Guest Post: My Life My Way

As a certified personal trainer, it's part of my job to be a source of motivation. People pay me to deliver solid workouts that promote results, sure. And that's something I am all too willing to provide. But that's just the basic definition of my job. I can stand there and count out repetitions all day, but it's the "you can do it" and "push harder" and "good job" and all the talk about the scale and the do and don't advice that really solidifies a personal trainer's ability to motivate their clients to reach goals. But sometimes, no matter what we say, it pales in comparison to real life stories from people who meet and continue to exceed similar goals.

I am excited to introduce you to Nikki today. If you have weight loss goals, big or small, her story will inspire you to believe in yourself. But first, if you're a fan of Daily Dose on Facebook, make sure you click "show in news feed" under the "liked" button so that you keep getting my updates. On top of my daily blog posts, I add about one or two other updates a day (if that). Facebook, man. They keep changing things around. Makes me wonder what else I'm missing out on. 

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Hi friends! My name is Nikki and I blog over at My Life My Way. Today, I want to share my story with you. My story of going from 280 pounds to 150 pounds and being a group fitness instructor. Believe me, it is possible. If I can do it, believe me...YOU can do it! 

FACT: I used to weigh 280 pounds.

I kid you not. That was me in 2005. 

Here is another...

I was always big. Growing up, I was always the "fat kid." I was always the one who got picked on. As I got to be an adult, it didn't change. I was always the butt of jokes and it sucked. I HATED it. I remember when I was a teenager and living with my father...my step-mother would bring me to the doctor and ask the doctor how she could get me to lose weight. The doctor would always tell her "she has to do it on her own when she is ready." That is exactly what I did.

FACT: I now weigh 150 pounds.

That was me this past winter. 

Another from this summer....

I worked my butt off to get where I am now. I work my butt off to keep myself where I am. 

WHAT DID YOU DO? That, friends, is the question I get all the time. Along with DID YOU HAVE SURGERY? Rest assured, I DID NOT have surgery. What I did was change my entire lifestyle. 

Weight loss is really simple. Calories in versus calories out plus some good old exercising. That, my friends, is my recipe for success! It was not easy nor did it happen overnight. It was a long two-year battle to get where I am today. It is a constant 'fight' to stay where I am, but I love every minute of it.

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I started by walking. Simple as that may sound. I would go to the mall on my breaks from work and just walk laps. Laps and laps and laps. I started to see a difference in my weight and thought that if I just changed some of the things I was eating that I would lose more weight. Sure enough, it worked! I totally overhauled my eating and started to work out regularly. When I hit a plateau, I would simply change something. I started to add weights to my workouts or I would just try a different exercise.

I changed my eating. I used to eat crap ALL. THE. TIME. Don't get me wrong, I still have my splurges but they are few and far between now. I stopped eating fast food. I stopped eating candy EVERY DAY. I switched to whole wheat bread. Grilled chicken and vegetables became a staple in my diet. I started to eat clean. Let me tell you what a difference it made in my life. Just changing the food I put in my body gave me so much more energy. I was not eating all that sugar and processed food that tears you down.

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All those "get thin quick" scams are just that—scams. You need to move. You need to eat healthy. You need to invest some time and energy into yourself and you will be where you want to be.

Today I am not only 130 pounds lighter, I am an instructor. I teach Les Mills BodyCombat and I love it. It helped me tone and lose weight...and if me sharing my story can help someone, then I have done my job! If you have any questions for me about how or what I did, please please please do NOT hesitate to ask! I would love to answer any questions you may have.

GET OUT AND MOVE!!!

You can read about the supplements I take HERE.
You can read about the first time I ran an 8K HERE.
You can read about my typical workout week HERE.
You can read about my in-depth weight loss HERE.
You can read about my 6 weeks AdvoCare results HERE.

You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
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Question: What is your current fitness goal and how do you stay motivated to achieve it?