Lisa Jarrett had a year of great loss in 2010. In that year alone, the Washington native lost her boyfriend, her car and her medical insurance. But rather than try desperately to regain it all, Lisa decided to go whole hog and voluntarily lose even more. In the years since, Lisa has lost a whopping 136 pounds (and counting), and she says she has her breakup to thank for it.
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You see, up until four years ago, Lisa had been in a series of unhealthy relationships–with food, alcohol, prescription meds, and her now ex. "My life was a mess," she writes on the the Huffington Post in a first-hand account of her miraculous journey. "My relationship was breaking down, I was totally miserable and suicidal, and my drinking had increased. Something had to give." Or rather, something had to go.
Lisa decided to leave her fizzling relationship and bad habits in her rearview mirror soon after visiting a friend who lived on campus. "Visiting a friend on campus at the school I was attending gave me hope," she writes. According to Lisa, moving away from her co-dependent ex turned out to be the best thing for her mental and physical health. "I started losing a little bit of weight naturally, being solely responsible for my own nutritional choices." Lisa soon found herself responsible for her own transportation when the car she still shared with her ex broke down. Rather than freak out, she decided to start cycling to and from school, which, of course, helped her drop a few more pounds.
Lisa's health and outlook continued to improve the more she lost. A few months into her accidental weight loss journey, Lisa lost her medical insurance, which meant she could no longer afford prescription drugs. "It was one of the best things that happened to me," Lisa says. Without the help of prescription drugs, she was now forced to take responsibility for her own happiness.
In the years since, Lisa has stopped eating over-processed junk food and has even started going on 30-mile bike rides for "fun." Not surprisingly, Lisa's lifestyle change has paid off in spades; she's has gone from 336 to 200 pounds, and the weight is still coming off.
I'm in awe of Lisa's outlook on life. It's easy to completely lose yourself when going through a breakup. Some of us spiral down rabbit holes of despair, eating out our feelings and bemoaning everything that we've lost. But not Lisa. She saw her losses as opportunities to gain a new lease on life. We should all adopt Lisa's outlook, if for no other reason than to have a super cool story to tell.
Image via Huffington Post
