Running Marathon | Kirstie Alley's Organic Liaison Blog

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From a Size 16 to a Size 8 to my First Marathon

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

Featured Article by Organic Liaison Member Sunny S., who has lost over 50 pounds over the last year with the OL program. Sunny is a Life Coach and manager who has a passion for helping others find their inner sparkle. She loves writing and connecting with new people.

In a little less than a year, I have almost reached my weight loss goal. The vision of going from a size 16 to an 8 was what first brought me to Kirstie’s Organic Liaison program.

Today, I feel more confident; I have embraced my inner athlete; and I can wear clothes that I used to envy seeing fit on others. I have started to unlock new passions, ideas, and values. The Organic Liaison Life style has not just been a weight loss journey; it has been a source of empowerment and a continuous opportunity to introduce myself to who I can be when I remove fears, excuses, and unhealthy habits from my life!

As I continue to learn, build tools, and gain inspiration from the Organic Liaison journey, I am reminded that: with a little health behind us, anything is possible. We can change our choices and our lives. And the steps to build that foundation towards change do not have to be big, hard, or un-ordinary; small steps and habits can help us achieve extraordinary goals.

A little less than a year ago, I was getting off the subway in NYC. I had to walk up the stairs from the train to get outside. The whole time, I was struggling to get up the steps. After walking a few blocks I felt tired and defeated. Deep down, my inner athlete was fighting to breathe, seemingly saying, “What happened? When did you get this out of shape?”

This past weekend I was in NYC again. I walked up the steps from the train, and, before I even realized it, I’d gone nearly 30 blocks. What’s changed? ME! Thanks to OL, I have learned that I have a passion towards health and that I can be an athlete.

After the New Year, I started running and kept thinking about my approaching my 30th Birthday (July). One thing led to another, and as I was drinking my Rescue Me one morning, I emailed a friend about a marathon I wanted to run 4 days after my birthday. Before I knew it, I was researching training programs, buying running shoes, and building confidence as a runner. Now I run 5-6 miles regularly, and 10-12 miles a couple times a week. I have officially signed up for the race and plan during the first weekend in August plan to complete my first marathon.

A friend asked me how I have embraced my health and inner athlete. My reply was: I began with Kirstie Alley’s Organic Liaison program and finding out about healthy organic foods. Then I joined a gym and started to build strength and confidence. Along the way, I have discovered a few everyday habits that have helped me get big results.

5 Healthy Habits that Have Helped Me:

1) Start Simple. When creating new habits, I ask myself what I am ready for so I do not take on too much and feel failure. I focus on thoughts of success. When I started at the gym, my goal was working out for 20 minutes each day. Then I learned to eat right, pay attention to calories, and buy organic food—and suddenly found that I had more energy. I applied it to doing more exercise, and I built strength with each gym machine. Before long I was working out often and a bit longer each visit.

2) Set up boundaries between old unhealthy habits and new healthy ones. Working long hours, I was often tired by the time I got home; I would watch TV rather than exercise. So when I decided to get serious about my health, I set up a rule: if I wanted to watch TV, I would have to go to the gym to do so.

3) Look for creative ways to make “change” fun. For me, routines get old. Every time I got used to a workout, I started getting bored. I needed an idea or shift in perspective to keep motivated. I found out the gym was encouraging everyone check in with the 4Square App when they visited. I thought that seeing how much I worked out would motivate me; and before long, the application was telling me how many days away I was from becoming a 4Square “mayor” of the gym. That idea of becoming mayor of the gym (albeit virtual) was crazy. And of course I had to accomplish it!

4) Listen to your body, not your fears. When I am running for the first 2-4 miles, I always want to turn around. It’s a mental battle. I want to quit. An inner voice tells me I am not strong like the other runners. Then I hit mile 4 and everything changes. I find my power. I feel strong. Anything seems possible. I start to believe I am a runner and often push myself to new goals.

5) Stop and celebrate! I picked an overall goal for my long runs: to reach a building that can be seen 3 towns away. Shortly into my training, I realized how far the building actually is—that I might not be able to get there. It would have been easy to give up. Instead, I decided to build myself up with celebration points. I picked several closer benchmarks as distance milestones. If I could get to point A, B, and then C, I could celebrate how much closer to point D I was!
Just like in my recent trip to NYC, I can now stop and celebrate that I got up those stairs with ease. Knowing how far I have come helps keep me stay centered on how far I can go!