What My Health Journey Taught Me: Part 3 Big Loser

I'm just gonna say it (Or rather write it) 130 pounds....this next woman has lost 130lbs! Holy cow. That's an entire person.
I remember one of the first times I bought dog food from Sam's club. One of those 50lb bags and thinking holy cow! How did I carry around this much extra weight plus 30lb on top of that.

I can't even begin to imagine how incredible this girl must feel. She definitely deserves the biggest loser award!
Meet Nikole, married mom of 2, dedicated health enthusiast, check out her Facebook page over at My Healthy Obsession. She is consistently posting recipes, her meal plans, encouraging photos. Give her Facebook page a look.

Nikole is a bubbly go-getter who truly loves her family. Losing nothing short of 130lbs this woman is on fire. When asked if she could name her top lessons from her journey she immediately said absolutely!
Her answers are amazing. She truly understands what it means by giving the best of yourself by being your best self. 

Nikole said "One major thing that I have learned is that I used to think putting everybody else first whether it be kids, husband, family, friends, etc., would make me the best wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend but in all actuality just putting myself first gave me the opportunity to develop the best Nikole I can be." She goes onto say "Everything else fell in place after that. If I'm offering the world the best version of myself then there's no way I can fail at any of the the above because at the end of the day, I will know that I have offered them the best that I can be with no regrets."


Nikole after initially losing weight stopped putting so much emphasis on the number and became more focused on how she felt. She says "I know in due time that the number will reflect with how I feel on the inside." Mostly importantly though she realized that taking care of herself has developed into a natural habit.

After 130lbs you almost ask, what's next? "Yes, of course I have a goal weight and I have an amount of weight that I like to see per month but the plateaus and the days that I don't lose don't bog me down like they used to. I put losing weight into a realistic perspective."

When we lose big numbers, like 50,60,80,130lbs we begin to look at how it all began. Nikole grew up in a household where food was a reward. Food was everything and food was the best part of your day, "so that was the biggest conflict for me, was rearranging my priorities and realizing what was really important and that it wasn't the food, it was the time spent with whom I was eating with! Eating to live, not living to eat."

 Rearranging your life in such a fashion can be incredibly difficult. I do not know about you, but my family always gathers in the kitchen. I have a friend who said "in my dream home, the kitchen would be the central point & focus of the house." Especially owning their own pizza restaurant it would be difficult NOT to invite people over and NOT be a food centered activity. When you focus on who you are spending the time with versus what you are eating, it becomes a whole new ball game. Friday night is date night in the Goe household & tonight we are headed to our favorite sea food place. Rather than order a salad with a dressing that contains soy, I am planning on ordering extra shrimp. Instead of eating the biscuits I'm going for the seasoned mashed potatoes instead...(okay, yeah potatoes will spike my blood sugar levels, but I'm allowed 1 cheat.) You can go out to eat and still enjoy going out. Knowing that I'll be putting GOOD things into my body, I'll be able to enjoy the rest of the night with my Mr. instead of worrying about how I am going to feel & how I'll actually end up feeling. 

Nikole goes onto say "When I first saw myself losing weight I didn't pay attention to the amount of crap I was putting in my body even though it was supposedly better for me. It was still not the best thing for me so eating clean has been a miraculous thing and I feel SO MUCH BETTER because of it!"

 
 
I agree whole heartily. Once I realized the damage I was doing to my body by eating things that were harmful to me, it's been hard to go back to totally eating like I did. Don't get me wrong, I slip up once in a while, but feeling whole and complete and no longer walking around with a constant gut ache...I feel incredible now. 

Take a look at your diet. "Abs are made in the kitchen!" Nikole says of her clean eating diet. You don't necessarily have to cut out gluten, dairy, and soy, but you do have to be mindful of WHAT you eat. Lindsey...from part of of this series...told me once "I eat whatever I want as long as it met the Paleo guidelines."
Find what works for you. Start bringing lunch to work. Check out healthier, whole recipes, give it a chance. You are worth the amount of time you invest in yourself. I promise.

Thank you Nikole for sharing your journey. You are an amazing woman and an inspiration. For more Health Journey's check out part1 and part 2 for more inspiring stories.

With love everyone, 
A

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