worrying if they will fit. Imagine being able to wear something that doesn't say PLUS on it. You are no longer afraid of looking fat in tagged pictures. You don't have to worry about rashes and sweating anymore. The children are also not embarrassed about the way you looks. Most of all you feel better about yourself. How liberating is that?

It's important to remember why you're doing it in the first place and once you rediscover the spark, you'll find it's easy to start the flame again.

Now it's your turn: Share in the comments how do you overcome loss of motivation when you're feeling a bit hopeless, lost and stuck? 

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