Hitting yourweight-loss goalcan fill you with a sense of pride and accomplishment, but doing ittwice?
That journey can be confusing, encouraging, frustrating, disheartening, and everything in between.
“I love feeling like I am a strong and powerful woman.
Images courtesy of Rachel Batista; Graphic by Valerie Fischel
I love that my sons are proud of me.
It makes me feel like I have found my purpose.”
At 411, she maintained about a 125-pound weight but admits that her lifestyle wasnt healthy or sustainable.
Darren Altman Photo; Image courtesy of Rachel Batista
You think youre invincible.
I might have been light, but there was nothing healthy about it.
I was either not eating or eating a lot, and I always felt controlled by food.
When she was pregnant at age 27, though, her usual weight-maintenance tactics werent an option.
That was my excuse, and that excuse made me gain 100 pounds.
I allowed food to be a crutch, she says.
The last time Batista saw her weight during her first pregnancy was at the eight-month mark220 pounds.
(She estimates she gained a lot more during the last month of her pregnancy.)
But, I needed something more than that to motivate me.
I needed to dig into my competitive side."
Within a couple of days after the competition, though, Batista estimates she put 20 pounds back on.
Most of it was water weight, so I ballooned out.
I wanted it all at once, but that doesnt last, says Batista.
Its not going to do anything.
I knew what I was going to have to go through again, and Id already done it before.
I was like,oh my God, why did you break it again?
No crash diets, no extreme measures.
This new method for her wasn’t without its challenges, though.
Her slow-but-steady approach paid off, because this time, it stuckfor 10 years.
Losing and gaining weight isnt only a physical transformation, its a mental and emotional journey, too.
My life revolved around the gym.
Or I was cooking my food.
You create this distorted body image.
I have literally been from a size 22 to a size double zero in my life.
Am I skinny Rachel?
Am I fat Rachel?
I was scared I was going to drop him because I was so heavy.
I was already trying to make changes before that happened, but that day kicked my butt into action.
One way Batista found motivation was learning to treat herself like an athlete.
Just because I was heavy on the outside didn’t mean that I wasnt an athlete at my core.
Every time I would find myself going back to old habits, I would correct myself.
Id think,OK, whats an athlete doing right now?
In 2010, she started competitive Olympic weightlifting, which shes been doing ever since.
Batista learned quickly that she would have to change her mindset the second time around.
[Early on in my second weight-loss journey], I wasnt doing a whole lot of loving myself.
I was looking in the mirror and hating myself for what Id done to myself.
What I started doing was looking for things to love.
When I looked at my stretch marks, I wouldnt think,this is ugly.
Theyre tiger stripes instead of stretch marks!
I had to change my mentality.
It doesnt get easieryou just get better at it.
What works for her?
“I think it’s just about trying to stay balanced.
I dont have it figured outI struggle just like every other person out there.
But you have to get better at forgiving yourself when you do mess up.”
“Its just a matter of getting back up again,” she adds.
When it comes to making better, healthier choices, there’s almost always a second chance.
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