Life is Healthy

Vanessa Williams quotes (x2)...

"Success is the sweetest revenge."

"Collaboration is the theme of the week."

Hi There -
I love your blog, and read it frequently. It's always such a motivator to see others who have lost weight and taken their lives back. I'd like to share my story with you.

My name is Carrie Falquist, and I'm a mother, wife, artist and online weight loss group leader. In December of 2006, I found myself 230 lbs and trying out for weight loss reality shows such as NBC-TV's The Biggest Loser, and ABC-TV's new show, Fat March. During casting, I ceased all efforts to take weight off, and put on an additional 18 lbs through the 2 month process.

I received call backs, requests for more information, more photos, more video, etc from both casting companies, but at the very end, I did not make the final cut from each show. Having promised myself I would not stay fat long enough to try out next season, I banded together with other reality TV rejects to lose weight on our own. I started Reality of Weighting, which was a blog where we could all come together, share our struggles and offer support.

Support has been key for me, as I have never had to try and lose weight in the past, at least not to this extent. Up until I was 26 (1999), my body was naturally slim. I ate anything I wanted and maintained a weight of 150, which, at 5'10" is a healthy one. A horseback riding accident caused trauma to my thyroid and the result was a weight gain of 60 lbs in 4 months. Having grown up with a super metabolism, I did not know what to do with my body in that condition. Weight loss was a constant struggle, so I just stopped trying. I stayed between 220-230 for years. Until casting for The Biggest Loser and Fat March.

Fast forward to March, 2007. Reality of Weighting forms from 20 other casting hopefuls, and we promise each other "No Drama, No Whining, and NO EXCUSES." We made a vow that we weren't going to hang onto what made us fat, because we were keeping us fat.

I weighed 248 lbs at the end of March 2007 with a BMI of 36.8, and am now, in December 2007, I am a healthy 173.8 with a BMI of 24.8. My goal is to lose another 25.8 lbs and reach 100 lbs lost, and 148 lbs. I believe the group has been instrumental in my success. Not only do I have added accountability as the group's leader, but there are now over 170 members, people I can count on me to believe in myself when I falter.

Others in my group have lost 50, 70, even 90 lbs since March, and we celebrated our first annual get together in Las Vegas in October, meeting in person for the first time as well as being interviewed for a feature in a major health and fitness magazine. Several of us have appeared on local talk shows, the newspapers in our home towns and radio interviews.

My goal, through Reality of Weighting, is to spread the message of empowerment to others who feel like they need some sort of magic formula to lose weight. I want to lead people to a healthier lifestyle, and help them reach their goals without extreme measures, without tv shows, pills, surgery, etc. I've recently been invited by a previous Biggest Loser contestant to join them in coaching people online and creating healthy nutrition and exercise plans. It's an honor to be working with some of the past BL contestants as well as one of the trainers in this project. I'm always looking to meet other health minded folks, so anyone is welcome to friend me on myspace! www.myspace.com/carriefalquist.

www.carriefalquist.com
www.realityofweighting.com

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Also see Carrie's beautiful artwork here

A few months ago Yin Teing started trying to avoid sugar in her daily life. She says she discovered that her eating habits were contributing to increasing fatigue and yearly weight gain. She started a blog about Saying Goodbye to a Lifelong Addiction. In Goodbye Sugar she details her journey, discoveries and slip-ups to her way back to health and shedding pounds along the way.

She has only lost about 12 pounds but her clothes fit so much better since she started her eating and exercise plan. Although her main reason to change her eating and to start exercising was to beat fatigue, she says looking better in clothes is definitely a great bonus and motivation to continue.

See her story at Goodbye Sugar.

Jeremy has lost 25 pounds in about four months. He kick started the weight loss with a simple diet plan recommended by one of his coworkers. He stayed on this diet for two weeks and this really helped to lessen his appetite for big portions. Since then he's added other food to his daily eating but is still managing to lose a pound every ten days or so.

See his diet plan here.

See a good recipe for chili at the World's Healthiest Foods.

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