Weight Loss Inspiration

Before and After Weight Loss Pictures Inspire Personal Transformation For This Client

Today I have a special transformation to share with you! Barbie first discovered Hitch Fit back in 2013, she was inspired by the Before and After Weight Loss Pictures and transformation stories. She was getting more involved with strength training at that time, but realized that if she was ever going to really see the results of her hard work as a visual result in her body, she needed to get her nutrition on track. This is when she reached out to me for help! Barbie has been through a lot since we first connected. She has had ups and downs, backslides and steps forward, but the great thing about this lady is that whenever life knocked her down, she got back up, whenever old behaviors started creeping back in, she recognized them and got herself back on a track towards success! She learned that transformation must start in the mind first, you’ve got to change that mind set in order to develop and sustain the behaviors that will not only get you to a healthier place, but that will keep you there. Barbie started with a Lose Weight Feel Great program, she has a story that many women are going to relate to. Transformation isn’t easy, and progress isn’t always perfect, and guess what, that’s ok. Because every day we have a fresh start and a new chance to make a better choice, and make a choice that gets us to a place that we are fit, healthy and happy.  Please read Barbie’s story, she is open, honest and vulnerable with what she shares, and that is inspirational!! Congrats Barbie!!

Barbie’s Stats: 

Starting weight: 161

Ending weight: 140

Starting body fat: 30.8%

Ending body fat: 22%

Starting clothing size: 12

Ending clothing size: 6

Barbie’s Story: 

“I can’t believe I’m at a point where I get to share my transformation story.  I have read so many stories about transformations over the past two years and what I’ve learned is that the largest part of transformation is mental, not physical.  I am excited to share my journey with you, and though it’s been painful at times, it is the times when I was at my worst that brought the best in me and when I truly felt changes inside myself happening.

I have always eaten ‘relatively’ healthy; I switched to whole wheat years ago, I cut down on fast food and I rarely drank soda.  I would usually eat some form of sugar every day, though – most of the time chocolate after lunch and often after dinner.  My eating habits, coupled with sporadic exercise, eventually led to a physique I grew uncomfortable with.  I began to notice photos of myself and didn’t care for any of them, and then I grew to a point where I didn’t even want to be photographed.  I would look at those photos (when I could face them) and not even know that person.

I began my fitness journey back in 2009.  At that time I had gained about ten pounds over the holidays due to stress and overeating, since I was already carrying some extra weight, it was devastating to me.  In January I started exercising, joined Weight Watchers, and though I made some progress, it didn’t last.  Through that year I read about adding more fiber to my diet to lose weight; again, I had a little success, but nothing that I really kept off.  I experimented with eliminating carbs from my diet – I would challenge myself to go thirty days without bread, grains, etc., but as soon as the time was done I’d add them back in.  I began to notice that even when I wasn’t eating carbs though, I was ingesting a lot more fat, and that helped to keep my weight up.

The main thing in 2009 was that I began running.  I had jogged now and then through the years, but nothing serious.  I was not good in the beginning; I couldn’t run more than a minute or two, but through the next few years I kept it up and eventually went on to learn how to train for long runs, signing up for 5k’s and half marathons, and I did my first marathon last year.  My running has improved dramatically; I am addicted to it and even when it’s 20 degrees outside I’m the one you’ll see out running.  It clears my head and cleans my soul.

In 2013 I began researching strength training.  I found Jamie Eason and followed her strength program for twelve weeks. During the course of that, I learned so many new techniques, vocabulary, and what I was capable of physical-wise.  I read as many before and after stories as I could find, and finally found Hitch Fit.  I looked up their programs and read that for twelve weeks they asked their clients not to eat sugar or drink alcohol.  Previously I had gone 31 days but 90 days was out of the question.  However, eventually I started to realize that if I were to have any real results, I would have to get my nutrition in check, and that is when I contacted Diana.

During the course of being involved with Hitch Fit, I have done the Lose Weight Feel Great program, as well as the Fitness Model Program.  I did the best with the LWFG program, which was of course the first one I did.  I followed everything to a ‘T’…I didn’t cheat, and I was somehow able to fit in all the exercise. I had great success with it, but I knew I wasn’t quite at my goal yet.

I then purchased the Fitness Model program to kick things up a notch, and I started that at the beginning of the holiday season.  I did go off plan a few times in December, but once New Year’s hit (of course) I was back on track and had tremendous results in only three and a half weeks.  I then went on vacation with the purpose of maybe, just maybe, doing a competition program when I returned.  The day I flew home, however, I learned my father had suffered a massive heart attack and during his stay in the hospital, I realized it would be impossible for me to focus on the training for a competition.  I let Diana know what was going on, and I stayed focused on my family.  With my father’s passing then eight weeks later, and all of the stress involved in the ‘not knowing’ during his hospitalization, I knew that my energies were spent in the right place.

In mid April I was now dealing with the devastating loss of my father and grief associated with that.  I needed some sort of structure in my life and I began the Fitness Model program again; this time I wanted to play on my strengths weight training-wise, and try to improve my running. I was a little stressed because I had gained about ten pounds from when I finished before – but as always, Diana was there for me with her insight and advice (to calm me down), and she was always positive in her emails to me.  I finished the twelve weeks in the first part of July, and I’ve been in maintenance since then.

I am not a client who finished twelve weeks and had a killer body at the end of it – end of story. My ‘before and after’ photos are over a course a lot longer than that.  I’ve backtracked, made mistakes, been too hard on myself, overate, gained weight, lost weight – you name it.  But I am truly not the same person anymore than when I started.  The physical transformation is awesome – that is a given.  To go from a size 12 to a size 6 feels wonderful!  But I’ve learned that I’m a lot stronger than I ever thought possible, and most importantly, my faith in God has been renewed over the course of the past year and a half.  I could not have done any of this without God’s help and I’m so very thankful for that.  I thank God every day for my health.

I’ve learned many things from finishing the programs, but some key highlights are:

*Nutrition is critical – it is true that you can’t out train a bad diet, and once you have your nutrition on track you will be amazed at our results

*Having a support systems helps tremendously – I am fortunate to have a husband and family and friends who are very supportive of my lifestyle

*And that brings me to lifestyle – until you go through it you can’t appreciate that this is truly a lifestyle change – but you can do it! .  To have and maintain a leaner body you must accept making the healthier food choices most of the time and keeping some form of exercise in your routine

*Lifting weights = getting stronger = feeling powerful

*You do this to become leaner – and it is not a quick process – so learn to love your efforts and the progress you’re making instead of focusing on your mistakes

*Eating clean feels good, makes me look good, and keeps me healthy.  I enjoy treats now and then, but I’m learning (yes, I’m still learning) that overall I just feel better physically putting the right foods in my body, and in turn I perform better

I had the privilege of meeting Diana and Micah at the end of September. I was thrilled at the opportunity at meeting my Hitch Fit ‘family’, especially since Diana and I have been emailing for over a year.  I can say with all of my heart that I’m so blessed to have found their website and I’ve always been encouraged by their motivation and inspiring stories.  My goals are to keep living the healthy lifestyle I’ve learned, and I may eventually decide to compete someday if the opportunity is right for me.  Anything and everything is truly possible if you believe you can do it, and doing Hitch Fit’s programs helped me to discover that for myself.”

Barbie’s Program Choice – Hitch Fit Lose Weight Feel Great Online Personal Training Plan