'I Couldn't Run For A Minute At A Time. Now I'm Down 150 Pounds And Run Marathons.'

From Women's Health

My name is Liz Rock, and I currently live in Boston. I’m 29 years old working in Healthcare IT. In the past four years, I've lost more than 150 pounds.

I’ve struggled with my weight for as long as I could remember. Before my weight-loss journey began, I would "commit" to eating healthy and working out for short periods of time and lose a few pounds...but then gain it all back, and then some. When things got too hard, I would make an excuse and stop the whole process.

Then, back in 2015, I lost the most important person in the world to me: my grandmother. We had a bond that was very special to me, and she just got me. When I lost her, something in me broke. Her passing made me realize that I needed to live and become the best version of myself. That’s when I took my weight-loss journey extremely seriously.

I was someone who went to the gym when I was overweight, but it was on and off.

So when I started trying to lose weight in earnest, I created a goal to go to the gym at least three times a week for at least an hour each time.

About four months into my weight-loss journey, one of my friends asked me to do a sprint triathlon with her, which involved ½ mile of swimming, 12 miles of biking and 4 miles of running. I figured the running would be my biggest challenge since I was never able to even run for even a minute straight. The next day, I downloaded the Couch to 5K app. I dedicated three days a week following the program for eight weeks. Ever since completing that program, I've caught the running bug.

Running has become a major part of my lifestyle. I’ve run a total of four marathons (Boston, New York, London, and Chicago), and I’ve completed countless half-marathons—and everything in between.

I've found that being consistent is the most important thing when it comes to changing your eating habits.

It can be annoying to have to meal prep every week, but being prepared has been essential to my success. You can’t out-run a bad diet, no matter how hard you try. (Trust me, I’ve tried it all.)

My meals usually consist of some sort of a protein and three servings of veggies. Here’s what I typically eat in a day:

• Breakfast: I usually have a protein shake, or sometimes I’ll make a cheese omelet with lots of veggies.

• Lunch: I have something like stir-fried cauliflower rice, green beans, and air fried chicken wings.

• Snacks: I like baby carrots, pickles, mozzarella wrapped with prosciutto ham, cucumbers, baby bell peppers, plain Greek yogurt (I add a packet of Splenda) or a protein shake.

• Dinner: I love having cauliflower mash with bacon bits, green beans, and a chicken drumstick.

• Dessert: I don’t typically have dessert, but if I want something sweet, I usually have a frozen sugar-free Jello (it sounds weird, but it reminds me of a Italian ice). Or I'll have one of the frozen pops that I make with Crystal Lite.

Self Love, self-awareness and mental health are very important to me.

I was very naïve in my thinking when I started losing most of my weight. I figured the weight comes off and all my issues and insecurities would just somehow disappear, which is not the case.

I am now going to therapy to deal with my personal issues, which also includes my eating issues. I wish I would have started seeing a therapist from the very start of my journey. Even though I’ve lost all this weight, the struggle is still very much real.

I have lost between 150-170 pounds. It’s still a work in progress. But I want women to know that losing weight is possible. I also want women to know what no matter their size, they are beautiful and they are worth it. The number on the scale does not define us. Being healthy mentally, spiritually, and physically should always be the end goal. It’s okay to be a work in progress.

Losing weight has changed my life in a lot of amazing ways. I’ve been able to connect with some amazing people through my weight loss journey by being more active. I’ve discovered my love for running through this whole process. And I think the most important thing that have come out of losing weight is understanding how important my mental health is.

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