My name is Kari (@ aspire.rise.achieve) and I’m 32 years old. I live in Nova Scotia, Canada, and I work as a support assistant for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. I struggled with my weight my whole life until I decided to start eating nutrient-rich foods, run a calorie deficit and work out with Les Mills BodyCombat and BodyPump classes.
Before my journey to lose weight started, I was overweight throughout my childhood and adolescence. I remember being teased since I was 6 years old, which was a struggle. I knew I looked different and I wasn’t happy with my weight, but I didn’t know how to make a change.
When I was old enough to walk to the nearby store to buy a snack after school, unhealthy choices became more frequent and affordable. It was then that my weight problem got worse. I always felt that my weight prevented me from trying new things or meeting new people. I absolutely feared gym classes. I couldn’t find clothes my size anywhere, except in specialty stores in large sizes that only sold adult-style clothing – not what a teenager would like to wear at school.
I was heavier around the age of 16 and couldn’t believe that I saw 300 pounds on the scale. I knew it was a big problem, but I felt stuck. I just thought that was how my life would be. I didn’t believe I could change because I had never known anything else.
I also started to have health problems. I had blood tests that showed signs of pre-diabetes, high LDL (bad) cholesterol and lower HDL (good) cholesterol, as well as hormonal imbalance. I wanted to do something about my weight, so I would try to eat more nutritious food, but I never stayed consistent.
I continued with my bad habits until I hit rock bottom at the end of my first year of college, when I was almost 20 years old.
At that point, my knees always hurt and made creaking sounds as I went up the stairs. I had no energy and was unhappy most of the time.
He had already made many failed attempts to lose weight, but he knew it was different this time. I would make a lasting change and lose weight. I researched and learned about the basics of good nutrition, calorie / energy balance and exercise.
On May 18, 2008, I started to apply the things I was learning to my lifestyle.
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I finally chose a way of eating that I knew was realistic and sustainable.
As a college student, I could also do this without costing me a lot of money. I didn’t want a quick fix or a fad diet that would result in regaining weight. So I focused on staying with a calorie deficit, learning to read nutrition labels and becoming more aware of my consumption. I focused on eating nutrient-rich foods as much as possible, but still allowed flexibility, as holidays and food-focused events and meetings will always be a part of life.
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Here’s what I eat in a day now.
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- Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs, a slice of germinated grain toast with butter, diced avocado, tomato and unsweetened almond milk and Stevia.
- Lunch: Turkey or lean beef burger in a small whole grain loaf with unsweetened ketchup and mustard. Raw vegetables or salad on the side.
- Snacks: A protein smoothie, or one to two plain rice cakes with natural peanut butter.
- Dinner: Chicken breast with sesame or homemade tofu, 1/2 cup of rice and broccoli, all covered with chives and sesame seeds.
- Dessert: Some squares of 80 percent dark chocolate mixed with raw almonds.
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I didn’t start any formal exercises other than skipping rope in my room at the beginning. I was ashamed to go to the gym at the beginning of my journey.
As soon as I started my second year of college, I discovered that students had free access to the campus gym. I had never worked out at a gym in my life, but I was very intrigued and joined. I started going every morning, Monday through Friday at 6 am, before my entire day of classes and night work. After graduation, I joined a different academy, and I have been there for 12 years.
I have been passionate about strength training and running for a long time, but in 2012 I discovered my passion for fitness: Les Mills BodyCombat.
It is a group gym class inspired by mixed martial arts. After I had my first child in 2015, the group gym instructor reached out and encouraged me to consider doing instructor training. I taught at my gym for about a year. I still do Les Mills BodyCombat and BodyPump workouts virtually today, along with running and weight lifting four days a week.
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These three changes made the biggest difference to my weight loss results.
- I remained realistic. I approach weight loss with sustainability in mind and find healthy foods that I like. I try to make nutritious choices most of the time, so I occasionally make less nutritious foods that meet my body’s calorie needs. This method helps to prevent me from feeling restricted or losing special occasions, events, etc. This is even more important now, as a busy, working mother with two young children.
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- I changed the way I saw fitness. I learned that working out improves my mentality and my general feelings of well-being, which makes the journey to lose weight and maintenance more enjoyable and positive. I love to challenge myself and see what my body can do now that it couldn’t before my weight loss.
- I found responsibility. I found an online weight loss community and forum. People were there to be accountable, as well as to support each other. Later, I moved to the MyFitnessPal community. Now I found an entire health and fitness community full of inspiration to explore on Instagram. Having people with similar goals and support is a very useful tool to stay inspired and motivated.
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Overall, I lost 45 pounds and kept it that way for 12 years. I am now about 75 pounds.
After getting married and having two babies, I’m still proud of how my lifestyle has changed forever. After having my first child, I lost weight after giving birth in the first year. However, my second child had serious health problems and, after giving birth in 2018, I am losing some weight from this pregnancy again.
I advocate sustainable methods of weight loss, because if I hadn’t focused on nutrition education and my body, I might not have been able to maintain it through so many important changes in life. Now that things are settled, I’m finally taking care of myself again. I hope my story helps other people to believe in themselves too.
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