Lynda Burkland

I struggled with a weight problem my entire life. By the time I was in 6th grade I was pushing 140 lbs and ended junior high school at about 160 lbs. Since 4th grade, when I began doing my mom's fitness videos in the living room, I knew that exercising was one of the key ingredients to a healthy lifestyle and a fit body.

But due to a lack of guidance (my parents never fed us right! We ate ice cream for breakfast!), nothing else clicked for me. I tried everything from exercising, trying to eat right, diet pills, bulimia, anorexia, etc. and nothing worked. I remember crying myself to sleep wondering why I was the way I was.

Why couldn't I lose weight? Why wasn't I strong enough to stick to something? One day, everything mysteriously “clicked.” I don't know why it clicked, who made it click, what made it click – but it clicked. I finally reached that point where enough was enough, and everything shifted into place.

I spent the next six weeks purely trying to control my diet. I ate half of what I would normally eat and ate six times a day. At this point I did not exercise, just concentrated on my diet. After the initial six weeks, I started adding a 30-minute lunchtime walks one day a week, then a 30-minute walk two days a week, and so on. I started eating clean and avoiding all processed foods, with the exception of protein powder. I also began taking a number of vitamins and minerals on a daily basis.

As my advice to others, I want to share the three key elements that I believe contribute to the weight-loss process: patience, consistency, and moderation. I’m not going to lie, the weight-loss process freaking sucks. It sucks to have to lose 85+ lbs of hardcore fat. It sucks changing your lifestyle.

But all the sacrifice is so well worth it. It's the best gift you can give yourself. That's when you find out who you really are. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life, but if you are patient – and I mean really patient – and consistent, the fat will come off. Often, it came off when I least expected it. When I thought I hit a plateau, that's when I realized that I was actually losing real fat.

If you are looking to lose weight, please know that it WILL come off. A person's body just needs a little help trying to find its balance. We all just need a little balance in life. Don't cheat yourself. Work with your body and try to have fun with it. Just do what you can do and take every moment for that moment. It will happen; you just have to believe in yourself and wait for that moment. It will happen, and you will make it happen.

Sincerely,

Lynda Burkland