KAREN K. WANG PHOTOGRAPHY

So this blog is super personal, but I decided to write it as an encouragement for others.  For a while, I was really embarrassed when people I hadn’t seen for a long time had asked me if I had lost weight.  I felt weird that people were judging my body and that no one told me I was super fat before or something.  But YES, it is true.  Apparently, I’ve lost around 45 lbs (and going on 50-55) since January 2012.  I guess it took a whole year and a half for it to all happen, but I think the slower, the better, yeah?  Some reason, I feel like I look no different at all, but your own mind works in very strange ways.

So how did this all happen?  No diets, no juicing, no fasting, no couch-potatoing.  Pretty much after I got laid off from my full time job, I no longer had any source of disposable income.  I stopped eating out because I couldn’t afford it anymore, got on food stamps and started making my own meals.  Because I started working from home, I could cook every meal, and I got super into cooking/trying out recipes.  I also had a ton of free time, so I joined the gym and just started exercising.   Before, my life consisted of commuting to work, sitting at a desk all day, commuting home, editing or meeting with people and shooting on the weekends; life was a hot mess–there was never time for anything.  Pretty much since my work/daily life drastically changed, 30 lbs literally just melted right off of me in the first year.

I wasn’t really expecting any of this to happen, but because I was too poor to eat out, I became EXTREMELY frugal…somehow I survived the entire year just paying all my bills with photography.  It’s not that I had no money to feed myself because I was definitely eating food.  I also decided to get back on my bike and started to ride more regularly on the weekends–mainly because it was free.  I’m not sure if people understand my passion for long distance cycling, but I just absolutely love it mostly because it’s free,–you get to be outside and you can go so far just on two wheels.  It’s amazing.  Sometimes after a good 50 mile ride, I look down at my bike and can’t believe this thing brought me to Redmond and back for free.  I think I just really appreciated all the free things in life.

This also affected my working life.  I became much stronger and was able to shoot a wedding and not feel completely destroyed the next day.  Therefore, I was able to do more double headers without a problem.  After getting injured a few times, I realized how important it is to take care of your body, especially in an industry where your body demands so much of your energy.  I finally gave into an individual health plan when I was able to afford it.  Super expensive but I wanted to be protected in case I fell off my bike and died or something.

Coming into this year, I signed up for the Seattle to Portland bike ride.  So far for training, I’ve been spinning TTH’s, running MWF’s, weightlifting in between and riding 40-50 miles on the weekend.  I’m also going to interchange a few rides for hikes up until STP.  I have another 10 lbs to drop to reach my goal.  Food wise, been eating pretty much 70% paleo.  I know it sounds really stupid and how paleo is so trendy, but it’s quite amazing how everything you eat just goes straight through you.  The food doesn’t get stuck in your body and feel all bloated.  I still eat normal food during the week when I’m out though because how else can you stay sane??  I also want sugar ALL the damn time now, which is weird because I’ve never craved sweets in the past.  But whatever.  You’ve gotta have your froyo/cookie/candy fix.

Anyways, it feels so strange to talk about myself so much in my blog except that life is very different for me now.  I became a weird homemaker in the process but also realized how important it is to take care of your health and be active.  But being laid off was probably one of the best things that has ever happend to me.  Also, learning how to live a frugal life has been very eye opening.  $2 no longer meant the same to me as it did 2 years ago (think I’m also looking into extreme couponing).  In the end, I’ve been loving/appreciating life and the people in it more than ever.  Been just super blessed with everything that has been thrown into it since 2012 and many new changes ahead.  Living a poor life is SO amazing, trust me.

I can go on more, but if you have any questions or thoughts please send me an email!  karen@karenkwang.com  I’ve been inspired to become a personal motivator, ha.  :)  I love hearing other peoples’ journeys or goals and is super encouraging.  I encourage anyone who wants to change their lives to just go out and do it!  I know it’s hard to find the motivation but somehow I woke up one morning and decided I was joining the gym (weird, I know).  But sticking to it is probably the most important part because results don’t show overnight.  And EAT FOOD, don’t starve yourselves.  Totally not into the juice fast right now (no offense, ya’ll).  Okay, I think this is all.

P.S.  Sorry these photos aren’t exactly the best comparisons.  But they were similar, so it kind of shows?