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Overcoming Obesity

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If you’re new around here, you may not know that three years ago, I was obese. I’ve lost nearly 90 pounds and kept it off for a little over a year now. Today, I’m sharing my weight loss story over at Simple Homeschool, along with my tips on jump starting your own weight-loss.

Two Years

If you need to improve your health and fitness level or if you’ve ever dreamed of overcoming obesity, but didn’t think you could, I invite you to read On Obesity and Overcoming: A Homeschool Mom’s Story.

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

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14 Comments

  1. Wow! That is impressive. My wife has also lost 80lbs. I lost 58lbs that I gained after I broke two vertebrae while working as a paramedic. On the exercise front, I highly recommend Crossfit.

    I have been a longtime distance runner in the years before my injury. And I always had nagging injuries and boredom. I started using crossfit and it has been the best program I have ever used.

    Congratulations on your weight loss!

    Jack

  2. I was sitting here hemming and hawing about whether to go to the gym this morning. I’d already come up with at least 5 reasons not to go. And then I read your post, and I got all fired up and decided that Yes, I Will Do Zumba Today! And so I got dressed and the kids got dressed and we got in the car and we went to the gym!

    And there was an hour-long wait for childcare, so we all wept and got back in the car and came home.

  3. It is so wonderful what you have accomplished. My daughter and I are trying to lose weight. It is not easy. What exactly did you do? Is there a post somewhere that shows what you did on a regular basis. We are trying to find the right “diet” for us, but it’s not easy.

    1. No, I don’t have one particular post. I had a FAQ page on my fitness blog before I merged them, but it didn’t make it over. Basically, I used my bodybugg to track my calories burned and I logged my calories consumed on their site each day. If you’ve got a significant amount of weight to lose, I highly recommend a bodybugg or one of the similar products out there. I truly believe that was a huge part of what made the difference for me this time.

      If you don’t have a huge amount of weight to lose or if a BB is completely out of your budget (my husband thought it was out of ours, but he quickly changed his tune), I would highly recommend My Fitness Pal for tracking your calorie consumption. You can also use it to estimate your calories burned. Also, most people burn around 1200 calories a day just breathing and doing normal stuff. That’s where 1200 diets come from. (Too few calories for anyone, imho.) That may give you a baseline to figure out how many calories you need to burn each day to reach your weekly goals.

      Let me know if that doesn’t make sense and I’ll try to explain it better. Here’s a post that may explain it a bit and kind of talks about what I was doing: https://weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2010/07/what-are-you-doing/

      Here’s another post that may help: https://weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/2011/07/how-many-calories-do-you-need/

  4. I love your post and just found your blog! I absolutely love your homeschool super power shirt! Where can I find one?

    1. They used to be sold on The Homeschool Chick’s website store, but she’s moved her site and I don’t think she’s got her store reopened yet. I’ll update if I find out anything different.

  5. Thank you so much for this post. My mom and I are on the same weight loss journey. She’s currently doing a much better job than I am, and I’ve realized that having someone along on the path makes it easier. The part where you said you have to MAKE IT HAPPEN is one I’m having to soak in daily. Over the years, I’ve let myself make excuse after excuse on why I couldn’t make weight loss work for me. I cannot look at it as a temporary thing, though.

    Your words have inspired me, as well as your awesome transformation pics. I am going to get moving ’cause it’s where I lack the most. 🙂 Thanks!

  6. I recently started following your home school blog, then I found your weight loss blog. Over the past 3 nights at work I read your story through your Eclipse posts. I recently re-found the mental stamina to lose weight again after having my first child 18 months ago and spending those 18 months feeling totally miserable about my weight. Something finally just clicked for me and I realized that 1. I don’t want to spend my life being obese; 2. Nobody can do this for me; and 3. I can do anything for a year. I’ve lost about 30 lbs in my quest to lose 130 lbs–yes, 130 to my dr. recommended goal–and am constantly looking for inspiration so I don’t give up this time. So I felt compelled to post a comment thanking you for giving my motivation a HUGE boost with your realistic, honest story of your success over the past three years. I know I will do this, this time, and I will be here, silently cheering you on for those last few, elusive lbs. THANK YOU, Kris!

    1. Thank you for such an encouraging comment, Joy! I know how insurmountable a number like 130 looks right now, but you CAN do it! It’s just a matter of consistent, daily steps and not letting the occasional slip-ups completely derail your efforts. It’s hard, but I really do think it gets easier (most days!) once those new behaviors start becoming habits and replacing old behaviors — and once you find new food choices that you really enjoy. Please keep me updated on how you’re doing. I want to cheer you on!

  7. Hi Kris,

    A few months ago, I realized that I had allowed myself to gain about 20 lbs over the last several years. I had had to buy a bigger size jeans, and I was about to have to buy another size bigger. That’s when it hit me that I was really headed in the wrong direction. I gave up sweets almost entirely, stopped drinking anything other than water, and stopped snacking between meals and before bed. By making those changes, I was able to lose 10 lbs over 2 or 3 months. Now, I’ve got about 10 more lbs I’d like to lose, so I’m keeping the healthier habits and adding exercise. It’s always such an inspiration to see someone who has lost a lot of weight and kept it off! Your story has given me encouragement to keep on going! The holidays are not an easy time to lose weight, but I’m at least attempting to hold my current weight, and after the holidays I’m getting back to a stricter diet and daily exercise. Thanks for sharing your story!!

    Wendy

    1. Way to go on your weight-loss! It’s great that you caught yourself at just 20 pounds over. I know — boy, do I know after struggling with the last 10 pounds forever — that 20 pounds is a significant amount of weight to loss, but it could have gotten much worse. Kudos to you for turning your health around! I’m ready to get back to a stricter diet and a more regular, consistent exercise after the holidays, too. This time of year is definitely challenging.

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