Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Salazar.
Sara, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My entire life, I was overweight. Growing up, my family gave me nicknames such as “albóndiga con patas” which is Spanish for “walking meatball” and also “bola”, “ball”.
I always hated being overweight but didn’t do anything about it besides complain. In college, I hit my heaviest weight: 203 at 20 years old. I was beginning to get severe chronic heartburn every single night, to the point where I couldn’t lay a certain way and lose sleep. I would get tired easily by doing simple activities and seemed to be moody for no reason. I was also eating out for literally every single meal, upwards of 3x a day.
Being overweight was all I had ever known. I felt like since I was that way since childhood, I was destined to be fat, and that it was just in my genes.
In high school and throughout college, I attempted to lose weight by buying diet pills, trying “miracle” plastic wraps, teas- anything and everything except working out and eating better.
When the scale broke into the 200s, I burst into tears. I knew I needed to change something or things were only going to get worse for my health and, not to mention, my self-esteem.
I started out by setting one goal: be able to run a mile without stopping to walk. For months, I would go on walks/runs. I would force myself to go day after day, visualizing my goals and controlling my inner thoughts not to give in to my excuses. I would think about how much I hated how I looked, all the times I was made fun of or belittled for being fat- and used that as fuel to push myself to go, even on the days when everything told me not to go. I wanted change so badly – it was purely willpower that got me through the first couple of months.
When I first started, I could barely run longer than 1 minute without stopping to walk. I would wheeze, cry, and crawl my way through one mile. I made only small, reasonable goals for my nutrition: replace all liquids with only water and start buying some damn groceries. 😂
As months passed, I worked on my endurance at least 5 days a week and went on my daily jogs. I found myself slowly but surely improving. I could run a little longer and faster. Working out was starting to become a bit more second nature, rather than a dreaded or forced feeling. I stopped eating out so often and cut alcohol out almost completely.
I went from 203 to 133 in about a year by moving more and eating less junk. I started to incorporate jump-roping and weightlifting into my routine as I found myself to be in the best personal shape I had ever been in my life. I fell in love with exercising and felt myself craving the endorphins. I started to wake up every morning at 4 am to get my workout in at 5 am. It took weeks of determination, early bedtimes, and consistency to create the habit of waking up early to workout. My water intake also skyrocketed from a couple of glasses every now and again to an entire gallon every day. I found that to be one of the biggest game-changers when it came to overcoming overeating and snacking. After months of patience, ups and downs, my series of small, realistic, daily changes produced long-lasting healthy habits and RESULTS.
I went from eating out 3x a day, getting little to no physical activity, drinking every weekend, to getting up and working out at 5 am by making achievable goals and putting in effort day by day. Two years into my journey, I am now exercising 5-6 days a week as if it’s my job – second nature.
I never thought that I would be a fitness fanatic – it was something I dreamed of and hoped for my entire life. If I can do it, you can!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was definitely not been a smooth road. There have been so many times where I wanted to give up so bad because I was impatient, frustrated, and wanting to give in to my excuses. There were times I would fall off track and slack off track. However, despite all of those feelings, I never allowed myself to completely give up. No matter how many times I fell, I forced myself to get back up and keep trying. The main thing that I attribute to my success, is my refusal to call it quits. Mental strength and changing your internal dialogue to align with your goals is truly what will make the difference. Believe in yourself. Accept that it’s going to take longer than you want it to, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t just try. Know that you are 100% capable, the questions is whether you believe that. Start with small, realistic goals. You are in total control of your health and body-it’s up to you to choose what you do with that.
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
Hold yourself accountable – start doing a weekly or bi-weekly weigh-in. How are you measuring your goals? Have a visual that shows you whether you’re getting closer to your goal or you need to step it up. Take progress pics! It’s so hard to tell on myself when I see change – having before and after pictures truly helps keep you inspired and motivated to keep going! Don’t be afraid to be a beginner – you can never improve on something if you don’t start. Have a growth mindset – know that with time and effort, you will get stronger.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: fitbyssalazarrr
Image Credit:
Sara Salazar
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