Erika lost 35 pounds

Weight Loss Story of the Day:  Erika lost 35 pounds. She took her time, worked exercise into her daily routine and embraced meal planning.  Her hard work has truly paid off.  Here is what she shared about her journey…

My name is Erika Hodge-Hardy. I lost a total of 35 pounds by exercising and eating healthy. I started exercising outdoors with my home daycare children. Whatever they did, I did too. I participated in baseball, track, and basketball games with the children. I decided to not just watch them swing and play at the playground. I took my energy to another level. Also, I decided to ditch all the processed foods. I began eating more vegetables and fruits and became a big fan of making smoothies when I first started my healthy eating journey.  Later on, I began to eat six meals a day and snack on healthy nuts between meals. I am currently maintaining my weight by doing strength training. I am enjoying the results because it is toning my body, but I still get to keep my curves. I do cardio twice a week and strength training three days a week.

I am constantly reading and enlightening myself by looking at the BWLW Facebook page and other fitness sites such as Shape Magazine. The most challenging thing about maintaining weight loss is meal planning. I set aside time out of my busy schedule of running a home daycare to meal plan. I cook most of my foods on the weekends or late nights. Also, I began to gain weight after I got married. My husband were always going on dates and enjoying eat others company. We still date, but we monitor the choice of meals. We are more health conscious.

I am currently 35 years old. My goal is to live a healthy lifestyle and I plan to never go back. Now I weigh 190 pounds. I went from 225 lbs to 190 lbs (5’6″ tall). I started this journey in June 2012 and ended June 2014. My favorite quote is anything is possible with God.