November 17, 2015
From "Fat Kid" To Trainer, This Story Will Inspire Your Journey!
Although she was an athlete, and played sports every day, Dyan Tsiumis was always on the the heavier side. When she went to college little changed. While completing a major in athletic training, she overate constantly and never actually worked out despite spending countless hours in the training room. She'd diet in the summer, lose some weight and gain it right back in the fall. It is a cycle many of us know all too well but once she decided to get make the change, there was no stopping her!
After graduating college, she stepped on a scale and found that her 5'1" frame weighed close to 200 pounds. She explains, "I was like, 'Holy sh*t. How did I get to this point?' I was shocked because I had actually been on a diet a week before I weighed myself. At that moment, I could have let it go and seen the scale keep going up—but I decided I was done gaining weight."
Tsiumis began working at a sports club and watching what she ate. She says, "I worked out about six days a week for an hour at a time. I also started watching how much of everything I was eating by eating frozen pre-portioned meals. It was the easiest way to keep myself from overdoing it." In order to maintain her motivation, she began training for a half marathon. This helped her by giving her a specific goal which eventually resulted in her running two more FULL marathons!
[bctt tweet="From "Fat Kid" To Trainer, This Story Will Inspire Your Journey!"]
When she moved to New York City, she became a nanny. Knowing she couldn't feed the kids frozen or fast foods, Tsiumis learned to cook. She says, "I started noticing that fresh, whole foods—like veggies and chicken stir-fry—were way more satisfying and better for me than what I'd been eating before." Eventually, Tsiumis moved on to working in the corporate world, keeping her workouts going and adding mind-body classes to help her get over what she calls the "fat kid mentality," explaining, "I still have moments sometimes where I have to remind myself that my body is awesome and capable of so many things."
All of this forward movement lead Tsiumis to wanting to be a fitness instructor. She quit her corporate job and followed her calling toward helping others reach their goals and feel great everyday. Five years after her initial efforts to lose weight, Tsiumis has gone from 189 pounds to 120 pounds and has a position as a personal trainer and cycling instructor at Swerve Fitness. What is even more impressive, she's also got a few fitness competitions to her credit. "Most recently, I competed in a body-building competition," she said. "It was so challenging, but I loved setting and achieving that goal for myself. Staying consistent, setting new goals, and focusing on how my body feels when I eat certain foods has helped me keep the weight off for 10 years."
Now, Tsiumis says, "I feel like I can do anything because I'm healthy. I'm really confident in my body, and that translates to every other part of my life."
How can you feel the same? Here is what Tsiumis has to say to you:
Take baby steps. Looking back, I know relying on the frozen-food section to eat a reasonable meal wasn't the best thing for me. But you can't expect to go from an out-of-control eater to eating totally clean in a heartbeat. I had to take baby steps to learn what was best for myself.
Set a goal to drink a certain amount of water each day. When I first started losing weight, I told myself that I was going to drink a liter of water a day. That made me feel like I was doing something good for my body, which made me more conscious of the other healthy changes I wanted to make in my life.
Set a sleep alarm. I have an alarm on my phone that tells me that I have an hour until I have to be asleep. It's so important to get enough rest so that your body has time to heal from your workouts. I've found that I'm a lot less hungry when I get enough sleep.
Anything is possible if you stick with it. Are you inspired by this story?
Source: Women's Health
After graduating college, she stepped on a scale and found that her 5'1" frame weighed close to 200 pounds. She explains, "I was like, 'Holy sh*t. How did I get to this point?' I was shocked because I had actually been on a diet a week before I weighed myself. At that moment, I could have let it go and seen the scale keep going up—but I decided I was done gaining weight."
Tsiumis began working at a sports club and watching what she ate. She says, "I worked out about six days a week for an hour at a time. I also started watching how much of everything I was eating by eating frozen pre-portioned meals. It was the easiest way to keep myself from overdoing it." In order to maintain her motivation, she began training for a half marathon. This helped her by giving her a specific goal which eventually resulted in her running two more FULL marathons!
[bctt tweet="From "Fat Kid" To Trainer, This Story Will Inspire Your Journey!"]
When she moved to New York City, she became a nanny. Knowing she couldn't feed the kids frozen or fast foods, Tsiumis learned to cook. She says, "I started noticing that fresh, whole foods—like veggies and chicken stir-fry—were way more satisfying and better for me than what I'd been eating before." Eventually, Tsiumis moved on to working in the corporate world, keeping her workouts going and adding mind-body classes to help her get over what she calls the "fat kid mentality," explaining, "I still have moments sometimes where I have to remind myself that my body is awesome and capable of so many things."
All of this forward movement lead Tsiumis to wanting to be a fitness instructor. She quit her corporate job and followed her calling toward helping others reach their goals and feel great everyday. Five years after her initial efforts to lose weight, Tsiumis has gone from 189 pounds to 120 pounds and has a position as a personal trainer and cycling instructor at Swerve Fitness. What is even more impressive, she's also got a few fitness competitions to her credit. "Most recently, I competed in a body-building competition," she said. "It was so challenging, but I loved setting and achieving that goal for myself. Staying consistent, setting new goals, and focusing on how my body feels when I eat certain foods has helped me keep the weight off for 10 years."
Now, Tsiumis says, "I feel like I can do anything because I'm healthy. I'm really confident in my body, and that translates to every other part of my life."
How can you feel the same? Here is what Tsiumis has to say to you:
Take baby steps. Looking back, I know relying on the frozen-food section to eat a reasonable meal wasn't the best thing for me. But you can't expect to go from an out-of-control eater to eating totally clean in a heartbeat. I had to take baby steps to learn what was best for myself.
Set a goal to drink a certain amount of water each day. When I first started losing weight, I told myself that I was going to drink a liter of water a day. That made me feel like I was doing something good for my body, which made me more conscious of the other healthy changes I wanted to make in my life.
Set a sleep alarm. I have an alarm on my phone that tells me that I have an hour until I have to be asleep. It's so important to get enough rest so that your body has time to heal from your workouts. I've found that I'm a lot less hungry when I get enough sleep.
Anything is possible if you stick with it. Are you inspired by this story?
Source: Women's Health