Before & After

DISCLAIMER: The pictures you are about to see are disturbing. Please view them only at your own risk. I will not be held responsible if you break any bones whilst laughing your a** off.

I used to be fat. Really fat. Not like "I'm so chubby, I need to lose 5 pounds", it was more like "I'm obese and I'm on the road to a quadruple bypass and CHF for my 30th birthday".

When I was 16 years old, I was over 200 pounds (I weighed in at 223 lbs at my peak). I wasn't an overweight kid, perhaps a little bit on the round side, but mostly average, I think things went downhill for my when I was about 12. They didn't actually go downhill, it was more like falling off a cliff into an ocean of whipped cream which I promptly ate my way to the chocolate covered beach and continued on from there. Like every other young teenager, I had my awkward stage, I wore braces, I was a bit pimple-y, I had a seriously bad haircut (with blue streaks!), but for some reason that awkward stage just hit me a bit harder than the average kid and I had a hard time kicking it. I drowned my sorrows in pizza pops and kool-aid... by the truck load. Perhaps I was rebelling from my ultra-fit, ultra-health conscious family, this was my way of being an "individual". Some teenagers choose black spikey hair, some choose to smoke pot behind the local high school, but not me... I chose a 6000 calorie/day diet and zero physical activity.

I remember very specifically a day, I was 16 years old, and I walked up the very modest 1 flight of stairs to my bedroom. I was out of breath and sweating by about the 5th stair. That's the day things changed. I was pretty ashamed of myself for letting it get that bad. I didn't really formulate a plan or dream of being a 6-pack bearing Bay Watch babe (with boobs that don't ever bounce when I run in slow motion down the beach), I just knew that I officially wanted to get out of my rut and do something, anything really.

My mom was great about. After spending the last 5 years telling me that I was just "big boned" (right... big bones that were insulated by my latest meal of Pogo corn dogs smothered in butter), she suggested we try a diet together. We ordered a program called "The Protein Power Plan" (thank you late night infomercials!), which I believe is very similar to Atkins. Now, after becoming extremely informed in the nutrition field, I would certainly not recommend any diet of this kind (or any other one that is sold on TV by a man in too-short shorts with a mullet), but at the time it seemed like a good way to start. My mom and I followed the plan exactly for 6 weeks, which I would suspect required quite a bit more work than I gave my mom credit for (as in meal preparation), and it was certainly not something that my marathon running mom needed to do. I'm not entirely sure how much weight I lost doing that, but it was enough for me to hold my head just a tiny bit higher and give me the self esteem to adopt a significantly healthier lifestyle. I mostly walked off the weight, I gave up my bus pass and I walked 3.8 km to school and then again home every single day (including -20 degrees days in the winter!). It wasn't until I was in my last year of high school that I actually got a gym membership, where I started to make more of specific effort to shave off the remainder of my weight. I ran 5 days a week on the treadmill for 30 minutes, and I did 30 minutes of weights. By my high school graduation I was 135lbs! I ran my first half marathon the summer after I graduated, and then I really learned that I was destined to be a runner when I spent the next year in Mozambique Africa. I ran every single morning while I was there, even on the hottest days that I have ever experienced. I ran my first full marathon a few months after I returned home from Africa.

In the beginning my relationship with running was much like the first year of marriage. There were moments of a love that I can't even describe, pure bliss, joy (and every other world sappy lovey word that you can think of). But there were also moments of extreme pain; tight hamstrings, loosing toe nails, blisters, burning lungs, irritable bowels (and every other painful thing that you can think of). Now, I couldn't possibly think of anything that I would rather do. I've run 17 full marathons and 2 ultra marathons, I haven't had all 10 of my toenails at the same time since 2001, I get to see the best part of the entire day when I'm out on my early morning runs, and I've been able to build some great relationships with my fellow runners.

Yesterday, I weighed myself at 127 lbs, my heart rate was 47 beats/minute and my blood pressure was 100/60. I think it would be safe to say that I saved myself from my 30th birthday date with my cardiac surgeon.

I'm not writing this story to brag in any way. In fact, I think it's pretty disappointing that I ever allowed myself to get as bad as I was. I just thought this journey would be worthy to share for a couple of reasons:

A) Perhaps someone needs to hear this story to be encouraged, yourself, or someone you know. If I can make lifestyle changes, then anyone can make lifestyle changes. I'm cheering for you!

B) I truly appreciate and with everything within me, I believe in healthy living. Our health is such a gift and I feel so strongly that it is one of our greatest responsibilities to handle that gift with great care. I should know, because I seriously abused that gift for many years prior to learning this lesson. On that note, I'm not saying that everyone needs to do ironmans and run marathons, just adopt a practical healthy diet and be active in any way that keeps you happy.

C)This is my blog, so I'm allowed to advocate for the things I believe in.

D) Kids who make fun of chubby girls in high school are mean. Really mean.

E) Maybe this story means nothing to you, but maybe you just need a really good chuckle... please proceed to look at the pictures below (however, note the disclaimer above!). Don't be decieved, I wasn't actually fat, I was just "big boned" - according to my mom (hahahahahahahaha).


Before:
And another one.... (check out that hair!!!)


After (with my mom and sister):