Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Eating Clean: An AWESOME Weight Loss Story

I am SO excited to be sharing Meredith's story with you guys today!! I just love this lil cutie to pieces!!  She is truly an inspiration & proves that you CAN change your lifestyle if you just make your mind up to do it. I'm not going to steal her thunder & tell her story, but I'll tell you that by eating clean, she was able to go from over 200 lbs down to 135, and she feels better than EVER!

Eating clean is SO important...for our health, our well being, our weight, our energy, our confidence. It is not always easy, but it CAN be done, and the results are immense. Check out her incredible story & be prepared to be inspired!!

Meet my friend, Meredith...
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Hi there! My name is Meredith and I blog over at More Than Faith . I am thrilled to be giving the beautiful Mrs. Butler and her little Jase a blogging break by doing a guest post!

Here are some facts about me:
I used  to weigh 208 pounds. I now weigh 135 pounds. I have a daughter who is turning one. I have been on many diets. Eating clean changed my life. 

Having been over 200 pounds for several years, I had tried the South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers several times. I always lost some weight on them (15-20 pounds), but eventually it crept back up. I did not have a desire to stick to them.  I prayed about it often asking for the strength to do what I had to do be healthy. 

About a year and a half ago I started reading Danielle’s blog. I admired her health status and I had never heard of Clean Eating before so I was intrigued and started checking out some of her archives about it. I emailed her about my struggles to lose weight and she was so nice and told me to (and I quote) “Eat as clean as possible.” So that is what I did.  And WOW…..there are no words to describe my results.
 
I bought the book she had talked about : The Eat Clean Diet Turbocharged. I stuck to the rules and within two weeks, the weight started falling off more rapidly than I had ever seen. I was doing light exercise 3 or 4 times a week as well.  Every time I saw the numbers on the scale, I would experience an intense joy, a satisfaction like no other, a “high on life” if you will. And I was hungry for more (hehe). Never had I been on an eating plan that made me WANT to wake up the next day and do it again. After eating this way for months, my body was accustomed to it and I was no longer having to work hard to “stay on a diet.” I had a fabulous new lifestyle that I wasn’t planning on changing.
 
As the scale dropped every week, I told myself that my goal weight would be 150. I am 5’5 and that seemed reasonable. But when 150 came and I realized I could do even better, I kept going.  I am now 135 pounds. 
 
Before ...holding my niece
 After
After I had lost the weight, I emailed Danielle just to let her know that she had changed my life. She is brave for putting herself out there on her blog and sharing her thoughts and knowledge and I thought she deserved to know that she helped me. 

The changes: The changes in my life following this weight loss were endless. I have always been an outgoing person but when I was heavy, I became a hermit and was scared to speak my mind. I was embarrassed to go to social functions. Now I can't wait to go to functions and I enjoy shopping again. I had lost all confidence in myself. I was having trouble with my hip hurting constantly. I had no energy . I never felt  “great”. Now, All of that is just the opposite. I feel like a powerhouse! I let my true personality shine through because now I am not hiding from the world! I have energy to keep up with my baby. My husband is so proud of me and so am I.
 
Now that I am healthy, I have my splurge meals (every girl needs ice cream, wine, or an enchilada now and again), but I get right back to my normal eating and I have not gained any weight back. The funny thing is that I used to crave the bad stuff: doughnuts, Cheeze-its and coke, etc. But now I crave avacado with tomatoes and an apple with almond butter is like dessert to me. Funny how things change if you give your body the time it needs.
 
I often wonder where I would be right now in my health journey if had I not stumbled upon a little blog called “Butler Party of 2”. I thank God that I am where I am today and mark my words: I will never go back to eating the way I used to. I am not only healthy physically, but my heart, mind, and emotions are healthy too now. Thanks, Danielle! I can’t wait to see pics of your little blessing!

16 comments:

Nikki said...

Great job Meredith!

Cassie said...

wow - she looks amazing!! more power to you momma! you look great.

~Momma to Twin Girls~ said...

Amazing story - thanks for sharing another "healthy" blog- I am off to follow her now as well :)

angela hodges abode said...

That is awesome! She looks wonderful!

kate said...

this is great!!!! eating good is the best way to go... congrats on your weight loss!

Jenny @ jennycollier.com said...

So inspiring. Way to go Meredith!

Christy said...

Great job Meredith! You look AWESOME!

Suget said...

Okay, Meredith is amazing!!

Anonymous said...

Thank y'all so much and thanks again to Danielle for all the support and for sharing your knowledge!

Crystal said...

What exactly is the name of the book you recommended?

Unknown said...

Way to go!! That's awesome!

Lauren said...

Wow Meredith! What an inspriational story! Congratulations!!

Unknown said...

Yay Meredith! I'm starting the journey myself. I started in December and am down 30 pounds.

Anonymous said...

How inspiring! I wish Meredith's blog was public so I could follow her journey too.

Anonymous said...

Her blog was public on Wednesday and i read through it and really enjoyed it but today it is by invitation only. it is a fun blog to read, hopefully she'll open it up again

CDM coordinator said...

Wow - she looks amazing! More power to your mother! You look great.