Find What Motivates You- Guest Speaker: SUMMER

Hey y’all!

Becca asked me to appear on the blog as a guest blogger. I should probably tell you a little bit about myself before I go into too much detail about my journey.

My name is Summer. I am a 21 year old college student, studying History and Political Science in North Carolina. I met Becca when I was 12 or 13 years old. We were best friends in middle school, but lost contact after we went to different high schools freshman year and then I ultimately moved away. I was so excited to reconnect on Facebook and even more excited to see her weight loss journey. 

Now, about my journey. All throughout my life I have been extremely athletic. I played every sport you could think of as a kid and in high school I was a state champion golfer. I took care of my body and loved being in shape. I think when I started to struggle with keeping in shape was right when I turned 15. I tore my ACL and subsequently had to have major knee surgery. I went through the surgery and rehab and came out in really good shape, but when I started to have complications and needed a second surgery on my knee I began to lose my drive to stay fit. However, I did maintain my weight until I went to college.

First semester of college I didn’t gain anything. I fluctuated here and there, but for the most part I stayed the same. Second semester was a whole new story though. I began to take a new medication and instantly my weight shot up. I, however, was in denial. I stayed in denial until the summer after my sophomore year when I went shopping for shorts and I had gone up 4 pants sizes. I worked out and “ate right” that summer and dropped a few pounds, but the weight went right back on once the semester started and the crazy schedule began.

At the beginning of this year, I promised myself I wouldn’t ignore my weight issue anymore. While I didn’t have the time to exercise at the gym frequently, I did do little things that helped me get more active. One thing I started doing was taking the stairs whenever the option was there, even when I was running late. I also started eating the right sized portions in the spring. I wasn’t eating the most balanced things, but I had cut back. I lost 7 pounds easily doing that.

Now that I have moved into my own place, I have really been able to focus on eating clean and eating right. I have started exercising regularly too. I run every other day and have been following the Air Force Basic Training Prep program to work my way up to a healthy running habit. Since I was such an avid athlete and still consider myself to be one, only recovering, I love to do things that make me pour sweat and really feel my workout when I am done. Because of that I have adopted an intense body weight routine that I do in my apartment daily. Since I started regularly doing all of this I am down 20 pounds overall for the year and at my lightest I have been in almost two years.

I really want to encourage you not to lose your motivation. It is so hard to lose weight, but I promise you will see results and that you will meet your goal. Some tips I do want to pass on to you. 1) Don’t weigh yourself daily, then everything becomes about the number, not about how you look and feel. 2) Results take time, patience is a virtue, especially when it comes to weight loss. 3) Surround yourself with people who motivate you to be better, not bring you down. Coming to Becca’s blog is a great way to start finding the positive influence you need. I can never begin to thank Becca enough for all her motivation and helpfulness on my journey.

I hope you have a successful journey. If I can help you in anyway, just contact Becca and she can get you in touch with me!

Healthy Living,

Summer

From Becca:

If you would like to hear more from Summer, leave a comment or e-mail me! We can try to get her back on the blog again. 

Thanks Summer for appearing on the blog, you are a true inspiration!!!