The gray pictures are my before and the pink pictures are my after pics.
In 2008 I weighed in at 306 pounds and knew that I had to change my life. I worked hard over the next 2 years and lost 106 pounds. In 2010 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Diease and was put on Prednisone and it caused me to gain back 50 pounds. After that I moved to Massachusetts from Illinois, where I lived for 27 years It was hard to move and make friends and during the first year of living here had some depression and gained the rest of my weight back minus 1 pound. I weighed in at 305 pounds.
In October 2012 I decided I had had enough and went for a walk. It was a tough week. I wanted to quit, but I pushed myself and finally was walking home and I saw a sign for a personal trainer. I emailed him that night, we talked on the phone, and on November 5th, I started with him and have been having success.
In December he sent out an email to all his clients and encouraged us to join the Dynamatize Nutrition Total Transformation Challenge. There was no way I was going to join. I had joined other contests before and failed. I've self sabotaged myself and felt like I had failed, so I didn't want to join another challenge and fail and disappoint my personal trainer, Justin. I knew I wasn't going to do it, but Justin kept encouraging me and finally I gave in. I was all set to do this.
We met together and made a plan.
My Workout Schedule
The first thing we talked about was my workout plan. I was only meeting with Justin once a week, but we changed that to two days a week. We would workout on Mondays and Fridays and concentrate on my weight training. The rest of the week I would concentrate on burning the most calories I could. I was burning around 1000 calories a day when not working out with Justin. I would also do core training. Later on in the 12 weeks I added a third day of weight training. I used the elliptical, treadmill, jump roping, and boxing to get my heart rate up and burn the most calories possible. I also took some hikes and really surprised myself with what I could do and accomplish.
My Nutritional Plan.
Next up we talked about the nutritional plan with Justin. I would be eating 5-6 small meals day 2-3 hours apart. My meals would include lean protein, fruits, veggies, and some starches like sweet potatoes and brown rice. I also quit eating out for the most part and only drink water and green tea. I had my days were I gave into temptation, but overall my nutrition plan was a good one. I also was introduced to protein shakes (see My Supplement Plan). I would have one shake in the morning before my morning workout, one midmorning, and one after my evening workout. These were a great addition to my nutritional plan as I never felt hungry.
My Supplement Plan
When we discussed my nutritional plan we also discussed what I would do for my supplements. I had never included supplements into any program I had been on. I have to take a lot of pills for my Crohn's Disease and thinking about taking more pills was just a turn off. I didn't realize that taking supplements was not just pills. However, I did add Fish Oil to my pill regiment. I learned that it will help keep my heart healthy, my blood pressure normal, and a healthy immune system, which is really good for someone with Crohn's.
I started taking Amino Energy before my workouts. I love this stuff. It really gave me just the boost I needed to up my workouts and get more out of my workouts. Next up, I would take Glutamine after my really hard workouts to help with my recovery. I also, as mentioned above, I started drinking protein shakes. I used Vanilla flavored performance whey. I really loved introducing protein shakes into my program. I love how full I felt after drinking a shake. These are all things that I will use even though my 12 week transformation is over.
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