Where’s the best place for listeners to connect with you?: Instagram

What’s one habit you do almost daily?: I swear by closing all three rings on my Apple Watch daily. These rings represent active/move calories, 30mins of exercise and standing/moving for at least one minute for at least twelve hours. Setting myself my close these rings daily keep my actively moving in small ways.

What’s one of your normal routines?: I am an early riser. I enjoy waking up and starting the day with physical activity. Before COVID, it was going to the gym for a 30min cardio session on the elliptical. Now it is jogging/speed walking before logging into work.

How long did it take for the above routine to stick? : It tools many months, many slips-ups and set backs for it to fully stick. It came down to mentally realizes I fell better when I get up and workout before anything, my days tend to be less high stress and I handle things better when I do this in the am vs choosing to sleep in. I got to a point where I told myself I am doing an injustice to myself by not starting my day off right.

Describe your weight loss journey.: Once I started and got that rush of feeling better and growing more active, the flood gates opened. I became addicted to bettering myself and kept pushing for that next goal. My journey is full of frustrating stalls, hardships and many many personal reflections, however I am proud to say I have never had a period of re-gaining...I have either lost or maintained. It took me a long time to accept those extremely long periods of time where I maintained weight as a win rather than a loss. Although I have never gained back, I’ve gone through periods of loosing good habits and slipping. I almost feel like loosing those habits is worse than regaining.

What’s a skill you developed as a result of working through your weight loss journey?: I learned to stop striving for perfection. I learned to embraced the journey, value the lesson and continue to keep moving.

What has that skill led to outside of weight loss?: It has become a life changer. I use this perspective in all asbestos of my life. It has allowed me to be more open when admiring a weakness and asking for help. It has helped me see celebrate the small victories while still seeing the improvements that can be made.

What have you learned about yourself over the last year or so?: I have learned that I am resilient. I have really reflected on myself personally and come to realities about myself. Transformation really opens you up and makes you see the person you are, the person you want to become and what has held you back all this time. This year has given me a whole new mind set!

What advice would you give to someone working through their weight loss journey?:Understand that Rome was not build in a day. You didn’t put on all this weight or fall into these bad habits over night, so you cannot expect them to change like that either. Be patient, take baby steps towards building a strong, healthy habit based foundation and slowly (SLOWLY) move forward. Don’t burn yourself out.

What resources would you recommend listeners check out?: Every persons journey is different so what resource works for one may not work for another. I recommend exploring all options and resource till you find one that works for you! However, I do recommend connecting with others in this community because it is so much easier when you have support and are able to connect with others doing what you are doing. Mental support is huge!

What are you working on now?: I am playing around with the idea of starting a journey blog to really present myself. Weight loss is the tip of the iceberg for me. I’ve transformed myself in all aspect of life including my job/career, education and relationships, which all stemmed from the positive impact getting healthy had on me. So I want to share this better and be more consistent in supporting and inspiring others. 

I am also still planning on diving in heavy to MMA and get back to hitting bags once gyms are back in business!

Is there anywhere else you’d like to point listeners to? Please provide link if possible: I recommend the weight loss community and connecting with everyone because support is definitely needed!