This a blog about trying new things. Reaching beyond my comfort zone, exploring and making the most of life. My goal is to try 52 new things. One per week for a year.
Well, my story about my battle with weight is probably not much different then most women. I was a curvy girl in high school. I played basketball. I was a cheerleader. I walked to and from school unless, I could catch a ride along the way. But, I had C-cup breasts and a big bottom. I weighed between 125-130 lbs. Most of the girls I remember from high school were probably 115 lbs. and under. At least that's how I remember it. Maybe I was just focused on the skinnier girls because I wanted to be skinnier. Overall, I had a pretty good body image. I definitely could have been eating better. My diet was terrible. I never ate breakfast. Pizza and a soda for lunch. Candy, chips or cookies for an afternoon snack. Dinner was my healthiest and biggest meal of the day. That is unless I was at a game. Then it was nachos or a hot dog. Out of town games we usually stopped at McDonald's on the way home. My favorite food was cheeseburgers.
My senior year of high school I was pregnant. I gained 60 lbs. Whoa! All of the sudden 130 wasn't looking so bad. And ever since then I struggled to lose weight. I had my son Craig in February of that year. In May we had senior ditch day. A bunch of us went to Santa Cruz. I hadn't lost all the baby weight yet. I was about 160 lbs or so. I was so embarrassed to lay out on the beach with my friends. I wished I hadn't gone. I struggled to lose that extra 30 lbs. Actually, I have never lost them. In fact I haven't seen the 120's or 130's since then. In my 20's I got down into the mid-high 140's. My friends and I went to the gym together a lot to work out. It was part of our social life. We would talk to each other, talk to the guys at the gym. And I looked pretty good back then. But I was always stressing over those pesky 10-20 lbs that I wanted to lose.
On my 30th birthday I got engaged to my husband, Joel. I slowly put on weight. I wanted to be with him instead of going to the gym. My job at the time was in food service. I worked for a wholesale food distributor. We sampled food a lot! And my clients were always trying to feed me. We eloped in Hawaii in 2000 and I was pregnant with our son Leo. We renewed our vows a year later with a big ceremony. Leo was 6 months old then. On the day we renewed our vows I was 190 lbs. Officially obese. Most women are at their skinniest on that day. Not me, I was at my biggest! Eventually, I got my weight down to the 170's and stuck there for years. Then Joel and I decided to try for another baby. I had two miscarriages in a row, six months apart. It was awful. It seemed so crazy that I had two boys without even trying and then when I wanted one...sorry. Shortly after the second miscarriage one of my girlfriends asked me to be in her wedding. So, I decided to take a break from trying to have another baby until after her wedding. I also wanted to lose weight and try to be healthier for this pregnancy and to look good in a strapless dress, of course. With my other two pregnancies I had gestational diabetes so I knew my weight was an issue. I got down to 162 lbs as a matron of honor for the June wedding. One month later, in July, I got pregnant with my daughter, Annabelle. I was prepared and was very careful about my diet. I only gained 35 lbs. I lost 25 lbs within the first year. So, there I was... stuck around 170 again. My body seemed to like it there. I would exercise, count calories, limit my carbs and just continued to bounce up and down about 10 lbs. Early this year I tried cutting out carbs. I had done the Atkins diet before and counted carbs through out my pregnancy. But this time around it caused major stomach/intestinal issues. Too bad, cause I was losing weight. So, I decided to exercise with a trainer and restrict calories. In 2 months I gained 5 lbs. I was so fed up!
In the meantime, I had noticed one of my facebook friends posting about weight loss. I figured it was some kind of program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. In the past, I always thought those programs were for people that were clueless about how to eat right or they needed emotional support. I didn't think I was one of those people. However, I was trying to do it myself and it wasn't working. Maybe it was time to try something different. So I sent her a message. She was a Health Coach for Medifast. A former co-worker of mine had great success on Medifast. I was encouraged. My co-worker was doing Medifast when I was cutting carbs. She obviously had much more success than I did. Then of course there was the concern about how much it would cost. After talking to my Health Coach, the price of the food wasn't bad. There were no sign up costs. And the program made sense to me. I decided to go for it! TO BE CONTINUED....
