Jacquetta lost 67 pounds

Woman on a Fitness Mission: Jacquetta lost 67 pounds. With the encouragement of her brother, she decided to join his gym and seek out the help of a trainer. She’s done her research, embraced meal planning and pushed herself in the gym to get results. Check out what she shared about releasing the weight.

In November 2014, after Thanksgiving, I had an epiphany after chatting with my brother about how crappy I felt. I’d given my self permission to eat way too much over the Thanksgiving holiday and I felt horrible! My tummy felt bad, my knees were hurting (and always were) and my blood pressure was high (I had headaches). Overall, I was not comfortable in the skin I was in. I was 5’4″ tall and weighed 261 pounds!!  I was trying to figure out how I got to that point, but that was the heaviest I’d ever been.

Being an emotional eater, I ballooned to this weight after a bad relationship and overall everyday life stresses. Food was my companion, my friend, my EVERYTHING! On that day, November 29, 2014, my brother suggested for the 10th time that I join the gym where he attended regularly and worked out with his personal trainer. Finally, I found the motivation within myself to just make the call an inquire. They had such a great special going that I decided to join right then and there, via telephone, which is crazy because I would never do anything like that.

My journey started off really slowly, with me going twice a week and just getting on the treadmill, but at least it was something. Then, I met with a sales consultant who worked to convince me that personal training may be a good option for me. I was hesitant because of the financial investment, but I’ve always put everyone else’s needs ahead of my own and decided that I was worth it. I needed the accountability and the push.

My first session with my trainer was on Dec 16, 2014 and I must admit that I was in bad shape, but we discussed my goals. I felt empowered to just go for it. I never knew that lifting weights and overall strength training would help increase metabolism beyond just cardio. I read a lot about nutrition and the biology behind how your body processes food, which pushed me to meet with a nutritionist as well. She suggested I sign up for My Fitness Pal to track my daily calorie intake and to reduce the consumption of processed foods and sugary foods (which are my weaknesses).

Food prep is a MUST and has become the major focal point of my weigh releasing success, especially since I was such a fast food junkie. It was so easy for me to pick up a burger and fries because of the ease of access this type of food. When my food is prepped and ready to go, I can just grab and run. I already know the calorie count and what I put into each dish.

Regarding meal prep, I pull a lot of recipes from the forums in the My Fitness Pal app and online. I cut back tremendously on processed foods, sugary and salty snacks and changed how I prepare my meals. For example, instead of frying an egg, I hardball it. I’m baking chicken instead of frying chicken. My diet consists of lean protein, including tofu and wild caught seafood, and lots of leafy greens, such as kale, chard, spinach, etc. I also quit drinking sodas. I haven’t had one in over a year! I do have an occasional cheat day, but I put in a lot of hard work at the gym beforehand to earn it.

I weigh in once per month with my trainer and meet with her once a week for my 30 minute training session. I do a lot of cardio and strength training using dumbells, my body weight and floor ropes. I also do plyometrics and HIIT exercises (jump squats, jacks, push ups, planks, etc) as well. It is very hard work, but its all worth it! I am in the gym 2-3 times weekly and attend Zumba twice a week. When I can’t make it to the gym or Zumba, I will always do some running and walking in my neighborhood. No excuses! My goal every is to get my butt up and moving at least 4-5 times weekly.

My goal was to be 60 pounds lighter before my 40th birthday, which was January 16th 2016. I not only met that goal on September 30th, 2015 (4 months ahead of schedule) but lost an additional 7 pounds to boot. I am working on getting more toned and I trained for a 10K that took place in December. I have a lot of hard work ahead, but cannot stop at this point as I am still a work in progress.

Finding the motivation within yourself to do this for Y-O-U is all you need to start the process of getting fit. It is a lot of hard work and each day is different, but seriously, if I can do this ANYONE can. Surround yourself with positive people. Learn all about your body and how it works. Always celebrate the non-scale victories, like taking the stairs without pain, fitting into a new jeans a size smaller, being able to run, etc. YOU CAN DO THIS!! I say that to myself often. I even write it on post-it notes and put them in places that I know I’ll see them. The journey continues.

You can follow me on Instragram at @Quettav123 or on Facebook at Jacquetta Vaughan.