Losing Weight With Social Media

In the past seven months, I have lost 90lbs with social media.

Yup, you read it right. YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Goolge, Twitter, and blogging. And I lost it all the healthy way; no lies, gimmicks, or catches. 

Just to get you all caught up, I began my journey by doing Whole30. I absolutely love this program because you learn what effect food has on your body and how to develop a healthy relationship with food. My body went through a full detox and I was able to break my addiction to bread and sweets. I immediately started seeing results. Everything from losing pounds and inches to eliminating my insomnia and anxiety.

Then in September 2014 I decided to drop everything and move to Guatemala for a few months. In addition to spending time with my mother's side of the family, I was determined to make drastic life changes; lose weight - among other things.

I didn't have an income, a car, access to a gym or work out equipment, nor a trainer. I thought it would be nearly impossible to lose a significant amount of weight; but I figured I will do everything I could and see what results I could get. By the beginning of October I officially buckled down and began my journey with only a laptop, a cellphone, a yoga mat, and two 5lb weights. I had limited resources but that did not stop me. 

January 2015

I started by tracking my measurements, what I ate and how much I weighed. I also had not one but several trainers everyday and I was able to switch them out. You name them, I trained with them: Jillian Michaels, Bob Harper, Dolvett Quince, Cassey Ho, Kayla Itsines, Keaira Lashae, and countless others. All on Youtube, for free, at any time and any where.

Another benefit was that if I got bored or felt like my body wasn't being challenged, I simply stopped the video and looked for someone else. Even better, I had control of my work out music.

Then I began documenting, sharing, and getting a support system. That's where this blog, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook came in. I have always been embarrassed to talk about my weight or fitness goals with friends and family for fear of being teased or misunderstood. I figured I would either get made fun of for being unhealthy and overweight or for trying to change.

Documenting my feelings, thoughts, recipes, progress, motivations, triumphs, and failures helped me find people all over the world that could relate to me or contribute to my journey in some way. Some had already reached their goals, some were just getting started, others were professionals - nutritionist, doctors, trainers, owners of health oriented businesses, chefs, foodies, dancers, writers, and artists.

Most importantly I was building a support system. I began to realize my biggest cheerleaders and fans were my family and friends. Surprisingly even strangers began to root for me and inevitably became my friends. I began to receive emails, comments, likes, texts, with so many encouraging messages and love. When I would go trough homesickness, plateaus, or simply wanted to give up I would see something on Instagram that would give me a boost, or I would get a comment/message that would remind me of why I started and what my goals were.

Left August 2014 || Right March 2015

Though I have lost quite a bit of weight, I am only halfway to my ultimate goal. I have two months left on my adventure abroad and I'm excited to see my family and friends mid June. If I was able to get this far on my own with only social media, I can only imagine what I can accomplish with many more resources!

I am looking forward to the day I can look back and say I had a long journey, but it was worth it.

You are your biggest obstacle. You know yourself better than any one. You have the power to succeed or fail, the choice is yours.