Well, my story about my battle with weight is probably not much different then most women. I was a curvy girl in high school. I played basketball. I was a cheerleader. I walked to and from school unless, I could catch a ride along the way. But, I had C-cup breasts and a big bottom. I weighed between 125-130 lbs. Most of the girls I remember from high school were probably 115 lbs. and under. At least that's how I remember it. Maybe I was just focused on the skinnier girls because I wanted to be skinnier. Overall, I had a pretty good body image. I definitely could have been eating better. My diet was terrible. I never ate breakfast. Pizza and a soda for lunch. Candy, chips or cookies for an afternoon snack. Dinner was my healthiest and biggest meal of the day. That is unless I was at a game. Then it was nachos or a hot dog. Out of town games we usually stopped at McDonald's on the way home. My favorite food was cheeseburgers.
My senior year of high school I was pregnant. I gained 60 lbs. Whoa! All of the sudden 130 wasn't looking so bad. And ever since then I struggled to lose weight. I had my son Craig in February of that year. In May we had senior ditch day. A bunch of us went to Santa Cruz. I hadn't lost all the baby weight yet. I was about 160 lbs or so. I was so embarrassed to lay out on the beach with my friends. I wished I hadn't gone. I struggled to lose that extra 30 lbs. Actually, I have never lost them. In fact I haven't seen the 120's or 130's since then. In my 20's I got down into the mid-high 140's. My friends and I went to the gym together a lot to work out. It was part of our social life. We would talk to each other, talk to the guys at the gym. And I looked pretty good back then. But I was always stressing over those pesky 10-20 lbs that I wanted to lose.
On my 30th birthday I got engaged to my husband, Joel. I slowly put on weight. I wanted to be with him instead of going to the gym. My job at the time was in food service. I worked for a wholesale food distributor. We sampled food a lot! And my clients were always trying to feed me. We eloped in Hawaii in 2000 and I was pregnant with our son Leo. We renewed our vows a year later with a big ceremony. Leo was 6 months old then. On the day we renewed our vows I was 190 lbs. Officially obese. Most women are at their skinniest on that day. Not me, I was at my biggest! Eventually, I got my weight down to the 170's and stuck there for years. Then Joel and I decided to try for another baby. I had two miscarriages in a row, six months apart. It was awful. It seemed so crazy that I had two boys without even trying and then when I wanted one...sorry. Shortly after the second miscarriage one of my girlfriends asked me to be in her wedding. So, I decided to take a break from trying to have another baby until after her wedding. I also wanted to lose weight and try to be healthier for this pregnancy and to look good in a strapless dress, of course. With my other two pregnancies I had gestational diabetes so I knew my weight was an issue. I got down to 162 lbs as a matron of honor for the June wedding. One month later, in July, I got pregnant with my daughter, Annabelle. I was prepared and was very careful about my diet. I only gained 35 lbs. I lost 25 lbs within the first year. So, there I was... stuck around 170 again. My body seemed to like it there. I would exercise, count calories, limit my carbs and just continued to bounce up and down about 10 lbs. Early this year I tried cutting out carbs. I had done the Atkins diet before and counted carbs through out my pregnancy. But this time around it caused major stomach/intestinal issues. Too bad, cause I was losing weight. So, I decided to exercise with a trainer and restrict calories. In 2 months I gained 5 lbs. I was so fed up!
In the meantime, I had noticed one of my facebook friends posting about weight loss. I figured it was some kind of program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. In the past, I always thought those programs were for people that were clueless about how to eat right or they needed emotional support. I didn't think I was one of those people. However, I was trying to do it myself and it wasn't working. Maybe it was time to try something different. So I sent her a message. She was a Health Coach for Medifast. A former co-worker of mine had great success on Medifast. I was encouraged. My co-worker was doing Medifast when I was cutting carbs. She obviously had much more success than I did. Then of course there was the concern about how much it would cost. After talking to my Health Coach, the price of the food wasn't bad. There were no sign up costs. And the program made sense to me. I decided to go for it! TO BE CONTINUED....
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