Well, I won't take too much of her time/space, but your mind will be blown by the beautiful Taten Shirley. Taten is Reuben's cousin, and I've had the pleasure of watching her transformation through a series of pictures and running posts. I once felt equal to her and her accomplishments, but now I feel like she has left me in the wind, good for her! I had to know what she was doing to look so incredible, so I sent her an email in January. Because I'm me, I'm just now posting...sorry, Taten...anyway...
Taten, tell us how you made it happen:
This is me:
I'm Taten Shirley, and I'm 25 years old. I have a husband and a little boy who is now 19 and a half months old. I am getting my master's and work as an adjunct professor, graduate assistant, and English tutor. I have always been fairly active; in high school I cheered, played basketball, ran cross country, and swam on the swim team. I gained weight when I stopped growing in ninth grade, but lost it in tenth grade when my family joined a gym, and I started playing basketball. Then my weight loss accelerated when I started cross country. I stayed at a healthy weight until I graduated high school. However, I slowly gained everything back plus much more during and after college.
My breaking point:
When I decided to lose weight, my son was 8 months old, and I only weighed 3 pounds more than the day I found out I was pregnant. So this was not "baby weight," this was me being unhealthy for far too long. I weighed 189, and I'm 5'3. I still ran and exercised sporadically, so I never considered myself "obese," but that's what I was. I saw a picture of myself and realized not just how big I was, but how wide I was--not a great feeling. My mom had lost over 40 pounds the year before, and I saw how diligent she was, so she inspired me to do it too, once and for all. I realized after years of "trying to do better" that I was never going to be happy at this weight, so I just needed to do it, and then I would never have to do it again.
January 2013
Solution:
I decided to join Weight Watchers because that's what my mom did. I had done it online three times before, and each time I lost 15 pounds and then stopped because I started feeling good, got overly confident, and started eating badly again. The thing I love about Weight Watchers is the weekly flex points, so that if you have a special occasion, like a birthday dinner, wedding, baby shower, or whatever, you can enjoy yourself and get right back on track. I also liked that I got extra points for exercise. If I had an off day, it would motivated me to just exercise that much more. The key for me was meetings; I know many people do online programs successfully, but I know that I needed the extra accountability that comes with going and owning up to how well you did that week. It's not scary or intimidating, but it does make you face your progress or mistakes.
10 Pounds Down!
For exercise, I started running again and decided to set a specific goal: run a half-marathon. I had run a lot of 5Ks and two 10Ks, but never a half-marathon. I started a training program, which really helped me because I need structure. If I just tried to make myself go out and run everyday with no plan, it wouldn't work as well, and I would burn out faster. On days when it was too hot or I just didn't feel like running, I did Zumba DVDs in my living room while my son napped. It was a great, fun way to break up the monotony of running. I did some form of exercise at least 5 days a week, sometimes more. As I got closer to the half-marathon, I got a friend from church to start running with me, which definitely helped me stay motivated. Everything is easier with a friend!
Goodbye, 20 Pounds!
When it came to eating, this was definitely what was hard for me. I had five main tips that I tried to stick with:
1) I tracked EVERYTHING. I know people always say this, but this really was key. No matter how badly I did (and there were plenty of tailgates for Auburn football where I did very badly), I would track, and I would know how much I needed to exercise to burn it off, or how I needed to do that much better the next day. Even if you're not doing Weight Watchers, you should have some form of tracking: MyFitnessPal or just writing down calories yourself are great ways to track. Without accountability for what you're putting in your mouth, you're not going to lose weight.
26 Pounds Gone!
3) I pretracked: I would go ahead and put what I was going to eat the next day in my phone, so that I had a plan and was less likely to make impromptu bad decisions. On work days, I would pack my lunch and breakfast the night before and go ahead and track it.
4) Drink lots and lots of water and eat lots and lots of fruit...Again, I know this sounds cliche, but when I was doing best on the plan, I was drinking a glass of water and eating a piece of fruit before every meal. This makes it to when it's time to eat, I'm already partially full, but with good things. I don't like many vegetables (my husband tells me I have the pallet of a four-year old), but I do like fruit, so I just tried to eat a lot. This also helps at things like weddings and baby showers because there is usually a fruit/veggie tray. If you get a plate of fruits and veggies first, then you're partially full when you go back to enjoy a few treats.
36 Pounds Lighter!
5) Don't get discouraged. People are not going to notice right away. I noticed once I had lost five pounds, my family noticed once I had lost fifteen pounds, but other people didn't notice until I lost thirty pounds. We all want instant satisfaction, but a common saying in Weight Watchers is that you didn't gain it overnight. I started Weight Watchers in February of 2013 and hit my goal weight, 48 pounds later, in November of 2013. But the whole month of May and September I was completely stagnant in my weight loss. I would lose .6 and then gain 1.2, etc. It was very frustrating, but I knew I just needed to adjust. You can't let setbacks make you stop or give up if you've decided that you'll never be happy at that weight.
Feeling Proud, but not Deprived
Maintaining:
Honestly, I'm still figuring this part out. I reached my goal weight (141) in early November, and so the holidays were right around the corner. I did my best to keep exercising and limit splurges to holiday meals, but it was definitely still a struggle. I've fluctuated some as I try to figure out how to best maintain, but I am doing better. I'm trying new exercises, like P90X, and various exercise plans I've found through Pinterest to add to my running routine to keep things interesting. The hardest part for me is still the eating. I caught myself eating while I was bored over the break, and so now I'm trying to be more mindful and intentional about what goes in my body. I've realized this is something I will always have to be aware of--maintain is an action word, and so it still requires work.
December 2013
The New Me:
Right now I'm trying to lose about five pounds more, just to give myself a buffer zone, since I'm currently at the top of my healthy weight range. I am a size 8 and a size medium in most shirts, both of which I am very comfortable with. On January 18, 2014, I ran my first half-marathon in 2 hours and 40 minutes. You don't have to be a running expert to know that this is slow, but I met my two goals: to run the whole time, and to stay under 13-minute miles. I plan on running another half-marathon in the fall, and this time trying to stay under 12-minute miles. I eventually would like to run a full marathon, which I will complete with Abigail in 2015, and complete a triathlon.
Okay, Abigail here with a confession...I added the "Abigail in 2015" part. Hint, hint, Taten!
Half-Marathon!!
Words of Wisdom:
I told this to my husband in the beginning: "You have to help me, and you have to hold me accountable." I had always refrained from telling anyone that I was doing a diet before in case I failed, but this time I told everyone. I wanted as much accountability as possible, and I didn't want giving up to be an option!
