The most recent goal Jennifer had in her weight loss journey was to get down to the weight printed on her driver’s license. In the past month, she accomplished that. She’s now three pounds under her license weight and says “I really need to go get a new driver’s license.”
She’s doing a lot of things right in her weight loss, which we’ve been following since summer. For one, she’s not on a diet. She’s establishing healthy habits that are helping her achieve one goal at a time (which is one of the healthiest habits of all when losing weight). Setting small, manageable goals helps you enjoy achievement all along the way, rather than feeling like you’re pursuing something that, for many, will takes months and even years to achieve.
Since the start of her journey in February of this year, Jennifer is down a total of 44 pounds, currently weighing in at 257 pounds. She’s down from a size 26 to a size 22 and has bought a few new clothes. She admits to still ordering things online, but is pleased with how they definitely fit when they arrive.
She’s also celebrating what she called a breakthrough this past month. “I did spiderman planks!,” Jennifer bragged. “It’s a big deal to me!” She talked about not being able to do them at all before and now she can hold one for 20 seconds.
Fitness has been and remains a major part of Jennifer’s new lifestyle, and certainly contributes to the weight she’s lost to date. She completed her first 5k race before Halloween, doing the Pumpkin Run 5K with family in 55:07. “My goal was to finish in under an hour,” she said, achieving yet another short-term goal.
Her time in the gym is a total mix bag and she’s constantly trying something new. As a member of her local YMCA there are a plethora of fitness and group classes to choose from. Her preference is to do back-to-back one-hour classes a few nights a week. Most recently, she tried boxing and really loved it, calling the class good for super sweaty stress relief. Body Blitz, Muscle Pump, and Zumba are other high-energy classes she finds enjoyable. Again, Jennifer’s got a few things figured out, and a major one is that workouts don’t have to be a workout; they should always be something you enjoy doing and look forward to.
As for the other part of the equation, Jennifer seems to have a strong hold on her diet, too. She’s gotten her calorie count down to 1500 per day, a dramatic shift from what she says is easily half of what she used to eat in a day. She recounted a daily menu of McDonald’s for breakfast, a fast-food lunch, followed by a restaurant dinner, not to mention sodas and snacks at work.
While she’s given up candy bars, fast food, and a lot of other unhealthy parts of her diet, she’s sticking by diet soda. “I have no intention of giving it up right now, I love it,” she said. She cites an addiction to the diet soda that stems from her childhood. Growing up in a “militant” home, she couldn’t have sugar, candy, soda, or many other similar treats. She’s also not giving up beer, making the 95-calorie Michelob Ultra her happy hour drink of choice these days.
Jenny is looking good, feeling good, and keeping her sights set on the next milestone in her journey. “I’d like to lose 10 more pounds by Vegas, December 30th,” a trip she has planned for the end of the year. She’s got to navigate the holidays first, but Jenny doesn’t sound like that’s going to be an issue.
“I’m not using the BS that it’s the holiday season to go nuts,” she said. “My intention is to not spread it out. ‘This’ is Thanksgiving, ‘This’ is Christmas.” She’s also going to avoid the “gourmet, beautiful spread” at her dad’s house! She’s going to celebrate each holiday individually, but not let it affect her the other days.
Follow along with Jennifer’s Weight Loss Story here.
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