Renae's Story

Y'all are going to love the inspirational weight loss story I have for you today! One of my sweet blog readers, Renae, emailed me her story last week and I asked her if I could share it. It encouraged me so much I knew it would encourage some of you too! So thank you Renae for being transparent and sharing your weight loss story with us!

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In January of 2011 I found myself in the Emergency Room being treated for pneumonia once again. Laying there at the age of 31 I realized I needed to make some changes.  I knew that I was not treating my body the way that I was supposed to and that God had given me this body and I needed to treat it well.  As soon as I was off the antibiotic, February 15, 2011, I started on a journey that I am still on today.  A journey to wellness and to be the best I can be.  It hasn't been easy but it has been worth every drop of sweat, every dessert skipped and every vegetable eaten.  ;-)

Renae in December 2010, prior to starting her weight loss program

I started running...pretty scary to picture a 250 lb girl trying to run, but I did it.  I could only go a couple of yards but that first day I run that short distance and walked the rest of 3.1 miles.  You see I had set a goal to run my first ever 5k in April.  What was I thinking???!!!  Every day I ran/walked, every day I got a little strong, every day I got a little farther and every day I was continuing my journey to treating my body better.  I also COMPLETELY changed how I was eating.  I started eating fruits, vegetables and a whole lot of chicken.  No more refined sugar, no more daily Mountain Dew, no more southern sweet tea (even though I am from the north, southern's know how to do sweet tea).  My diet did a 360° and I started feeling better.  The change was immediate on the scale also in 1 week I lost my first 10 lbs that kept me motivated for sure to keep going.

Over the next 9 months I got stronger, I ran my first 5k (actually ran 8 more 5k races that summer), I felt like a completely different person, ran my first half marathon, I looked completely different and I had lost 100 lbs.  Many people said I would never be able to keep it off, that I would never be able to stick with the healthy lifestyle, but I was determined!  

By March of 2012 I had lost another 25 lbs.  I had lost a whole person...I had lost half of my body weight and I had gained a health body for the first time in many, many years (I had been heavy since I was a little girl).  August 2013 I placed 2nd (in my age group) in a 5k.  Amazing, who ever thought that heavy girl could achieve that, I even shocked myself.

Renae and her fiance, Sept. 2013

 July 2014 I still eat healthy, still run and have kept the weight off and still haven't had another Mountain Dew (or any soda), no sweet tea, and I drink more water than you can imagine every day.  

I can't even explain how much better I feel.  My journey has inspired others to change their lifestyle and that is amazing to me.  

Even better than all of that, God blessed me with an amazing husband in May of 2014 that is a personal trainer and he eats clean also.  God knew all along that we would be able to support each other and encourage each other even more if we were working towards the same type of goals of being healthy and treating our bodies the best we could.

Renae on her wedding day, May 2014

You can get to your goal also...keep up the good work.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Stay positive and do this for YOU, for your family and you won't have any regrets. If my story can encourage you to keep on keeping on that is all I want.  I see total strangers running on the roads and I cheer them on, because that was me!
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Thank you Renae for being an encourager to me by sharing your journey! I woke up this morning NOT feeling like running today, but you're right... I need to keep on keeping on and get to that goal!!!

I also want to remind you that the Unfading Beauty giveaway is live until Midnight tonight and I will  post the winner tomorrow!

Happy Thursday Friends and in Renae's words, "Keep on Keeping on today"!