Introductions

Hi everyone! I think it's about time you meet the girls you are supporting! We are so appreciative of your support! 

Firstly I'll introduce myself! I'm Rachel Pellatt aka Rach P. I am a 28 year old stay at home mother of two boys Will and Ben who are 2 1/2 years old and 9 months old. I live in the beautiful city of Montreal in Quebec! That's right, I'm a crazy Canadian!

For awhile all I was was a mum. That was my identity. Everything I did was for my kids. Really, it was all I wanted to do at the time. I love my boys more than my own life, even if I have days where I am tempted to sell them on Craig's List. ;-) They are my entire world. That changed though, I realized I'm more than just a mum, even if it's the best job and title ever.

WLR came at the perfect time in my life.  I had been lost for so many years. As you can imagine having two kids in under two years was a bit tough on my body. I was barely back to my pre-pregnancy size when I suddenly found myself pregnant again. But I can't blame it entirely on that.

I've always been a food hoarder. Maybe it's because all my life I always had to share with my oodles of siblings and my parents. Everything I bought myself with my allowance I had to share. I hated it. When I went through a bit of a rebellious stage and thought stealing was cool I stole junk food. That's right, I was the bad ass who stole ice cream from the convenience store and other candy, I loved junk food. I still love junk food. Who doesn't?

When I moved out of my parents house with my current love about 8 years ago I suddenly found myself in a great position! I didn't have to share my food! Everything I brought into my house was mine, all mine! My boyfriend didn't want the food so it really was all mine! Needless to say with eating like that and doing no exercise except for my work shifts where I was always on my feet, I put on A LOT of weight. Probably about 80lbs in total. I had always had bad eating habit. Binging when I'd skip my meals all day, but this was an all time low for me. I ate and ate and ate.

I ate when I was happy, sad, bored, during that special time of the month... Food was comfort for me. Even now when I feel anything particularly strong I want to eat. Sugar, chocolate anything really that is sweet. When I lost my step father last year all I wanted to do was turn to food and eat it. I are more junk than usual but because I was pregnant at the time I managed to not go as far as I normally would have in this.

My boyfriend loves me no matter what. Something I am grateful for. To this day we are still happily in love (not without many bumps and obstacles I will say) and I am happily starting to plan our wedding, okay not happily, I can't stand this sort of stuff, but one of us has to do it! *laughs*

Of course I had self confidence issues. This was nothing new to me. I always thought I was fat and I never loved myself the way I should have. I always hated myself really.

For a long time now I have been desperate to fix myself but never had the drive. It truly was something I HAD to be ready to do. I had gym memberships and bought all sorts of diet book and read up on all the fad diets. I did none of it. In fact I have a gym membership now that has still gone unused since I got it in December.

I stumbled across FitBitch's page one day and absolutely loved her. The straight up way to say things was a quality I could relate to and value in people. Of course the swearing as well is definitely something I can relate to. Her inspiring messages started changing something within me. I was still suffering from chronic laziness but there was now light at the end of the tunnel.

Then came Weight Loss Rebels, truly at the perfect time. I cancelled my useless Weight Watchers plan and joined it almost immediately, taking in the information and everything I could. I was a tad slow to start, not willing yet to change my eating habits. Of course I had to convince my man that it was in his best interest as well.

Then one day we bought groceries. Meats, veggies and other clean foods and we never looked back. We completely cut out the junk food. It was the easiest thing for us. I'll be clear, that is NOT the WLR way, small steps is the foundation of WLR but this was easiest for us. If its in the house I'll stuff my face with it.

Since cutting out the crap foods and anything processed I have already lost close to 20 lbs and I feel amazing, I have energy, my moods are better and I'm feeling better about myself.

I am now cutting out my excuses and beginning phase two of my journey, exercise. I signed up for my first 5k in August with fellow journey-er Anne and we have began training for that. I will do yoga and I have an appointment with my awesome cousin who is a personal trainer who is going to show me all about weight lifting. I want to be healthy and fit and for the first time in my life I see it as a possibility. I am doing this the WLR way :-)

Thanks for the support on the journey. If I can inspire one of you the way FitBitch (Meg) and WLR have inspired  me, then I'll feel accomplished. :-) ~ Rach P

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Hey!! Well my name is Anne, I am in my late twenties, I also live in Montreal and I have been fighting with my weight my entire life. I am married to an amazing man, he is truly my rock and my supporter in everything I do. Ever since I have been reading about weight loss rebels, listening to Rachel P go on and on about it, and have seen her results first hand, I have been inspired to continue on my journey with my personal battle in weight loss. I am not trying to become a super model.. I am just trying to have confidence in myself. I have never suceeded in this but I feel differently and I feel there may be hope with this lifestyle. I hated myself for a long time, then I found myself and the hate stopped. It become dislike because if He could love me as I am I couldn't be as hideous as I envisioned myself. I want to be proud of something I have been trying to do my whole life, this is my goal with following this lifestyle and I am determined to suceed with all the love and support coming from this page. Thank you for following us. ~ Anne

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You know I like my chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio on
I like to see the sun rise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love
Well I was raised up beneath the shade of a Georgia Pine
And that's home you know
Sweet tea, pecan pie, and homemade wine where the peaches grow
And my house it's not much to talk about
But it's filled with love that's grown in southern ground
And a little bit of chicken fried 
~Zac Brown Band, "Chicken Fried"

Hi, y'all! If you're wondering why in the world this crazy girl started off her bio with a country song featuring food in a starring role, well, let me start by saying I moved to the South--specifically a city directly south of Nashville, Tennessee--five years ago. And ever since I moved to the South, I discovered just why they're so renowned for their fried foods, delicious sweet tea, and don't even get me started on the desserts! But I"m not planning on moving out of the South any time soon, and there's so much else this beautiful area has to offer, including bike trails and swimming pools and sunshine year round.

My name is Rachel and I'm trading in my chicken fried and sweet tea for a healthier lifestyle.

I know this journey isn't going to be the easiest. I'm twenty-seven and single, I've been working a lot of long hours lately in my job as a mortgage underwriter, and I love going out on the weekends with my friends. Most days when I'm done with work, I just want to go home and crash and not think about exercising or running to the grocery store for ingredients to cook up a yummy and healthy meal. But for a while now I've felt like I should start treating my body better. Then my best friend, Rachel (Rach P), asked me if I would be up for sharing my journey with y'all. She knows I've been struggling for a while with wanting to take steps in the right direction. So, as scary as this might be, I'm putting myself out there and keeping myself accountable to y'all. I know there will be hard days, and days of celebration, and days I'll shake my head and go, "And why am I putting myself through this again?" But that's life, too--ups, downs, and in betweens.

Now that I've rambled on too long (did I mention I love writing in my spare time? ;)), here's a quick list of some of my starting goals. These are more short term at the moment; as I continue on, I'll be sharing more of my long term goals. For now, though, here they are:

1) Switch from eating whatever I want, to being conscientious about making healthy choices, particularly organic and natural where I can.

2) Work my way up to a ten mile bike ride, so I can join a local bike club and join in on their ride.

3) Prepare for a 5K I signed up to run with my friends on Labor Day (September 2)

4) Trade fat for muscles through biking, running, and swimming (because let's face it, it's hot in the South in the summer!)

5) Keep accountable and not give up!

I've always heard it's best to K.I.S.S. - keep it simple, stupid ;) - so while my short term goals might seem basic, I feel comfortable with being able to attain them. Not without some effort of course, but every great thing in life requires some effort on your part :)

Thank y'all for reading! I look forward to getting to know some of you over the coming weeks and months.Let's do this!

God bless,

Rach H :)