'After The Toughest Year Of My Life I Discovered Orangetheory And Lost 70 Pounds'

• Read original article here

My name isArneshia Hobbs (@gritxgracefit), and I am 28 years old. I am from Arlington, Virginia, and I work as a recruiter. After one of the toughest years of my life in 2017, I leaned into my faith, discovered Orangetheory Fitness classes and calorie counting, and lost 70 pounds.

Growing up, I always struggled with my weight. I remember weighing 185 pounds in the fifth grade. I began to play sports in high school, and that helped with balancing some of my weight issues. But my weight skyrocketed when I got to college, when I didn’t have the exercise from sports to outweigh my poor eating habits. I gained 40 pounds during my freshman year.

I had an amazing college experience regardless. I joined a sorority and landed a really great job after college. However, I wasn’t prepared for life after sports and life after college. I was 60 pounds heavier, and realized I couldn’t live like this.

So, I began my first weight-loss journey after college. I lost 40 pounds through commitment to the gym, but I gained it back after a bad breakup.

At 24, I was at my heaviest weight of 255 pounds. At the time, I decided to lean into prayer and I decided to get baptized. This helped me eventually have a lot of emotional breakthroughs, and I remember praying on December 22, 2017, about dedicating the year to fitness and developing a healthy lifestyle. I knew I wanted it to be different, and this time I looked outward to ask for help.

When I first started out, I did WW (formerly Weight Watchers). It helped a lot with sticking to a plan and the flexibility, but there were restrictions as well. I even tried the keto diet, but I didn’t like the restrictions. So I found what worked for me, and that was calorie counting.

Currently, I count my calories and I think that is the best choice for me. It allows me to have a donut here and there, which helps me avoid binge eating in the long run.

From there, I felt as though I hit a plateau. I knew I needed something that would challenge me and take me out of my comfort zone. My friends were discussing Orangetheory Fitness one day, and I decided to give it a try. Orangetheory is a high-intensity group fitness class that involves wearing a heart rate monitor to track your effort and energy output.

The first Orangetheory workout was terrible. I was embarrassed that I couldn’t run more than five minutes. But after the first class, I signed up for a membership anyway. I started out two days there a week, and within a month, I was going five times a week. Within six months, I lost an additional 40 pounds.

I still go to Orangetheory now, and I am actually a part-time employee!

Everyone’s fitness journey will be different, but I think it is important to invest and understand what is going to make it enjoyable. Try a lot of different types of fitness classes; dance, yoga, spinning. This is when you will fall in love with fitness and ultimately be happy with you.