My Inspiration

When I lived in Ohio, my BEST friend was Melissa. We lost touch after I moved away and had not talked for a few years. We have recently began to talk again. We've been catching up on each other lives. Melissa has told me about some of the new things and adventures that she has been doing. She is doing a half marathon,in May. She is doing that with her mom, another friend of ours and the friends mom. This half marathon is 13.1 miles, They are going to walk it. She has also recently done a "Tackle the Tower" race. The object of this race was to climb the stairs of a 37 story building in Cleveland, as fast as you could. (well 37 flights of stairs..for a total of 646 steps) Wow!! She has also been "Zorbing." This is where you climb into a giant inflatable ball, get harnessed in, and then roll down a giant steep hill. I cannot believe some of the things she has done and is doing.

When we were friends, she was the heaviest of the two of us. I was beginning to get curious about if she had lost weight, or was losing weight. I didn't know how to ask her though. The last time I saw Melissa she was about the weight I am now. I did not want to make her mad at me for asking though, so I asked to see a picture of her. (I didn't get a picture when I had asked because she was on her way out of town.) Recently, I was looking at the website for her new business. While I was on there, I found a picture of her. This is the picture that I found.....

WOW!!!! I'm sure this looks like a very simple picture of a girl....... but to me...it is just amazing! The last time that I saw Melissa she was the size that I am now. That's right! And now she is a size 6!!! Wow!!! She is now my new inspiration!!

You hear of people losing weight everyday. They are always people that you don't know. And those stories can inspire some people. But to know someone who has ACTUALLY lost a lot of weight....that is just truly inspiring. She looks amazing!! I am soo blown away by her. Melissa has always been the type that will not tell you what she weighs/or lost. So I can't tell you exactly how much she did lose....cause she won't tell me! LOL!! But I can tell you, that when she began her weight lost journey, she wore a 16-18. (she kept a pair of size 18 jeans to remind herself, how far she has come). The other absolutely amazing thing is this....She lost the weight in only 1 year!! 1 year!!!

So I had to pick her brain. I asked her a TON of questions. Such as what made her finally do it, what did she do, how did she do it...etc. Again I am so impressed. She did it the way that I want to do it. She did it completely by herself. No magic pills, no weird diet. All that she did was start working out. And as she did that, she changed her diet in a healthy way.

It has been over 7 months now, since she quit losing. She says that her weight does fluctuate up and down (by about 10 pounds), but when she gains, she usually gets back to the weight that she is currently, within a week. She wants to lose 10 more pounds, so that when she does gain a few pounds it won't be more than she is currently. She told me that she even "allowed" herself to be "Bad" during the holidays. She said that she gained about 12 pounds, but as soon as the new year began she got serious again. She lost the weight within 2 weeks. The funny thing is, she did not go to the gym during this time....so if she had actually still gone, she may have gained very little, if any at all.

I am sooo inspired by her! I hope that a year from now, that I will be able to share a weight loss story like hers! Wish me luck!!