When her now-husband Matt proposed, Haley Smith from Amarillo, Texas was overcome with joy. However, she was soon disappointed when she was the photos of the special moment.
“I saw them and didn’t even recognize myself,” Smith said. “I cried because this was one of the happiest moments of my life, but I was just so ashamed. I didn’t understand how Matt could want to be with someone like me. After seeing those, I knew I needed to change.”
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In order to effectively lose weight, 24-year-old Smith decided to make “slow habit changes.”
“I had tried drastic diets or workouts in the past and always failed after a matter of weeks,” Smith said. “With the small changes, I would just pick two habits and after about a week or two of sticking to it, I’d pick two more.”
The first change that Smith made was to stop eating after 8 p.m. and to only eat out twice a week, according to People.
“Tackling those small, feasible changes made snowballing into running three times a week and adding strength training so much more doable,” she said.
All those small, incremental changes ended up making a drastic difference in Haley’s life. In just over a year, she lost about 110 lbs! While the results were worth it, Haley admitted that it was difficult to stay on track with her goals.
“Motivation has been such a tricky thing,” Smith said. “Even with the small habit changes, I go through so many cycles of being bored or discouraged. When I am, I really try to find different ways of staying motivated. For example, I have decorated my scale, I hang motivational quotes and signs all over my house, I love daily goal charts that I can physically check off having completed a task, I bought a Fitbit, and one of my biggest motivations has been starting my fitness Instagram account. It really helps to keep me mindful of all of this while being held accountable.”
Last week, Smith got married in the wedding of her dreams and she felt even more confident than she could ever remember.
“It is so surreal,” Haley said. “I thought for sure I would get married in a long-sleeve ball gown dress to hide my whole body, but I ended up picking a strapless mermaid dress. I felt so beautiful in it! Instead of being self-conscious and hiding or sweating the whole time, I was able to feel confident, relax, enjoy my family and friends.”
Congratulations to Haley Smith for achieving her goals and we thank her for sharing this inspiring story.
[H/T People]
