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Looking for a little weight-loss motivation? Look no further! Check out my best friend and her amazing success story. Whether she stuck to a new meal plan or trained for a marathon, she reached her feel-great weight goals.

Then 84, Now 53

“I used to wake up every Monday morning promising myself I would start my diet & I would tell myself – this time I would be serious. I would go to work, eat a nice oatmeal and begin the challenges of the day. 2 pm rolls around and I’m starved and I’m going to be late to my college class. My friends are getting burgers and fries before class and I’m feeling dilemma.. the temptations creeping in, I’m starving!

I tell myself I was good all day I only ate an oatmeal, what’s one or two Crunchwraps supremes really going to do at this point. How could I refuse? After I eat them I feel disgusted. I feel like I ruined my day so when I get back home after class I open a bottle of coke and have a couple of crackers. I promise myself tomorrow will be different and I’ll start fresh in the morning.

Tuesday rolls around, the same cycle continues. I lived like this for a long time. A mental battle, mental tug of war, I couldn’t say no to friends, couldn’t commit.There was always a birthday party or a fun event that I couldn’t say no to.

It took me a long time to learn how to stay accountable. To learn that it’s okay to say “NO” to unhealthy options because you’re changing your lifestyle. For a long time, healthy eating was a bag of baked lays and mindlessly eating them because they were baked… so that meant they were healthy right?

If you’re struggling to figure out where to start I suggest you map out your short-term and long-term goals.

Decide. Commit. Succeed.Short-term goals are important because you’re not going to wake up tomorrow and lose “70 pounds”. Short term goals kept me going. Goals to drop 1 jeans size, goals to run a full mile without stopping, goals to make it to the gym 3x a week. This is where the magic happened & where the lifestyle change began. So guys, choose your own path and soon you’ll be yelling “I did it!” too.”