My Weight Loss Journey: How I Transformed My Body | Iris
One woman shares her inspiring weight loss journey.
Transcript
I’ve lost weight, I have gained weight,
I’ve maintained weight, it’s been a really long process.
But, as everyone says, it is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.
And I’m deep within that marathon right now.
As an operatic artist, you have to deal with
the stereotype of, it’s not over until the fat lady sings.
That’s not opera today.
You have to be fit.
I definitely think that my food habits
were shaped in my early childhood.
I grew up in a small town in Georgia called Sylvester,
it’s in the deep south.
My entire family is overweight and that’s not something
that’s abnormal in the southern community.
Big happy family, emphasis on big, was what we were.
Everything revolved around food,
cookouts, barbecues, fish fries, all kinds of things.
Just food was a big part of it.
When I was , this is when I was really
starting to come into my own,
I stepped on the scale and it said pounds.
I knew that that was big, but I also knew
that my sisters were bigger than me.
So, I was like, I’m doing fine.
I didn’t see any of the red flags.
That’s what held me back for so long
from actually getting my weight in control.
The real pivotal shift was my best friend’s wedding
in college, I was asked to sing at her wedding
in this beautiful valley, in North Georgia.
Just a stunning spring day.
And I wore a dress that I felt awesome in,
and it was really flowy so it hid all those trouble spots,
and we had a great day.
The problem came when I saw the pictures.
It was the first moment in my life
that I actually saw myself how others saw me.
And I was, it sounds so cliche, but I was so shocked
because I was like, who is this woman?
You know, she has my smile, and she has my eyes,
but she looks swollen.
I got on the scale and it read pounds.
I knew then, because I was a stone’s throw away
from pounds, that I could either step up,
do something that I’ve never seen anybody like me
or in my community, or you know,
anybody but Oprah really, lose weight.
And I just want so much for everyone to realize
that health and wellness is for everyone.
You know, regardless of skin color,
socioeconomic status, your job.
I started to see results within about six months of me
really trying, is when I lost my first to pounds.
And, I stepped on the scale and I saw that
I was around , and that was groundbreaking.
It was addictive.
I was like, how far can I go?
You don’t have to be, you know,
a suburban housewife to lose weight.
You just have to have an idea that you want better for you.
Motivation isn’t always there.
I don’t always want to meal prep,
I don’t always wanna go work out.
But, if you take time to cultivate discipline,
it doesn’t matter what your motivation is.
I know there’s gonna be times where
maintaining weight’s gonna be really hard.
I know that.
But what I see in the immediate future
is me really getting back to a place where
my weight loss journey becomes more consistent.
A place where, doing things every single day
because I know they’re good for me,
that’s what I see in the future.
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My Weight Loss Journey: How I Transformed My Body | Iris
