People often begin their fitness journey with the goal of taking better care of their health or to improve their looks. This wasn’t the primary reason for Tamisha’s lifestyle change; She wanted more than anything for her son to overcome his mental health issues and as an expression of her faith and hope for her son’s healing, she committed to regular exercise and dietary changes.
Starting weight: 204
Present weight: 173
Height:5’10
I wish I could say this was about weight loss, but it was really about my desperate prayer for my son’s mental health. It was a fasting, a prayer, a plea for God to rescue my baby. It was a commitment on my behalf to do hard things, a display of sacrifice to show God that I’m willing to do anything for Him to save my son.
God removed many people from my life during this time. I didn’t fight to keep anyone. I allowed Him to work.
He added a selected few. I’m paying close attention to those because when God adds during a fasting, there is a meaningful lesson to be learned.
Diet: Initially, I maintained the same diet as usual; I just cut my portion sizes. This helped me ease into my lifestyle change without depriving myself. It was super easy. I stayed within a deficit calorie range to ensure weight loss. After seeing the results, my diet became stricter because I was excited about more results. I would eat vegetables every chance I could–breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The key here was learning how to season them to enjoy them genuinely. I paired the veggies with fish, healthy fat, and a small serving of carbs.
Training: I trained at home. This was key for me because it erased my excuses not to train. I trained twice a day. Once in the morning before work and once after work–weights in the morning, cardio at night, or vice versa. I downloaded the Playbook and chose the fitgurlmel training plan. It transformed my body. I followed 75Hard accountability program to keep me on track.
I’ve previously tried many times to get back to my desired weight. I now know that it was my “why” that was off. My “why” wasn’t strong enough to carry me through to see the end.
This time was different. This time was about me fasting for my son’s success and mental health. That “why” pushed me through the hard times throughout this journey, because if I can demand and ask of Him to do the hard work, then I must be willing to do the hard work that’s required in my own life. That work looks like me pushing through the things that I don’t want to do. That hard work requires me to feel pain, adjust but continue. Sometimes that hard work required me to push through the pain to reach a state of calm where I could coast in the pain. That was euphoric…immersing in that pain. That’s where my lessons lived—the pot of gold.
On believing in yourself: I’ve learned that I can only believe in myself when I begin to build blocks one at a time. Put one block on top of the other— success in small increments. Those small increments build over time and soon you will look, stand back and be amazed at what you’ve built. But it’s still one block at a time.
On me: Stay tuned.
On my son: He’s getting there
Connect with Tamisha HERE
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