Life, weight, stress, they happen. It happened to me.

I gained forty pounds in about six years. I felt sick. I felt tired. I despised how I looked. I disliked every item of clothing I owned. I hated buying new ones.

I swore I would be better, do better. I would eat right and work out and lose weight. Tomorrow. But tomorrow came and went; no matter how many times I promised myself it wouldn’t. That failure would make me even more stressed and more depressed, a never-ending spiral.

It wasn’t until that day on March 17, 2017 that I realized life would change, a change for the better, a better me.

I entered a contest that day. The contest was an offering on social media. The prize to be won was a sample of a superfood nutrient shake, a shake that promised to help lose weight, reduce junk food cravings, boost energy levels and support healthy digestion. Upon entering this contest, I had high hopes.

But I lost, I lost that damn contest.

I was like an enflamed hot-horned mad child. Let’s be real here, it wasn’t all about that prize, it was all about the hopes and dreams that came along with it. That contest was all about how I desperately needed to make some very necessary changes, changes to my own health.

The following day my friend reached out to me. Despite the fact I lost, she offered to
send me a free sample.

“Hell yeah!” I didn’t lose. I scored that free sample anyways.

My hopes and dreams that I craved were all whirling back into my mind, dancing around like a little child, a little child that jitterbugs to every raindrop falling from the sky.

This friend of mine is an athletic coach, she invited me to join her fitness group for a twenty-one-day challenge. All I had to do was purchase this nutrient shake, a workout DVD and commit for twenty-one days.

Trying to untangle the thoughts that were swirling around my head and the excuses flashing across my mind, I committed. I said yes! I said yes to that damn contest!

The twenty-one-day challenge started April 4, 2017.

That very morning at five-thirty AM I heard that rambunctious blaring sound of my alarm.

I was weary, but I pressed that play button. I remember thinking “what the hell did I get myself into.” Halfway through I seriously felt like I was going to croak, not the kind of croak you need a glass of water, but the kind that needs an undertaker.

Every excuse was running through my mind to quit, but I kept going, every morning I kept going. I made it to day twenty-one.

What an accomplishment, what an achievement, and I didn’t stop there.

This was only the beginning, the beginning of a new chapter, a new lifestyle.

Within two years, I lost forty pounds. I started walking, I started running.

I ran my first 5k on July 14, 2018. I clocked in at just under 29 minutes. I was proud, but I knew I needed do better, I craved to do better. The following year I trained. I trained hard. I ran three miles every day, six days a week.

On July 13, 2019, I ran that same 5k. This time I clocked in at 21:42, first place for my age group, ninth place overall for women, and I placed 27th out of 295 runners.

“Hot damn I did it!” But this was only the start, a start to a new and better me.

Fast forward to November 2023, six years, 7 months later, I’m still pressing that play button. I didn’t quit.

I can’t say the journey has been an easy one. It’s come with its fair share of struggles. But I can tell you the journey has been worth every single moment.

I recently looked back on that post regarding the contest I entered, and I quoted the words my friend wrote; “This stuff literally changed my life, to a healthier more fulling one, I believe whole heartedly it’d do the same for you.” Today those words mean so much.

I never imagined losing that contest that day would have so much of an impact on my life. I am so proud of the confidence and determination that I have gained.

I feel now nothing will hold me back.

“I JUST WOKE UP ONE DAY AND DECIDED I DIDN’T WANT TO FEEL LIKE THAT ANYMORE, OR EVER AGAIN. SO I CHANGED. JUST LIKE THAT.”