Inspire! Day 27- Delia

From Madelynn: Today our guest is no stranger to WSWE! She has shared before and she also led/instructed the WSWE Workout in the Park. Delia has been on her journey for a few years now but it is beautiful to see she not only took her weight loss serious she made a career of it! If you are interested in learning more about Delia and would even be interested in being trained by her, feel free to visit and like her on Facebook at “Delia the Trainer.” If you haven’t already then please meet my friend, Delia…

Some of the WSWE readers are people beginning on a new journey to health, fitness, weight-loss etc. But I know there are some out there who are in that part of the journey where you’ve reached that goal and now you’re living in the “maintenance phase” of it all. This can be just as difficult as losing the weight to begin with.

Since my initial weight loss of 53 lbs back in 2008 I’ve had to work hard to maintain that. With the stress of going back to school, dealing with aging parents and running a busy household my weight fluctuated back and forth a few pounds but recently things got a little out of control. This last Christmas things crept up on me and before I knew it I had gained back about 22 lbs! I was still exercising plenty because I do it for my profession, but the key was my eating. You can work out all day but if you go home and have a huge meal — you’ve undone all the work. The QUALITY of what was going into my body was terrible. I had fallen back into my old eating habits. Masking it with the “but I work out” syndrome that many exercisers have.

In an effort to continue to be the best example to my family and the healthiest woman I can be I decided enough was enough and got back to eating lots of lean proteins and limiting refined food, empty carbs and eliminated almost all sugars. Six weeks in I’m down 15 lbs! Praise The Lord! and I’m again feeling the lightness, energetic and fantastic body coming back into control.

Having lost weight is a battle WON! But it doesn’t end there. It takes continued motivation and discipline to keep the new body you’ve earned. Here’s a few key things you need to do: 1) Surround yourself with people who are motivating you to always be your best. Honest people that love you enough to help you stick to your journey. Encourage others and ask for accountability and DON’T get angry when they hold you to it.

2) Weigh yourself regularly. Research shows that people who are successful at maintaining weight loss long term do so because they regularly weigh in. I’d recommend weekly.

3) Track your food. There are lots of free apps, websites and ways to do this. You’ll really know what’s going in and help you keep in check if you’re overdoing it.

4) Use YouTube or exercise videos to keep things fresh and new. Exercise boredom is something that can EASILY discourage you.

5) Finally, even if you DO mess up, like I did, DO NOT ever, ever, ever throw in the towel and give up. There are too many people that love you, need you and rely on you to be healthy that giving up isn’t ever an option.

Delia Arroyo
ACE Certified Personal Trainer