A Background Story

There are two types of overweight people: the ones who have been overweight their whole lives and the ones who are thin early in life and become overweight later. All my life, I've been overweight. For as long as I could remember, I had a bad self-image and hating stepping on a scale. I was usually one of the heavier girls in my class and was often tortured for my weight, by the skinny cheerleader types. I wasn't tall either, which didn't help anything. At home, things weren't much different. I had a younger brother who was super skinny and could eat anything he wanted without gaining weight. My mom was always making comments about what I would order at restaurants (which more often than not was chicken fingers and fries). Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and later learned that she blamed herself for my weight, because at the time she was obese and didn't want me to turn out like her.



The summer between the end of middle school and the beginning of high school, I went from 130lb to 160lb. Freshman year, I wore XL t-shirts and baggy jeans to try and hide my weight. I stayed at 160 for the first 3 years of high school, in which time I grew 6 inches, so it wasn't as bad as when I initially hit that weight. By the end of high school I was 175lb. College didn't help anything. Although during the fall, I kept active participating in color guard at least 5 times a week, the spring semesters were snowy and not much exercise occurred to offset the eating. I never thought much of buying bigger clothes and even thought I looked good in clothes that when I look back I should never have worn. Winter semester was my breaking point. I gained 15lb without even realizing it on a steady diet of pizza, chicken fingers, fries, and taco salads.



I joined weight watchers with my mom on May 2, 2006, and was shocked when I weighed in at 197.2lb. I couldn't believe I'd come so close to 200lb and was determined to change. By the time I went back to college in August, I was down to 175lb and was continuing to lose. I had cut my meal plan down to the point where I only had 8 meals a week on campus and was getting groceries for the rest of my meals. I was hitting the gym at least once a week and was even going to weekly weight watcher meetings 20 minutes away from campus. That was what was keeping me honest. If I was on my own, I probably wouldn't weigh in every week and no one would know if I didn't. Going to a meeting with my mom meant I had to be accountable for my week and couldn't slack off unless I wanted to own up to it. By that summer, I was down to 159lb, and that's when I met my husband, Andy. He was the football star in his high school days and I knew that there was no way he would have even spared me a glance in high school or even a year before I met him. He claims differently, but I know that he was interested in me because of pictures of me on my profile in a red dress after I'd lost the weight (pictured below).



I'm not claiming that I'm perfect at this weight loss thing. There have been several times when I get tired of being good and start eating anything I want. I then have to face the consequences. I have bounced back and forth between 160lb and 170lb more times than I like to admit in the past five years, but I keep proving to myself that I can lose the weight again. I was comfortable at 162lb the day I got married on May 9, 2009. I got pregnant on my honeymoon two weeks later. You would think, knowing all I know about weight loss, I would have gained the recommended 25-35lb and no more, which would mean not even having to cross the 200lb threshold. Wrong. The first trimester was good with hardly even 3lb of gain. It was all downhill from there. The day before Brady was born, I weighed in at 215lb, a total weight gain of 52lb! I was sorely disillusioned of how fast the weight would come off after delivery.


I was back in a meeting 8 days after Brady was born (sounds like AA, but food is a serious addiction as well). If I had gained even the top threshold of recommended weight gain of 35lb, it would have been gone in 5 months. But since I'd gained 17lb more than that, I had to keep working. Only 3 weeks ago did I finally take off the last pound of baby weight (Brady is now 16 months). I am back to 162.6lb, which is where I was two whole years ago. The battle is long from over. To hit a healthy BMI and reach weight watchers lifetime status (where you no longer have to pay), I need to reach 155lb. I have come within 2lb of that in the past, but have never been able to grasp that goal weight. Even when I reach that number, I will continue to strive for a lower number. My ideal weight is 130lb, but I will take it one step at a time.



So this new blog is going to follow my weight loss journey. It's a great way to add to my accountability. Now my family and friends will know how I'm doing, instead of just the receptionist at weight watchers and my husband. I will also occasionally post recipes that I use that aid in my weight loss for anyone else looking to change their lives. Hope you all enjoy.