When I first began my weight loss journey, I lacked motivation, and if my motivation was equivalent to a tank of gas, I was utterly on E. It was to the point that I had to seek motivation from an abundance of fitness inspirations daily to get that rush or push to persevere. One day, I read an article, and it unequivocally made sense. It was as though a light bulb went off in mind. The question posed was, "what is your WHY?". Knowing your 'why' enables you to focus on your goals, and compels us to push forward. Knowing your why is YOUR MOTIVATION. You may be asking, "Carla, what's your why?". Well, I was a 365lb young woman with pre-diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, chest/joint pains, gynecological issues, and extreme anxiety from past traumatic encounters. From heartbreaks, molestation, armed robberies, battered with guns, ducktapped until unmovable, yanked across the floor by my hair, etc. I was broken, and instead of giving up on myself, I decided to fight, I rose from my bed of depression, and chose life.
I attempted several fad diets, however, nothing seemed to work. I was so close to becoming diabetic, and after consulting with my doctor, we decided that weight loss surgery was necessary. February 2014, I had the Gastric Sleeve. Many people frowned upon me, and said that "I took the easy way out", however, there's no easy way when it comes to weight loss because surgery ONLY works if YOU do the work. Yes, it's only a tool that works if YOU put in the EFFORT, and honestly, I wasn't. I assumed this was a quick fix, and I'll be snatched in no time. I just knew I'll be looking like a snack by summer. What most people don't understand is that once I was able to eat normal again, I gained my weight back because I didn't make any adjustments to my lifestyle or eating habits. I had to change my horrific relationship with food, in which, I found a nutritionist with Beaumont Weight Control Center, which has helped tremendously.
With kickboxing, functionally training, weight training, step aerobics, sacrifices, eating clean, pitfalls, gaining then losing, gaining then losing, gaining AGAIN then losing AGAIN, I'm currently down 135lbs, however, my journey DOESN'T end here. I had to realize that permanent results only come from permanent changes. I'm no dietician, nutritionist or expert with fitness, but just a woman fighting for my health. I was unquestionably and undeniably lackadaisical. Refused to stomach change, and too lethargic to accept the challenge. Petrified of fast food backslides, junk food withdrawals, and "rabbit food” proportions, but I put my excuses to the side and remembered...I am CAPABLE and STRONGER than my EXCUSES. Within this journey, I've learned that it comes down to ONE thing: how BAD do you want it? Your body ACHIEVES what the mind BELIEVES. Someone once said, "when you want to succeed as bad as you wanna breathe then you will be successful".
